Costs for Stealth Bomber Are Stable, Northrop Says

Northrop, responding to criticism of its B-2 stealth bomber program, defended the program Friday by saying that production costs for the aircraft have “remained stable” and its quality is “high.”

Northrop was answering critical comments by the Pentagon’s former chief of procurement, Robert B. Costello, who in an interview Thursday expressed “serious and grave concerns” about soaring costs and quality-control problems with the B-2.

Costello, who resigned his Pentagon post last week, said his concerns about the B-2 program were so serious that he had tried unsuccessfully to have the program killed.

Northrop said the cost of the B-2 “is about the same as the cost predicted three or four years ago--approximately $265 million per airplane in today’s dollars.”

But a confidential Pentagon cost analysis put the cost of the B-2 far higher--at $750 million each. The study was conducted by Costello’s office earlier this year.

Research, Development Included

The wide disparity between the two figures can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that Northrop’s $265-million per plane estimate is not adjusted for future inflation.

Costello’s numbers include not only inflation, but also the costs of ground equipment and research and development. The government has already paid for most of the research and development costs of the B-2.

“We felt the situation should be clarified,” Northrop spokesman Les Daly said Friday. The cost of the B-2 will be higher, Northrop said, if the program is delayed and production is stretched out over a longer period.

“If you change the plan, the price goes up,” Daly said.

‘Unprecedentedly High’ Quality

In Thursday’s interview, Costello also voiced doubts about the quality of the B-2 and Northrop’s management of the billion-dollar program. Costello maintained that Northrop paid no attention to quality concerns until last November, when it began a plan to improve oversight of the program.

Not so, according to Northrop.

“We don’t think that’s true at all,” Daly said. “Everyone who has been to visit the B-2 assembly line--and I’m talking about specialists, congressmen and Air Force officials--have said the quality of the B-2 is unprecedentedly high for the first few aircraft.”

Asked whether the company felt Costello’s criticisms were unfair, Daly said: “He’s leaving the Pentagon, and we’re here to build the airplane. Beyond that, our statement speaks for itself.”