B-2 Bombers

Regarding your March 4 editorial “Now for the Hard Part: What to Do About Defense Budget,” I am writing to update your information about the B-2 bomber program, the cost of that important program and its importance to America in the coming years.

Your editorial pointed out that the cost of the B-2 is $1 billion per plane, but doesn’t explain the method by which this vastly inflated figure is calculated (dividing total program cost by total aircraft buy). Your readers might be interested to know the cost for the B-2 is $437 million. That’s a lot of money per airplane, but when you consider that the production cost of the F-117A stealth fighter in 1991 dollars is $59 million each, the cost ratio between the B-2 and F-117 is very comparable to the cost ratios between earlier bombers and fighters of the same generation.

The real value of the B-2 can only be assessed in terms of its contributions to our national security objectives over the next 40 years. As the centerpiece of our strategic forces, the B-2 will provide unparalleled combat capability for the entire spectrum of nuclear and conventional operations. The success of the F-117As in Desert Storm has proven that stealth is a bargain because it enables us to operate with significantly fewer assets and places far fewer lives at risk. The B-2 will provide the stealth of the F-117 and range and payload of the B-52 which will enable us to project power around the globe any time, anywhere in support of U.S. objectives.

Also not mentioned in your editorial is the fact that a Department of Defense program is already under way to reduce our fleet of 350 bombers to approximately 200 within three years--with one-half of those already 30 years old.

Your editorial writers also suggest that instead of spending defense funds on new military systems, couldn’t we get by with an iteration of our current generation of weapons? The B-2 represents an enormous technological achievement and provides revolutionary advantages that the U.S. should not abandon without full understanding of the long-term consequences.

COL. THOMAS A. HORNUNG

Director, Secretary of the Air Force Office

Public Affairs-Western Region

Los Angeles