B-2 UPGRADES RECOMMENDED $2 BILLION WOULD EXPAND BOMBERS' CAPABILITY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A Washington, D.C., think tank is recommending the Air Force spend $2 billion to upgrade the B-2 stealth bomber to expand its capabilities while the nation develops new long-range weapons.

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments argues that investing more money in improving the B-2 - particularly its 1980s-era electronics - would provide the greatest payoff in providing a capability to travel long distances and strike targets with precision.

``Such a program is long overdue and should be initiated as early as possible,'' the report said. ``The program, moreover, should include avionics modernization aimed at giving the B-2 the global communications and, above all else, the computational capacity to receive, generate and process precision information - imagery as well as data - at whatever rate and density future operations may require.''

The report is in line with a Northrop Grumman proposal for an upgrading effort they call the ``Global Strike Capability Initiative.'' The proposal, expected to cost $500 million to $700 million over the first seven years, would give B-2s the ability to network with other aircraft and ground forces to identify and attack time-sensitive targets.

The 21 stealth bombers were assembled at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale and rolled out between 1989 and 1997. Modification work continues at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale plant.

``It (the report) opens a healthy, helpful dialogue on what the best capabilities and value for our war fighters is,'' said Harry Heimple, Northrop Grumman's manager of government requirements for its Integrated Systems division. ``The Air Force is deep in thought on what the best way to proceed is.''

The Air Force did not respond to a request for comment on the report. Northrop Grumman officials said Air Force officials have appeared favorable toward the Global Strike Capability Initiative.

Congress is also indicating a desire to move forward with upgrading the B-2 bombers, adding an additional $30 million to get the effort started in the 2005 defense budget.

A major focus of the upgrades is the bomber's computer architecture, which has technology dating back to the mid-1980s. For example, the microprocessors used throughout the aircraft for such tasks as flight management control, displays and controls are versions of the Intel 286 with 512 kb of RAM.

Today's laptops, the report notes, have about 2,000 times more RAM. The processors run at very slow speeds compared witho the 1 gigahertz microprocessors used in the joint strike fighter demonstrator aircraft.

``If the Air Force is going to operate the B-2 into the 2030s, then updating its computer architecture will almost certainly be required before then,'' the report said.

One benefit with upgraded computer processors would be the ability to avoid surface-to-air missile systems. The B-2 now avoids those threats by flying a preplanned route around the known missile locations.

By comparison, the F-35 joint strike fighter will have sensors and computational capacity to sense enemy radar systems, allowing the planes to maintain distance from them. Planes with such capability can operate in enemy airspace without being confined to a preplanned route, the report said.

Under the Northrop Grumman initiative, improvements planned for the bomber fleet include equipping the planes to carry more precision-guided bombs and allowing a single aircraft to go after dozens of targets in a single mission.

Most of the work under the initiative would be conducted at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale site, which has about 1,100 people working on B-2 modifications. Smaller portions of the work would be done at Edwards Air Force Base, where one B-2 test aircraft is based, and at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, where software work for the bomber program is done.

The initiative would help sustain the existing work force and would not involve a big influx of new hires, company officials said.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com