-Caveat Lector- > FYI > > http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/2/17/125835.shtml > > WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! > > B-1B Bombers Slated For Retirement Hang On > Dave Eberhart, NewsMax > Monday, Feb. 18, 2002 > When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld submitted his 2002 budget proposing to > retire 33 B-1B bombers and consolidate the remaining 60 on two bases -- Dyess > Air Force Base, Texas, and Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D, the home states of > President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. -- > congressional delegations from Kansas, Idaho and Georgia, states losing the > aircraft, got busy. > Led by Rep. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., congressional conferees on the Fiscal > Year 2002 Defense Authorization Bill last week authorized the Secretary of > the Air Force to proceed with reducing the B-1 fleet -- but only after > providing Congress with reports on the service’s strategy for implementing > the proposed reduction and consolidation. > > The conferees also provided $100 million for continued operations of the Air > Guard B-1 fleet, as well as $95.5 million for B-1 modifications and $194.5 > million for B-1B research and development activities. > > Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been strongly against any delay in the > proposed B-1B retirements. From the Congressional Record: > > "Just as discouraging, given its pork barrel nature, is a provision that > would delay the B-1B Lancer bomber force restructuring or downsizing at a > cost of $165 million to U.S. taxpayers. > > "This provision has literally made it illegal for the Secretary of Defense to > reduce, retire, dismantle, transfer, or reassign the Air National Guard B-1B > bomber force by 33 aircraft until the following reports have been prepared: > The National Security Review, the Quadrennial Defense Review, the Revised > Nuclear Posture Review, the Secretary of Defense Report on the B-1B Bomber, > the Bomber Force Structure Report, and a Comptroller General Report on the > B-1B Bomber.” > > Old Issue > > Moves to trim the swept-wing bomber, originally designed to deliver nuclear > bombs deep into Soviet territory, are not new. In 1996, the General > Accounting Office suggested cutting 27 planes from the fleet and staging them > on fewer bases. > > But the bomber has until now always managed to avoid the chopping block, > despite a history of controversy and the grim statistic that of the original > 100 B-1Bs, six have crashed. > > B-1s, operating from Missouri, dropped more bombs on Afghanistan than any > other aircraft and have garnered recognition as a critical workhorse of the > conflict. > > The B-1s flying over Afghanistan, however, have been upgraded from the > versions that failed to perform in the Persian Gulf War. Over the last couple > of years upgrades to the aircraft have increased the bomber’s weapons, > navigation and communication capabilities. > > Furthermore, the bomber’s iron bombs were converted into "smart” weapons > that use a global navigation system to target precisely. Eventually, the B-1 > was equipped with a towed decoy system that lures enemy missiles away from > the aircraft. > > After President Ronald Reagan resurrected the bomber, the military purchased > 100 B-1s at $200 million apiece. Originally delivered to the Air Force at > Dyess in June 1985, the aircraft reportedly suffered from cracked landing > gears, leaking fuel tanks and faulty engines. False images in the > terrain-following radar and incompatibility with more advanced systems also > troubled the B-1. > > But the Air Force reportedly corrected the problems over the years. > > War Record > > During Operation Desert Fox, the B-1 struck Iraqi military bases, and later > the B-1 flew 100 combat missions against prime targets in Kosovo during > Operation Allied Force. > > The aircraft’s nuclear weapons carrying role was terminated in 1997. However, > a so-called nuclear "re-role plan” for the B-1B exists if they are ever > required for nuclear war. In the meantime, B-1s cannot participate in nuclear > exercises. > > Under the Rumsfeld plan, the $130 million saved from the cuts would be routed > back into the B-1 program for upgrades and operational costs attendant to the > remaining fleet. > > The additional dollars are needed to assuage what many critics in uniform and > out have described as chronic under-funding of what is still the nation’s > premier heavy bomber. At one point, an Air Force secretary reported that the > B-1 program was $2 billion short of what it needed over a six-year period. > > "The Air Force has never supported the B-1 with the necessary parts and funds > it needs,” said retired Col. Johnny Griffin, a former Dyess commander. > Currently at Dyess, only 30 of the base’s 40 B-1s are fully funded. > > Once the reports required under the Chambliss compromise are filed, digested > and approved, the 33 B-1’s slated for retirement will be stripped of parts > and the carcasses sent to an aircraft bone yard in Arizona. > > *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, > any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use > without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest > in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational > purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] > > Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! > Write to same address to be off lists! > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER > ========== > CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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