DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1985 FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1984 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON STRATEGIC AND THEATER NUCLEAR FORCES, Washington, DC. AIR-BREATHING DETERRENT The subcommittee met, in open session pursuant to notice, at 8:58 a.m., in room SR-222, Russell Senate Office Building, Senator John W. Warner (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Goldwater, Wilson, and Levin. Staff present: Robert F. Bott, William E. Hoehn, Jr., professional staff members; Douglas R. Graham, research assistant; Karen A. Love, staff assistant. Also present: Gerald J. Smith, assistant to Senator Goldwater; Mark J. Albrecht, assistant to Senator Wilson; Jeffrey B. Subko, assistant to Senator Exon; Peter D. Lennon, assistant to Senator Levin. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR BARRY GOLDWATER, PRESIDING Senator GOLDWATER. The meeting will come to order. Senator Warner, because of the snow, is delayed. I almost could not make it home last night. I parked my car in somebody's driveway and walked a mile in the snow and walked back a mile this morning and it was still there. [Laughter.] The subcommittee meets this morning to receive testimony in support of the 1985 request for the air-breathing deterrent. We are pleased to welcome back Dr. Thomas Cooper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research, Development, and Logistics. We welcome also Lt. Gen. Robert Russ, Maj. Gen. William Gorton, and Maj. Gen. John Shaud. This hearing will establish the record on which we justify our recommendations on the programs in this area. Gentlemen, we look forward to your report on the progress that is being made in carrying out this important aspect of the strategic modernization program. If you have prepared texts, you can submit them for the record and they will be printed as if read and then you can just run through whatever you want to say. So let's begin. STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS E. COOPER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND LOGISTICS, ACCOMPANIED BY. LT. GEN. ROBERT D. RUSS, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION, U.S. AIR FORCE; MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM A. GORTON, USAF, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION; AND MAJ. GEN. JOHN A. SHAUD, USAF, DIRECTOR OF PLANS AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR PLANS AND OPERATIONS Dr. COOPER. Thank you, Senator Goldwater. Indeed, in spite of the snow, we are pleased to be back today. We were here on Tuesday to discuss the ICBM modernization program and we had a very thorough discussion of that and we look forward to the discussion today on the air-breathing leg. I think we have a good story to tell. I might just divert for a minute and say we very much appreciated, Senator, your attendance at our Worldwide Commanders Conference here several weeks ago. Senator GOLDWATER. It was the best night I have had in a long time. Dr. COOPER. We enjoyed it, too. As I mentioned, today we are here to discuss the air-breathing leg of the strategic triad, and let me just give you a little summary of our program. I am sure you are familiar, but for the committee's benefit, let me go over it. What our program is intended to do is to maintain the usefulness of the B-52 force while laying the groundwork for increased bomber capability in the future. Our plan calls for the production of 100 B-1B's to increase our near and mid-term capability. Senator WARNER [presiding]. Please continue. Thank you. Dr. COOPER. Good morning, Senator Warner. If I could, I will just back up briefly and start over for your benefit. What I was in the process of doing was describing the modernization elements of the air-breathing leg; that is the purpose of the hearing today, to discuss the air-breathing leg. Our program as we have laid it out will maintain the usefulness of the B-52 force while laying the groundwork for increased bomber capability in the future. The plan calls for the production of 100 B-1B's to increase our near and midterm capability; conversion of the B-52G and H aircraft to cruise missile carriers and conventional roles as well; retirement of the B-52D's and the employment of an advanced technology bomber to meet our future challenges and our future needs. In addition, we are also in the processes of reengining the KC135, at least a portion of the KC-135 fleet. We have a research and development program underway that will lead to an avionics upgrade of the FB-111, and in addition, as you well know, we have two cruise missiles-one that we are currently phasing down, the AGM-86B, and one that is currently in development and moving toward production, the so-called advanced cruise missile. I am pleased to report to the committee that the two-bomber program is right on track. The B-1B is on schedule and within cost and, quite frankly, we think it is looking very good. Our plan is to deploy 100 and the initial operational capability, which we think we will meet, is in 1986. Likewise, the advanced technology bomber is moving forward and we are still holding to the early 1990's IOC that we briefed this committee on last year. Before I turn the microphone over to General Russ, I want to once again point out, Mr. Chairman, that I believe we are on a stable course in modernizing both the air-breathing and ICBM legs of the triad. We very much appreciate the strong support given to us by this committee and we look forward to your continued support of our efforts to modernize and strengthen our strategic deterrent force in the future. I would like to introduce once again my colleagues. On my right is Lt. Gen. Robert Russ, who is our Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition. On my far right is Maj. Gen. John Shaud, who works for General Chain, our Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations. General Shaud is Director of Plans. And on my left is Maj. Gen. Bill Gorton, who works for General Russ and is the Director for Operational Requirements. Mr. Chairman, we did submit a statement that summarized both the air-breathing and ICBM modernization programs last time. That was submitted for the record. General Russ has a statement he would like to submit for the record. If we could do that with your concurrence, and he does have a brief overview that he would like to provide to the committee. Senator WARNER. Without objection. Thank you. STATEMENT OF LT. GEN. ROBERT D. RUSS, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION, U.S. AIR FORCE General Russ. Sir, this morning I would like to just cover two or three slides to set the stage on how we propose to address the airbreathing threat in our portion of the budget. You saw this slide the other day. What it does say is that we have $62.5 billion in our investment account, composed of our research, development and evaluation and also our procurement accounts. The strategic portion takes up about 25 percent of that, or $17.2 billion. Now about 50 percent of that figure, some $8.6 billion, goes for our bomber programs. |