DEFENSE EXEC ADVISES AGAINST B-2 RESTART.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer LANCASTER - Echoing the opinion of the secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon's top acquisition official is advising against restarting the B-2 bomber bomber Military aircraft designed to drop bombs on surface targets. Aerial bombardment can be traced to the Italo-Turkish War (1911), in which an Italian pilot dropped grenades on two Turkish targets. production line. If more long-range bombers are needed, the nation would be better off with a new aircraft, said Pete Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. ``I don't think it's in the cards at this time,'' Aldridge said of reopening Reopening Treasury offerings of additional amounts of outstanding issues, rather than an entirely new issue. A reopened issue will always have the same maturity date, CUSIP number, and interest rate as the original issue. the B-2 production line at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale plant. ``The B-2 is a 1980s technology. We've had tremendous advancements since that time.'' Aldridge made the comments during a stop in Lancaster as the keynote speaker for the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Board of Trade Business Outlook Conference, an annual gathering of the High Desert's business and civic leaders. Aldridge said the Bush administration has mixed opinions on whether the B-2 production line should be restarted, but that he and Secretary of the Air Force James Roche are against the idea. Aldridge said the Pentagon Pentagon Huge five-sided building (1941–43) in Arlington, Va., that is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense. Designed by George Edwin Bergstrom, it was, on its completion, the world's largest office building, covering 34 acres (14 hectares) and offering has studies under way to determine what the nation's long-range bomber needs are and that the studies will look at a variety of options, including reopening the B-2 production line. Aldridge said his opinion on the B-2 was ``not necessarily shared throughout the Pentagon.'' Last summer, Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. presented a letter of offer to the Pentagon, indicating it could build 40 more B-2s at a cost of about $28 billion, compared with the $44.4 billion that was spent manufacturing the existing 21-plane fleet. The new B-2s, dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. B-2Cs, could be built cheaper because of improved manufacturing techniques and the use of off-the-shelf electronics, officials say. Aldridge and Roche share an opinion that the nation would be better off investing in technologies that would enable aircraft to establish data networks with each other, providing clearer pictures of potential targets and threats in a battle zone. The B-2 earned praise for its performance in the bombing of Afghanistan, flying 45-hour missions from Whiteman Air Force Base Whiteman Air Force Base (Whiteman AFB) is a base of the United States Air Force in Johnson County, Missouri, United States. It is near the town of Knob Noster, Missouri. The population was 3,814 at the 2000 census. in Missouri. Six aircraft have been used in Afghanistan. |
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