Stealth Bomber Program Costs Rise 16%
The estimated cost of developing and producing the Air Force fleet of B-2 Stealth bombers has grown by nearly 16% due to a major redesign of the plane in 1983, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Air Force Secretary Edward Aldridge also said the production schedule for the Stealth bomber, designed to be virtually undetectable by radar, was changed so that fewer planes would be built during the critical flight test stage of the program.
The new schedule is aimed at saving the Pentagon from having to go back and make costly adjustments to a large number of new planes if flight testing reveals that changes are necessary.
It also allows the Pentagon to take advantage of more economical contracting arrangements toward the end of the program, in the mid-1990s, when production of the plane will be greatly accelerated.
Air Force officials said completion of all 132 planes was not expected until the late 1990s.
The new projected cost of the B-2 Stealth bomber is $42.5 billion in 1981 dollars, up from the previous estimate of $36.6 billion. More than a third of the total represents development costs. The Pentagon estimates that, after inflation over the years, the total cash outlay for the bomber will be $68.1 billion.
It estimates each plane, exclusive of development costs, will be worth $305 million after inflation, or $175 million in 1981 dollars. Counting development costs and inflation, the individual price tag for each plane will be about $522 million.
The cost is calculated in 1981 dollars because that was the year the program began.
In contrast, the B-1B bomber cost about $27 billion over the program’s life for 100 bombers.
The reason for the increase in the overall cost of the B-2 stealth was a major redesign of the plane in 1983 to ensure that it would not be restricted to flying at high altitudes.
“We’re behind schedule by a year or so,” Aldridge told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing. “But that’s fine. I think it’s an airplane deserving of doing it right, and we’re going to do it right.”
