The Project on Government Oversight

Portions of the Pentagon's Department of Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report
April 16, 2004

Is the Air Force Spending Itself into Unilateral Disarmament?
August 2, 2001

With its ever increasing commitment to complex, expensive, high-tech weapons and willingness to advance the cause of defense contractors, the Pentagon is on a path that will actually degrade U.S. fighting forces. For example, at the start of the cold war, America's long-range bombing fleet consisted of 1,380 B-47s and 680 B-52s. Those bombers have declined significantly in number since the advent of fewer and more expensive bombers like the B-1B and B-2 Spirit.

The U.S. military budget is fast approaching cold war spending levels, and the cost of developing, testing and procuring new military aircraft is spinning out of control. As the per copy cost of military aircraft rises, older aircraft are not being replaced on a one-to-one basis. The cause for concern: The number of aircraft in the U.S. fleet is declining so fast that the Air Force’s control of the skies could be threatened in the future.

Fighting with Failures Series: Case Studies of How the Pentagon Buys Weapons - B-1 Bomber
April 20, 2001

B-1 Bomber Conventional Mission Upgrade Program (CMUP)
Pentagon, Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report
April 16, 2004 

Much-Maligned B-1 Bomber Proves Hard to Kill , By James Dao, New York Times, August 1, 2001