Stealth Bombers

It once was renowned as the nation's biggest top-secret defense plant, an operation employing more than 12,000 people developing a revolutionary aircraft that could elude detection by enemy radar. But on Thursday that complex--Northrop Grumman Corp.'s facility in Pico Rivera, former headquarters of the B-2 stealth bomber program--was a symbol of the descent of the aerospace industry in the Los Angeles area.

Two years ago, an Air Force ground crew rolled a B-2 Stealth bomber from a hangar here and hosed it down before a skeptical civilian audience to settle a question: Would an afternoon cloudburst melt the bomber's delicate skin and knock the plane out of the sky?

The B-2 Stealth bomber made its combat debut Wednesday, dropping 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs on targets in Yugoslavia. The missions came more than a decade after the $2-billion bat-winged plane first rolled out into public view. Built to unleash nuclear weapons on the former Soviet Union, the B-2 instead participated as a small part of a conventional attack on one of Moscow's longtime allies.

The Air Force resumed normal training missions of its B-2 stealth bombers after a four-day suspension because of problems with the aircraft's ejection system. Four of the 10 B-2 bombers based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri were repaired and resumed training flights. "As the parts come in, we'll have the other six [bombers] repaired," Whiteman spokesman Capt. Bruce Sprecher said. Officials described the suspension as a precaution. The manufacturer of the ejection-seat initiator, O.E.A.

Training missions for B-2 stealth bombers have been suspended because of problems with the aircraft's crew ejection system, the Air Force said. Ten of the service's bombers are at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Eleven other bombers in production are at Edwards Air Force Base in California and will be repaired as well. Each aircraft costs $2 billion. The suspension was temporary and precautionary, officials said. It would not interfere with the aircraft's ability to be deployed in combat.

Robert Scheer's hope ("Let's Hope It Rains on the B-2's Parade," Column Left, Aug. 26) that the Congress doesn't stick us with nine more B-2 Stealth bombers is certainly justified. Whether you accept his figure of $27 billion for the nine planes or the Defense Department's figure of $14 billion to $20 billion, the cost per unit is mind-boggling. That the bombers degrade in many temperature conditions, that they've never proved they're completely stealthy, that they have no mission, that the Pentagon doesn't want them, only makes clear the fact that they're purest pork and nothing but. What's actually stealthy is their removal of public funds from programs that would truly benefit the taxpayer.

Living up to its name, the sleek, eerily quiet B-2 Stealth bomber swooped past hundreds of thousands of awe-struck spectators Saturday, covering a huge piece of sky with its bizarre, bat-like structure and adding a dramatic flourish to the 47th and final El Toro Air Show. The bomber, making its first and only appearance at El Toro, was clearly a hit and one reason Marine Corps officials estimated they drew a record crowd of nearly 1 million spectators Saturday.

Living up to its name, the sleek, eerily quiet B-2 Stealth bomber swooped past hundreds of thousands of awe-struck spectators Saturday, covering a huge piece of sky with its bizarre, bat-like structure and adding a dramatic flourish to the 47th and final El Toro Air Show. There was little room in this crowd of military hardware enthusiasts for concerns about the B-2's $2.2-billion price tag, or its recent difficulties performing in training flights.