WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
The U.S. Air Force is "holding tight" to a target of $550 million for
each new long-range bomber in a fleet of up to 100 aircraft, excluding
research and development costs, an Air Force official said on Tuesday.
"We're still
using that as a pretty firm chalk line for those companies that are
bidding on it and in determining which requirements make it, and which
ones don't," Air Force Undersecretary Eric Fanning told reporters.
He said the cost per aircraft would be higher if research and
development costs and inflation were added. He acknowledged that "a
number of people" thought the $550 million target was too low to develop
the requirements needed for a next-generation bomber.
The Air Force planned to spend nearly $12 billion on the bomber program
over the next five years, said spokesman Ed Gulick. He said the $550
million target was calculated in 2010 dollars, assuming a fleet of 100
bombers.
Boeing Co and
Lockheed Martin Corp teamed up to compete against Northrop Grumman Corp
to develop a successor to Northrop's B-2 bomber in one of the biggest
aircraft development programs being launched by the U.S. military as
defense budgets were being cut.
The project was one of the Air Force's priorities, along with the
Lockheed F-35 fighter jet and the KC-46A refueling plane being built by
Boeing.
Fanning said the cost
target for the bomber would help ensure that the Air Force and the
companies involved remained disciplined about the capabilities and
equipment proposed for the new aircraft.
He said former Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter had been
passionate about limiting the cost of the program, and that the Air
Force was "hewing pretty hard to that number."
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Andrew Hay and Amanda Kwan)
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