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hay this is just out
- The U.S. Air Force is likely to cancel a competition to add electronic warfare capabilities to the B-52 bomber, a program estimated to be worth up to $3 billion, defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said on Tuesday.
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and a team comprised of Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Britain's BAE Systems Plc (BA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) have been competing for the contract, which was expected to have an initial value of about $250 million.
Thompson, who advises many defense firms and has close ties to Air Force leaders, said he had learned the program would be scrapped, given concerns about the basic concept of having jamming equipment aboard the relatively slow B-52.
But one industry executive, who asked not to be named, characterized the expected Air Force action as a delay of the program, rather than an outright cancellation.
"This will buy them some time," said the executive, noting mounting pressure on the Air Force and other services to cut spending plans for fiscal 2007.
The program would fit 16 Air Force's B-52 long-range bombers, which date back to the 1960s, with two outboard wing pods with powerful radar-jamming gear that could disrupt enemy defenses from far-off distances.
Canceling the program would save the Air Force money in the short term at a time when it is under severe pressure to cut its budget, Thompson said, although he said the Air Force would eventually have to develop new jamming capabilities.
The Air Force, which had expected to award a contract for the program this month, had no immediate comment, nor did officials at Boeing or Northrop.
Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley last month said the service could "kill" certain programs in the current budget environment, given the war in Iraq and disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He gave no details.
Scheduling issues forced the postponement of a September Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting on the B-52 Stand-off Jammer that would have paved the way for a contract award, but no new date for a meeting has been set, a spokeswoman said.
The Air Force had hoped to put the updated B-52s into operation by 2014, when the Navy is due to retire its EA-6B Prowlers, which have the main responsibility for radar-jamming for the U.S. military now.
Thompson said current Air Force leaders would prefer to put the radar-jamming equipment on a smaller, more agile aircraft that could fly into a battle along with its stealthy new Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) F/A-22 fighter jets.
He said the Air Force also told the Pentagon's quadrennial defense review the service could not afford to buy any more Boeing C-17 transport planes beyond the 180 already planned.
"When you add up all the planned cuts, it looks like every production line currently building fixed-wing aircraft for the military is likely to close over the next five years," Thompson wrote in a recent report.
Spokesman Doug Karas said the Air Force had a current requirement for 180 C-17s, although it was in the process of assessing its future transport requirements.
He said an August request for proposals on "follow-on buy options" did not commit the Air Force to buy any more C-17s, but could help it get ready if the Pentagon opted to buy more
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I will try to find the site
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Though I Fly Through the Valley of
Death ... I Shall Fear No Evil. For I
am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing!
(Sign over the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base
Kadena,
Japan).
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