BUDGET WOULD FUND LOCAL PROJECTS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Antelope Valley is expected to benefit from a defense appropriations bill.

The bill provides $219 million for B-2 bomber upgrades, $1.5 billion for the development of the joint strike fighter, and $5 million for an effort to determine whether the unmanned Global Hawk reconnaissance airplane can perform Navy missions.

In the compromise that emerged from House-Senate negotiations, Congress sent the president a bill to increase spending on upgrades to the B-2 fleet by $64 million more than the administration's request.

``The brave men and women of the United States military deserve the best equipment possible,'' said Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, whose district includes Palmdale. ``This spending bill goes a long way to providing that equipment and reversing the slide of the previous administration.''

The B-2 upgrades include the development of LINK-16, which would provide air crews with a better picture of the unfolding battle scene via a satellite communications link.

Congress also agreed to provide the full $1.5 billion for the continued development of the joint strike fighter, an aircraft that will be used by three U.S. military services and by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

The joint strike fighter is being developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. Although most of the work on the program will be done in Fort Worth, Texas, the company's Palmdale plant is expected to manufacture parts for the fighters.

The defense appropriations bill also includes $5 million for an effort to determine whether Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk aircraft can take over some of the ocean patrolling duties now performed by the P-3 Orion, a manned aircraft.

The Navy must decide whether to replace or upgrade its fleet of P-3 Orions, whose design is based on that of a 1950s propeller-driven Lockheed airliner and which have not been manufactured since 1990.

Northrop Grumman has proposed using a mix of unmanned and manned aircraft to perform the ocean-patrol missions. The Global Hawk would handle the more dangerous surveillance missions without exposing a crew to danger.

The unmanned aircraft is equipped with radar capable of picking up objects 100 miles away and with cameras that provide still images clear enough for targets as far away as 30 miles to be identified.

Although the aircraft is still in development stages, Global Hawks have been used over Afghanistan and have flown across the Pacific Ocean.

During a joint exercise with the Australian military earlier this year, an aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific was found and photographed from a Global Hawk.