B-2 Fleet Expansion Plan Hits Turbulence in Senate

WASHINGTON —  The B-2 bomber took a hit Thursday when a Senate committee voted in closed session to reject funding for an expanded fleet of Stealth bombers.

The House recently approved a plan to build more B-2s, but the Senate Armed Services Committee followed the Clinton Administration’s recommendation and provided only enough funding to complete the planned fleet of 20 planes.

The committee decision is a big setback for the B-2 program and its prime contractor, Northrop Grumman Corp., which builds the B-2 in Southern California. Northrop has been lobbying Congress heavily, buying prominent advertising space almost daily in Washington publications.

“It wasn’t close,” said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), referring to the committee vote. But there are still several steps to go before Congress makes a final decision on the B-2’s future, and Thursday’s vote was by no means a death blow.

The committee elected to put some of the money that would have gone toward the B-2 into the Air Force F-22 Stealth fighter program and an expanded missile defense program, according to a Senate staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), a longtime opponent of the B-2, said the cost of the bombers, estimated at more than $750 million per plane, and the Pentagon’s opposition tipped the balance.

The House earlier this month approved spending $553 million to begin work on an expanded fleet of B-2s, possibly 10 or 20 more planes, at a total cost of more than $15 billion. If the full Senate accepts the Senate Armed Services Committee plan, House-Senate negotiators would fight out the B-2 issue in conference.

The proposal now goes to the Senate floor for consideration next month. If the full Senate approves, the Senate defense plan would be at odds with the military budget that has already passed the House.

Overall, the Senate defense spending blueprint is $263.7 billion. Clinton requested $258 billion and the House approved $267 billion.