The United States plans to build four B-2 stealth bomber shelters on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and one at Fairford, England to move the long-range aircraft closer to Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reported today.  Each shelter can hold two bombers (see GSN, Oct. 31).

If the United States were to attack Iraq, the bombers would be used to counter Iraq’s intricate air defense system, which has been built with Russian, Yugoslav and French technology, the Times reported.  Iraq has built defense facilities, rebuilt damaged equipment and added radar to its systems.  President Saddam Hussein has also installed redundant fiber-optic communications systems in Iraq’s missile defense systems.

The U.S. Defense Department, which has long planned to deploy the bombers in England and Diego Garcia, also plans to station some in Guam to provide better access to Asia (see GSN, Sept. 16; John Hendren, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 7).

Meanwhile, workers are still repairing a B-2 that suffered $2.5 million worth of damage when it collapsed on, and injured, five members of a maintenance crew six months ago, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, July 25).

The airplane’s “left main landing gear actuator rod, the left weapons bay and main gear doors, the left wing and its control surfaces” were damaged, according to the accident report.

The incident, which took place during maintenance requested by the air crew, was classified as the first B-2 “Class A” accident — an accident that costs more than $1 million or results in death.

“It was an error made by the maintenance crew,” U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command spokesman Maj. Roger Lawson said.  “It was kind of a strange thing” (Rich Tuttle, Aerospace Daily, Nov. 7).

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  GET INVOLVED  |  SITE MAP

Back to top