Military Rebuts GAO Report on Stealth Bomber
The Pentagon on Monday strongly defended the performance of the B-2 Stealth bomber, disputing a General Accounting Office draft report that said tests have yet to demonstrate the radar-eluding and low-flying characteristics that were promised to set the controversial aircraft apart from other planes.
A statement by Paul Kaminski, Pentagon acquisition chief, said the test program is only about 50% complete, and none of the tests so far indicate that the B-2 will fail to meet key requirements.
But the GAO draft report, copies of which have been circulating at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill since last week, asserted that the B-2 has not proved as invisible to radar as it is supposed to be.
Additionally, a special guidance system designed to enable the plane to fly close to the ground and further elude detection is having trouble distinguishing rain from other obstacles, it said.
Pentagon and Northrop Grumman officials said later B-2 batches will have better capabilities as development and testing continue, and earlier batches will be upgraded.
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