B-2 UPGRADES ON AGENDA; AIR FORCE CALLS FOR $844 MILLION IN FLEET IMPROVEMENTS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

The Air Force wants to spend $844 million - most of it over the next decade - making improvements to B-2 stealth bombers as part of a plan to keep the nation's bomber fleet going to 2034.

The B-2 upgrades are included in the ``Air Force White Paper on Long-Range Bombers,'' a report in which the service describes to Congress how it plans to maintain its fleet of B-1B, B-2 and B-52 bombers in the 21st century. Congress ordered the report in this year's defense authorization and appropriations bills.

``If we are able to modernize our bombers, the current fleet should remain a viable force for more than 25 years,'' the report said.

The plans calls for a bomber fleet of 190 aircraft - 130 for combat, 24 for training, 14 for attrition reserve, two for test and 20 for backup. Of the 130 combat aircraft, the Air Force wants 70 B-1Bs, 16 B-2s and 44 B-52s.

It is not clear how much of the B-2 work would come to Palmdale, where the bombers were built and are now being modified.

``The upgrades were already considered in our plans,'' said Mike Greywitt, spokesman for Northrop Grumman's B-2 division. ``This is encouraging. It strengthens our plans. We've been hoping to bring additional work to Palmdale as the other work tapers off.''

U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, whose district includes Northrop Grumman's Palmdale B-2 plant, was briefed on the plan. McKeon said he was glad the Clinton administration is at least trying to address how to keep the bomber fleet flying, said David Foy, the congressman's spokesman.

``Congressman McKeon believes this report illustrates yet again why we should have kept building more B-2s,'' Foy said. ``The report makes it clear we are going to need a new bomber in 20, 30 years from now. It would have been cheaper to build more B-2s than building a B-3.''

The report divides the proposed upgrades into near-term, midterm and long-term improvements.

Near-term B-2 improvements, upgrades the Air Force plans to conduct by 2010, include spending $203 million to install electronic equipment called Link-16 that will allow the bombers to access updated information from surveillance aircraft and share information with other aircraft.

The near-term plan calls for spending $237 million to provide the B-2 with the ability to connect with the Extremely High Frequency satellite constellation, a satellite network the Air Force plans to use for command and control of nuclear forces.

A midterm improvement, to be done between 2006 and 2015, involves replacing analog engine controllers with digital controllers. The upgrades would cost $27 million. Without the improvement, the Air Combat Command would have to ground aircraft beginning in 2008, the report said.

Proposed long-term upgrades, those that would take place after 2015, include spending $264 million to upgrade computers and $113 million to improve the aircraft's stealth characteristics against anti-stealth technologies that might emerge. The existing stealth technology is deemed adequate through at least 2010.

The report also said the Air Force must begin planning on how to eventually replace the fleet of B-2, B-1 and B-52 bombers.

``Although the economic service life and mishap rates indicate a replacement time line beginning in 2013, future pressures on the time line may cause a change to this date,'' the report said. ``The replacement platform must preserve the long-range bomber fleet capabilities and enable us to dominate our opponents across the range of military operations - providing full spectrum dominance into the 21st century.''

The report indicates that the B-2 is projected to have a longer useful service life than the B-1 or B-52. Useful service life is considered to be the point at which it is more economical to replace the aircraft than to continue structural modifications.

The useful service life of the B-2 is projected to be 40,000 flight hours compared to 32,500 to 37,500 for the B-52, and 15,200 for the B-1.

The B-2's control-surface attachments are considered the items that would first limit the bomber's useful life, and the area around the deck is considered the second-most likely to fail.

The Air Force projects it will lose one aircraft every 10 years from wear.

Northrop Grumman built 21 B-2 bombers in Palmdale for the Air Force. Nine of the airplanes are at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The other 12 aircraft are in Palmdale being modified to include improvements that were incorporated into bombers built in later stages of the production run.

Those modifications include improvements to the aircraft's stealthiness, expanding weapons capability and installing a fully automated terrain-following capability.

The Air Force plans to use $50 million in additional funds allocated for the B-2 program in the 1999 defense budget to improve the maintainability of the bombers, according to Lt. Gen. Gregory Martin, principal assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition.

``These design and material improvements, as well as changes in some maintenance processes and supply procedures, will reduce the time required to prepare the B-2 for combat, effectively increasing the sortie generation capability. The net result means more bombs on target,'' Martin said in March 3 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

The B-2 is capable of carrying out both nuclear and conventional warfare missions. It is intended to strike deep inside an adversary's territory, striking high-value targets early in a campaign to destroy and disrupt enemy air defense and command and control networks.