RUMSFELD HOLDS KEY TO B-2 LINE NOD WOULD RESTART PRODUCTION.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Supporters of the B-2 stealth bomber are awaiting word on whether Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will recommend restarting the production line to build a low-budget version of the batwing aircraft.

Earlier this year, Northrop Grumman representatives briefed one of Rumsfeld's defense review teams on the possibility of building a cheaper version of the B-2. Northrop Grumman pitched a plan to build 40 new aircraft at a cost of about $28 billion, compared with the $44.4 billion that was spent building the existing 21-plane fleet.

Rumsfeld has neither stated a position on the program nor disclosed the results of any reviews of bomber programs.

``We haven't heard anything,'' Northrop Grumman spokesman Jim Hart said. ``There's not much to comment on.''

Northrop Grumman proposes building four new B-2s annually in a 10-year production program, a source said. The first new aircraft could fly four years after receiving the go-ahead from the Pentagon and Congress.

The new aircraft, dubbed B-2C, can be built much more cheaply by using updated manufacturing techniques and using lower-cost components. The B-2C would also incorporate advancements in stealth materials and in the application of those materials to improve maintenance of the aircraft - an area the existing B-2 fleet has been criticized on by congressional auditors.

Rumsfeld is conducting a major review of all the Defense Department's needs, ranging from quality-of-life improvements for service members to weapon technologies.

Defense Department officials say the results of those reviews will be released this summer.

A new wrinkle in the efforts to revive the B-2 program is the shift of control of the Senate, resulting in committee chairmanships being transferred from Republicans to Democrats. One of those changes will be in the Armed Services Committee, where Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., will take over as chairman on either Wednesday or Thursday.

In the 1990s, Levin voted against efforts to revive the program.

Levin was traveling Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, whose district includes the B-2 facility in Palmdale, does not view the chairmanship shift as a cause for great concern. That the battles for providing additional funding for the aircraft will be intense is a given regardless of who chairs the committee, McKeon spokesman David Foy said.

``It's always going to be something of a close call,'' Foy said. ``Even if we controlled the Senate it wouldn't be a slam dunk.''

The difference between the debates of the 1990s and now is that the B-2 now has a combat track record.

``The B-2 has proven itself in Kosovo,'' Foy said. ``That might have an impact on moderate Democrats who have voted against it in the past.''

President George W. Bush has been briefed on the possibility of building more B-2s on at least two occasions, once by Northrop Grumman officials during the presidential campaign and again by congressional supporters of the program shortly before Bush's inauguration.

Congressional supporters later told reporters that Bush was impressed with the aircraft's capabilities, including the ability to hit multiple targets with precision in a single mission.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(ran in Business section only) A recommendation from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could restart the production of a new line of B-2s.