Revealed: Behind the Shadowy B-21 Stealth Bomber's Veil of Secrecy
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/revealed-behind-the-shadowy-b-21-stealth-bombers-veil-15450
Revealed: Behind the Shadowy B-21 Stealth Bomber's Veil of Secrecy
Dave Majumdar
March 9, 2016
The U.S. Air Force has disclosed a trove of additional details about its secretive Northrop Grumman B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B), but is refusing to divulge information about how much the stealthy new warplane will cost, despite congressional pressure.
The Air Force is worried that disclosing the price might compromise the bombers capabilities. The services assertions were meet with skepticism on Capitol Hill, however. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), took the Air Force to task for hiding trivial details about the B-21 for the sake of secrecy. Why would you not ever want to tell the American people how youre going to spend their dollars? McCain asked on March 8.
Were trying to balance the transparency that we want to do with the public so that they understand what were doing, but were also trying to protect the critical capabilities of this asset, Lt Gen. Arnold Bunch Jr. military deputy to the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition told the SASC. Were try to prevent the ability of individuals to link different pieces that may be unclassified together to get an idea of where the money is being spent.
An incredulous McCain was not pleased. General, youre not serving the nation or the taxpayers if they dont know how much of their taxpayer dollars are being spent. You and I have a very different view of our obligation to the taxpayers, McCain said. Frankly, Ive never heard of this beforethat they shouldnt know how much of their taxpayer dollars that they pay in taxes is being spent because someone might connect the dots. What is that all about?