Stealth bomber flies, but will it in future?

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 10

Stealth bomber flies, but will it in future?

; NZPA-Reuter Washington The successful maiden flight of the B-2 Stealth bomber left unanswered the question of whether the United States Congress is ready to approve the SNZI2O billion needed for a fleet of 132 of the bat-wing craft.

“The Stealth bomber today proved that it flies through the skies. That’s a significant first step. But yet to be determined is whether it flies with the public and Congress,” said the chairman of the House armed services

committee, Les Aspin. “At the dollars we’re looking at, I think it’s just politically not do-able,” he added. . The Defence Department has been campaigning strenuously for the plane; which is designed to be virtually invisible to Soviet radar defences. Each B-2 costs SNZ9OO million. Critics say shrinking United States defence budgets would be strained to the breaking point by the B-2 programme. The Air Force ex-

pressed delight at yesterday’s smooth debut by the revolutionary nuclear bomber, even though it was 18 months behind schedule. “This is an historic day in aviation,” said General Bernard Randolph, head of the Air Force Systems Command. “This is a tremendous step forward and we’re extremely pleased about the performance.”

The plane’s future will be the subject of intensive debate next week when the House of Representa-

tives will consider the annual defence budget. Efforts were expected to be made to kill the programme, stretch it over a longer period, cut back the number to be bought, or limit the programme to research and development after 13 planes are built. The sleek “flying wing” took eight years and SNZ4O billion to develop. The maiden flight had been postponed on Sunday while the B-2 was waiting to take-off because of low fuel-pressure readings.