A couple of US Air Force B-2 bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., transited the Atlantic last week making a stopover at RAF Fairford, England, in one of the unit’s routine Global Power training missions, reports the Swindon Advertiser. While there, the aircrews dropped 2,000 pounds of inert weapons at the Wainfleet bombing range in Lincolnshire, reports the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Maj. Craig Mockler, with the 509th BW, who talked with the newspapers, said it had been two years since the USAF B-2 force had visited Fairford.
With a shrinking fleet and growing operational demand, Air Force Special Operations Command sees the new OA-1K combat scout aircraft as key to a “new era,” officials say.