Air Force Says It Has No Plans for B-2 Freeze : Defense: It denies a report that production of Stealth bombers will be held to 15 planes.

The Air Force on Monday denied a report that it has abandoned plans to build more B-2 Stealth bombers in 1991.

The Wall Street Journal said Air Force Secretary Donald Rice had decided to freeze B-2 production at the current level of 15 planes, and that the $4.1 billion approved by Congress for the program in 1991 would be spent to continue assembling and testing only those planes already approved for production.

“No final decision on how the Air Force will apply fiscal-year 1991 B-2 funds has been made,” the Air Force said in response, adding that Congress would be notified once the decision is made.

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The Air Force said it remains “strongly committed” to pursuing the full production run of 75 B-2 bombers as approved by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. It added that it believes that “the revolutionary advantages of Stealth” radar-evading technology will be borne out in 1991.

“The B-2 continues to enjoy the confidence of the Air Force and remains its highest priority,” the statement said.

The B-2 incorporates much novel technology and, as a result, has been plagued by cost overruns. Each plane of the originally projected production run of 75 would cost an estimated $850 million.

The Air Force said it is still trying to figure out Congress’ intent on the B-2.

Until the last minute, the House version of the defense budget barred construction of the 16th and 17th B-2, which the Pentagon had planned for the current year, while the Senate version authorized those planes.

The compromise version that was signed by President Bush was silent on the issue.