Company pilot M.L. Evenson and USAF Lt. Col. L.B. Schroeder make the first flight of the Rockwell B-1B variable-geometry bomber at Palmdale, Calif., and land at Edwards AFB, Calif. This is the first of 100 aircraft to be built in the revitalized B-1 bomber program.
Pentagon leaders, eager to move fast and avoid pitfalls that have plagued defense acquisition in the past, are handing authorities and oversight for some of their biggest programs to officers outside the traditional structure. But the Air Force and Space Force four-stars given those responsibilities say they don’t intend their jobs to be a permanent change to the system.
