Panel Votes to Restart Output of Stealth : Defense: The surprise vote sends Lockheed shares up. But one analyst believes that it may be just a political maneuver to get backing for the Stealth bomber.

In an apparent outgrowth of the Persian Gulf War, a key Senate subcommittee has unexpectedly voted to restart production of Lockheed’s F-117A Stealth fighter.

Lockheed shares climbed sharply Wednesday after a Senate Armed Services Committee panel voted to buy 24 of the fighters, which went out of production in 1990.

Although the F-117A won plaudits for its performance in the war and was due for new engines, the Senate action was the first indication that Lockheed could win a new production order.

But one expert close to the decision questioned whether the F-117A vote was a political maneuver by Senate Armed Services Chairman Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) to gain backing for the controversial B-2 bomber. If so, he said, Nunn may be planning to bargain away an F-117A order to gain support for the B-2 in the House, which has voted to kill that program.

The F-117A was built by Lockheed’s Skunk Works in Burbank, which has since been relocated to Palmdale. Any future production of the aircraft would be in Palmdale, a Lockheed spokesman said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee panel voted behind closed doors Tuesday to end purchases of the General Dynamics F-16 two years earlier than the Air Force has planned. The panel voted to apply the estimated $4 billion in savings toward production of new F-117A aircraft, according to Senate sources.

A Lockheed source said Senate staffers contacted the Calabasas-based firm two to three months ago, asking for information about what would be necessary to restart production. The Lockheed source said the request undoubtedly had the support of Nunn.

The vote was taken by the Armed Services subcommittee on readiness, sustainability and support, chaired by Sen. Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.).

“The theory is that if the Air Force is so enamored of stealth aircraft and if the F-117A works so well, why not buy more of them?” said Howard Rubel, aerospace analyst at C. J. Lawrence Grenfell. “You can make the argument that we have too many F-16s for the force structure that we envision.”

Lockheed shares closed at $44.125, up $1.375 in trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. General Dynamics’ stock also closed higher at $42, up 25 cents.

General Dynamics, which produces the F-16 in Ft. Worth, has taken domestic and foreign orders for 3,587 of the aircraft, 800 of which it has yet to deliver. The single-engine aircraft is the lowest cost fighter used by the military, but it was eclipsed by the performance of the F-117A in the war.

John Pike, who follows secret military programs at the Federation of American Scientists, said the proposal to restart production of the F-117A is just the latest twist in a virtual free-for-all in the military aircraft market.

“There is a great disorder under the heaven right now,” Pike said. “The A-12 was canceled. The ATF is turning out to be a smaller program than expected. The F-14D is alive again. You have all these aircraft chasing different requirements. It is a war of all against all.”

Lockheed was reticent about the Senate vote, referring most questions to Congress or the Air Force. The firm is believed to be in an awkward position to lobby heavily for the F-117A, since its highest priority is advancing its $72-billion F-22 jet-fighter program.

The firm produced 59 of the bat-winged F-117A fighter, starting in 1982, at a total cost of $6.5 billion.

A company spokesman said the unit price of each aircraft--excluding development and various ground equipment--was $42.6 million. He declined to say how much 24 new aircraft would cost; based on the old price, the cost could be $2.5 billion. The tooling used to produce the aircraft is now in storage.

Lockheed never disclosed how many employees were assigned to the program, but the number was believed to be a few thousand. An additional order for 24 aircraft, depending on the production rate, could create a similar number of jobs.

“It just goes to show that Lockheed has a wealth of technologies that can be drawn on when needed,” said analyst Rubel.