Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)Long-range strike is a critical mission in which the United States needs to retain a credible and dominant capability. (2)Long range, penetrating strike systems provide— (A)a hedge against being unable to obtain access to forward bases for political reasons; (B)a capacity to respond quickly to contingencies such as the failure of a nuclear-armed state; (C)the ability to base outside the reach of emerging adversary anti-access and area-denial capabilities; and (D)the ability to impose disproportionate defensive costs on prospective adversaries of the United States. (3)The 2006 Quadrennial Review directed the United States Air Force to develop a new land-based, penetrating long range strike capability to be fielded by 2018. (4)Secretary of Defense Robert P. Gates has publicly acknowledged the need for a next generation bomber on at least three separate occasions: (A)In a September 29, 2008, speech at National Defense University, where Secretary Gates said, In the case of China, investments in cyber-and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, submarines, and ballistic missiles could threaten America’s primary means to project power and help allies in the Pacific: our bases, air and sea assets, and the networks that support them. This will put a premium on America’s ability to strike from over the horizon, employ missile defenses, and will require shifts from short-range to longer-range systems such as the next generation bomber. (B)In the January/February 2009 edition of Foreign Affairs, in an article entitled, A Balanced Strategy; Reprogramming the Pentagon for a New Age, where Secretary Gates wrote, In the case of China, Beijing's investments in cyberwarfare, antisatellite warfare, antiaircraft and antiship weaponry, submarines, and ballistic missiles could threaten the United States' primary means to project its power and help its allies in the Pacific: bases, air and sea assets, and the networks that support them. This will put a premium on the United States' ability to strike from over the horizon and employ missile defenses and will require shifts from short-range to longer-range systems, such as the next generation bomber. (C)In the First Quarter 2009 edition of Joint Force Quarterly, in an article entitled, The National Defense Strategy; Striking the Right Balance, where Secretary Gates wrote, In the case of China, investments in cyber and antisatellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, submarines, and ballistic missiles could threaten America’s primary means to project power and help allies in the Pacific: our bases, air and sea assets, and the networks that support them. This will put a premium on America’s ability to strike from over the horizon and employ missile defenses; and it will require shifts from short-range to longer range systems such as the next generation bomber. (5)On April 6, 2009, Secretary Gates announced that the United States will not pursue a development program for a follow-on Air Force bomber until we have a better understanding of the need, the requirement and the technology. (6)On May 7, 2009, President Barack Obama announced the termination of the next generation bomber program in the Office of Management and Budget’s Terminations, Reductions, and Savings document, stating that there is no urgent need to begin an expensive development program for a new bomber and that the future bomber fleet may not be affordable over the next six years. (7)The need, requirement, and the technology for the next generation bomber are well understood, as set out by the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review. (8)The need for a new long-range strike capability is urgent because the conflicts of the future will likely feature heavily defended airspace, due in large part to the proliferation of relatively inexpensive, but extremely sophisticated and deadly, air defense systems. (9)General Michael Maples, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, noted during a March 10, 2009, Committee on Armed Services of the Senate hearing on worldwide threats that Russia, quite frankly, is the developer of most of those [advanced air defense] systems and is exporting those systems both to China and to other countries in the world. (10)The commanders of Pacific Command, Strategic Command, and Joint Forces Command have each testified in support of the capability that the next generation bomber will provide before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate. (11)Nearly half of the United States bomber inventory (47 percent) pre-dates the Cuban Missile Crisis. (12)The only air-breathing strike platforms the United States possesses today with reach and survivability to have a chance of successfully executing missions more than 1,000 nautical miles into enemy territory from the last air-to-air refueling are 16 combat ready B–2 bombers. (13)The B–2 was designed in the 1980s and achieved initial operational capability over a decade ago. (14)The crash of an operational B–2 during takeoff at Guam in early 2008 indicates that attrition can and does occur even in peacetime. (15)The primary mission requirement of the next generation bomber is the ability to strike targets anywhere on the globe with whatever weapons the contingency requires. (16)The requisite aerodynamic, structural, and low-observable technologies to develop the next generation bomber already exist in fifth-generation fighters. (17)A decision to terminate or delay the next generation bomber would severely diminish the ability of the United States to project power on a global scale in the future.