Angus Batey has been contributing to various titles within the Aviation Week Network since 2009. He has reported from military bases, industrial facilities, trade shows and conferences, on topics ranging from defense and space to business aviation, advanced air mobility and cybersecurity.
Even as its limited number of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers continue to realize their capabilities, the U.S. Air Force allows select allies to use the aircraft. A long-standing exchange program under which USAF personnel trade places with those from the Royal Air Force was extended to the B-2 in 2004.
The U.K. Defense Ministry has its share of procurement disasters. The Astute-class submarines are £1 billion ($1.63 billion) over budget; Mk3 Chinook helicopters were mothballed for nine years before being expensively fielded with Mk2 cockpits (see p. 10); and the MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft, a variant of a 60-year-old model, will cost a quarter of the price of a space shuttle and enter service almost a decade late.
It is among the U.S. Air Force’s most finite resources, but the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is still growing in capabilities, and it’s an aircraft America is happy to allow an ally to use. A long-standing exchange program that has seen USAF personnel trade places with those from the Royal Air Force was extended to the B-2 in 2004.
