BRIEFCASE PENTAGON TRYING TO KEEP FIGHTERS.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon needs to make a case to keep the F/A-22 fighter program in the face of vastly increased costs and technical problems, congressional investigators say.

The General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress, said in a report that the military can now afford only 218 of the planes within a $36.8 billion spending cap. The Air Force originally planned to buy 750 but has since reduced the number to 277 - which it still says it can afford once it makes the program more efficient.

The F/A-22 Raptor, intended primarily as a stealthy replacement for the F-15 Eagle, was built to shoot down other planes. Unlike its predecessor, the F/A-22 can fly at supersonic speeds for long ranges.

The Air Force is also trying to make the F/A-22, for which Lockheed Martin Corp. is the prime contractor, more useful by giving it the ability to attack ground targets. But that is making it even more expensive, to the tune of $11.7 billion, and adds significant technical challenges, the GAO says.

GM to put stability controls on vans

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. said Monday that it will begin installing stability control systems on its 12-passenger vans in the 2005 model year.

The announcement comes a day after Ford Motor Co. said it will begin putting stability control in its 15-passenger vans in 2006. GM made stability control a standard feature on its 15-passenger vans starting with the 2004 model year.

GM's stability control system, known as StabiliTrak, uses sensors to determine the direction the driver wants to go in and applies brakes to the wheels if it senses the driver is going off course. Studies in Europe and the United States have indicated that the systems prevent crashes.

Nortel financial leaders on leave

TORONTO - Nortel Networks Corp., the maker of telecommunications equipment, on Monday said it put its chief financial officer and controller on paid leave while it reviews its financial statements.

The suspensions come after Nortel last week said it was likely to again restate results for 2003, and possibly earlier periods as well.

Shares of Nortel dropped $1.19, or 19 percent, to end Monday at $5.24 on the New York Stock Exchange.

In December, the Brampton, Ontario, company restated results for 2000 through the first two quarters of 2003 due to $900 million in liabilities that were either recorded incorrectly or not properly released in the appropriate periods.