BOEING Gets $42 Million To Label Bat Plane Parts

In case you missed the story buried in the business pages of the New York Times, or you let your subscription to Aviation Week & Space Technology lapse, you might have missed Congress's recent doling out of nearly $100 million to several defense contractors for labeling parts and keeping B-2 bomber production lines "warm."
Boeing, the chief subcontractor on the stealthy bat plane, gets the lion's share, with a cool $42.7 million. Officially, the contract is to "update work orders, recertify discontinued parts and keep engineering teams in place."
What does the American taxpayer get for this princely sum? We're not sure, but it sounds like good ol' corporate welfare. The Cold War is over and Uncle Sam just can't afford any more billion-dollar bat planes. So Uncle Sam is offering his defense contractors a consolation prize.
In 1993, Congress decided it could afford no more B-2s. Northrup-Grumman, with Boeing as its main subcontractor, has almost completed its original production run of 20 planes for $44.4 billion. Yes folks, that's a lot of school lunches, but think about how much safer you feel.
Of course, Congressional hawks never feel safe. They say we need more of these planes because the U.S. faces "unpredictable security threats around the world," according to the New York Times report. Northrup-Grumman says the next 20 planes will only cost $570 million a piece. (The Air Force says they'll actually cost $630 million a piece, or $1.5 billion a pop over the next 20 years with logistics and oil changes included.)
What's going on? Congressional hawks don't feel safe when constituents and campaign-contributing defense contractors get thrown off the gravy train. We've just spent $44.4 billion for 20 bat planes designed to bomb a country that no longer exists. And now we need 20 more? (Congressional hawks seem to forget about fiscal conservatism when it comes to military spending.)
What to do? Of course, commission a study. But the study to determine whether the Air Force really needs more invisible bat planes takes time. So Congress has whipped out its wallet and paid Boeing $42.7 million to keep its production lines "warm." How cozy.
-Eric Nelson

To e-mail Eric Nelson:
WAfreepress@gmail.com




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