Rockwell gives B-1B an 'A-plus' rating: Air Force acknowledges bomber is its most reliable.

Rockwell gives B-1B an |A-plus' rating

Following a flurry of news reports about the Air Force's decision in December to temporarily ground the problem-plagued B-1B bomber, Rockwell International Corp. has gone on the offensive.

The defense contractor asserts the controversial weapons system is one of the most reliable military aircraft ever built and, despite problems with its electronic avionics system, it can still penetrate enemy defenses. Air Force personnel corroborated Rockwell's claims.

The company, in its March edition of Rockwell News, defends one of its most prized projects through an interview with Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sam Iacobellis.

An introductory paragraph explains, "In recent weeks, the national news media have been questioning the B-1B's absence in the Gulf War. Recent media stories also have been reporting on defensive system and engine problems, as well as the aircraft's mission capability rate."

In defending the bomber, Iacobellis said: "The B-1B's inherent reliability is, in fact, already higher than either the FB-111 or the B-52 (bomber) according to Air Force data."

The article also quoted the March 6 congressional testimony of Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Hawley: "The B-1B is the most accurate long-range bomber in the world today. It has won every bombing competition it has entered . . . . It has the best safety record through the first six years of any comparable bomber or fighter by a wide margin. It has achieved excellent ratings on its operational readiness inspections, including the ability to generate required numbers of aircraft for combat and with outstanding damage expectancy, the real measure of merit."

A spokesman for the Air Force's Strategic Air Command, Tech. Sgt. Alan Dockery, said Rockwell has accurately portrayed the B-1B. "The B-1B is a fantastic aircraft," Dockery said. "The problems that have occurred on the aircraft are like the growing pains that have occurred on any other new weapons system. The media is very interested in military hardware and military spending and program management, as they should be, but that means that every story gets carried to the extreme."

Dockery said when the B-1Bs' predecessor, the B-52, was introduced, 27 were lost through accidents in the first six years of its operation. By comparison, three of the 100 B-1B bombers produced by Rockwell have been lost in accidents.

Dockery pointed out that even though it was officially grounded, the B-1B could have been used in the Persian Gulf War. The decision not to use the B-1B in the Gulf War was made, according to Dockery, so that it would be available for a long-range nuclear mission in the event that the United States came under nuclear attack from the Soviet Union.

The Air Force spokesman said that while the aircraft's main mission will continue to be as a nuclear weapons bomber, the military plans to expand its capacity to carry conventional arms.

Iacobellis said, "Normal periodic upgrades will enable the B-1B to stay ahead of anticipated threats well into the next century."

Responding to questions that have been raised about the aircraft's capacity to operate in ice and snow, Iacobellis said, "There are no combat restrictions for operating in icing conditions or overlying snow and slush."

Iacobellis also addressed the recent grounding of the aircraft, which during the 1980s was one of Rockwell's biggest revenue-producing projects. Rockwell was the main contractor on the $28 billion project and was responsible for the aircraft's final assembly.

Quoting Air Force Gen. Lee Butler, Iacobellis said the grounding did not affect the primary mission of the B-1B, which is as a deterrent to nuclear war.

Last December, one month before the start of hostilities in the Persian Gulf, the Air Force grounded the 97 remaining B-1Bs after what the military described as two "catastrophic engine failures" in October and December.

Previous to the grounding, the aircraft had gone through at least two temporary "stand downs," or "flight restrictions" since it went into service in late 1986. Previous stand downs have followed a malfunctioning wing and an incident in which one or more pelicans penetrated the skin of one aircraft, causing a crash that killed three crew members in September 1987.

After being temporarily grounded, B-1Bs were put back into service in early February, some military and government officials said there continued to be problems with the aircraft, including defects in the defensive avionics system, which helps protect the plane from air or land attack, as well as radar protection.

In addition, questions were raised about the aircraft's capacity to fly in the cold and snow.

Some officials said it could take another $1 billion to fix the fleet's problem.

In the March newsletter, Rockwell officials told employees the military was consistent in not using the B-1Bs in the Persian Gulf because of the aircraft's stated nuclear mission. The military said the B-1B fleet, regardless of its grounding, was not used in the Persian Gulf War because it was designed primarily to deliver nuclear weapons rather than conventional bombs.

Iacobellis said, however, that the B-1B does have conventional weapons capability and in some cases has more capacity for conventional bombs than does the B-52. The fleet of B-52s was manufactured in the 1950s with nuclear weapons capability and was used extensively in the Persian Gulf.

"We believe it is very likely that the Air Force will certify the B-1B for additional conventional weapons in the future," said Iacobellis.

He said the B-1B is "performing very well in the field. The crews who fly the B-1B day in and day out hold it in the highest esteem. . . . It is a pilot's airplane."

He said according to Air Force data, the B-1B's reliability is already higher than the B-52's. "The fleet is now just about at SAC's (Strategic Air Command) current goal of 60 percent (mission capability rate) and is on track to reach a goal of 80 percent at the 200,000 flight hour maturation point in 1994." said Iacobellis.

The B-1B was born in controversy before President Jimmy Carter took office in 1977. Then known as the B-1, the plane was designed to be a bridge aircraft between the B-52 and the then-contemplated B-2 stealth bomber, another controversial aircraft now being manufactured by Century City-based Northrop Corp.

Six months into his term, President Carter canceled the program but it was later resurrected under President Ronald Reagan's military buildup of the 1980s and renamed the B-1B.

PHOTO : Misunderstood bomber: Despite having been grounded, the Air Force says the B-1B is simply suffering through |growing pains'