The Air Force has spent at least $720 million on parts for B-2 Stealth bombers that may never be built, and the 1992 defense bill that President Bush signed last week permits spending hundreds of millions more.
The Air Force committed the money in advance on the assumption that Congress eventually would finance 75 of the radar-evading planes. That assumption now looks highly doubtful. Thus, the parts may become spares or never be used at all.For two years running, Congress has refused to let the Air Force buy additional B-2s beyond the 15 already in the pipeline. Many in Congress doubt the need for more bombers, which at $865 million a copy are the most expensive planes ever built.
The Air Force says B-2s are needed to replace aging B-52 strategic bombers.
As of September, the Air Force had committed at least $720 million for advance purchases of components and materials that congressional investigators say are intended for use in 17 more B-2s than Congress has authorized.
And if the Air Force carries out its original plan for B-2 production work in the current budget year it will have parts for 32 more planes than are authorized, according to the General Accounting Office.
Maj. Gen. Stephen B. Croker, who oversees the B-2 acquisition program for the Air Force, said in an interview this week that the Air Force would not decide until January how to spend the $1.8 billion Congress approved for B-2 procurement in 1992.
He indicated that some amount of the $1.8 billion would be spent on B-2s not yet authorized. Croker defended the practice as consistent with Congress' intent.
The fiscal 1992 defense authorization bill that Congress passed in November and President Bush signed Dec. 6 does not tell the Air Force how to use the $1.8 billion beyond saying the money is for "procurement, including advance procurement."
That means the money could be used for work on the planes now under construction or it could go for advance work on planes beyond the authorized 15.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a leading opponent of the B-2, said he was "stunned" to discover that the defense bill permitted the advance purchases.
"The Pentagon will argue that we have the parts - why not put them together?" Leahy said. "And Congress will buy more B-2s unless this nonsense stops now."
The fiscal 1990 defense bill earmarked $425 million for spending on B-2s not yet authorized for assembly, and the 1991 bill provided $295 million for that purpose.
Croker said Congress had made it clear in 1990 that it wanted the Air Force to commit money in advance for work on planes beyond the authorized 15 in order to limit price increases for parts.
The 1992 defense bill was "deliberately crafted to permit us to use the funds however necessary to protect the program, prevent unreasonable cost growth and to protect options for the future," the general said.
Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., who helped write the defense bill, disagrees. She recently said she was angry that the Air Force was buying parts for B-2s that might never be assembled.
"I think if the American people really understood that, they'd be furious," she said. "You can't assemble the parts but you can keep on making them. We'll have spare parts for this thing up the wazoo."
The Air Force originally planned to build a total of 132 B-2s. In April 1990 the goal was reduced to 75. Many in Congress want to stop production after 15.
*****
(Additional story)
WASHINGTON (AP)
- Here, in brief, are the main arguments for and against building more B-2 Stealth bombers than the 15 already authorized by Congress:
Arguments for the B-2
A fleet of at least 75 B-2s is needed to keep the U.S. strategic bomber force a world leader. The Air Force says that by 1993, the U.S. bomber force will number about 200 planes, half of which will be more than 30 years old.
The technologically superior B-2 is needed as a hedge against future improvements in Soviet air defenses, which the Pentagon has said are being modernized.
Stopping at 15 planes would mean a total price tag of $39.2 billion, or $2.6 billion per plane. Finishing the last 60 planes would add $21.6 billion to the total cost, meaning those 60 would cost $360 million apiece.
Arguments against the B-2
The United States in the post-Cold War world can afford to let its bomber fleet shrink in size. The existing B-1B strategic bombers, the older B-52s and a small fleet of B-2s would be enough.
There no longer is an integrated Warsaw Pact or Soviet air defense to overcome. The communist threat is dead, the Soviet Union itself no longer exists and existing U.S. aircraft can defeat any air defenses in the world.
Spending billions more on additional B-2s is unwise at a time when the risk of global war is receding and pressure is mounting to spend a peace dividend on non-defense needs.