European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 28 a a the stars and stripes Friday april 27.1990 Cheney proposes $34.8 billion cuts from Page 1 proposal is in trouble Quot said rep. John Kasich a Ohio and an opponent of the b-2. Quot we re cutting a Little bit and we re stretching a lot. And when you Cut and stretch you drive up the Cost. But rep. Robert Davis r-mich., said Cheney a Cut in the number of b-2 purchases gives the republicans a a very dependable position something we can sell to the House and the american Cheney said the reduced purchases and delays a will save $16.8 billion in 1991 through 1994, the departments current five year spending plan and another $18 billion during 1995 through 1997.�?� Cheney proposed reducing the Pentagon a request Lor 132 stealth bombers to 75. He said the stealth cutback would lower the projected Cost of the plane from $75.4 billion to $61.1 billion saving $14.3 billion Over the life of the program. Cheney also said he intends to Cut planned purchases of the c-17 Long Range transport plane and the Navy a a-12 attack aircraft and to delay purchases of the air news Brief forces advanced tactical aircraft and the advanced tactical fighter. Congressional pressure to. Reduce the Pentagon a budget has intensified following the lessened soviet threat and the budget crunch. Supporters of the $530 million radar evading bomber have warned that the per plane Cost could double if fewer aircraft Are ordered. Cheney said some of the widespread changes were necessary because nato forces will face Quot fewer enemy aircraft and a reduced ground threat once announced soviet withdrawals from Warsaw pact nations Are completed. But the Secretary insisted that despite such developments the nations current bomber Force must be updated with the b-2 by the turn of the Century. The primary contractor for the Bat winged plane is Northrop corp. A soviet air defences both missiles and fighter aircraft will pose an increasing Challenge to our current standoff and penetrating bombers a Cheney said in the statement. Cheney said he intends to Cut the number of b-2 aircraft to be purchased in the next fiscal year to two planes Down from the five currently proposed at a Cost in the fiscal 1991 budget of $5.5 billion. And the maximum number of planes to be built during Peak years of production would be reduced to 12, instead of 24, Cheney suggested. On the other aircraft programs the Secretary proposed to buy 120 of the cd a a a ally planned billion 17s instead of the 210 originally planned at a proposed savings of $12.6 billion Over the life of the program. The plane is designed to replace the aging c-141 transport plane. Cheney noted that the new plane s ability to land on the a Shorter runways typical of the third the statement is a plug for its use by the armed forces of the future designed to fight in conflicts such As the Panama invasion As the threat of a major land War in Europe recedes. The Secretary also proposed that the Pentagon buy a minimum of 620 a-12 All weather medium attack planes cutting the original request of 858. The a-12 is designed to replace the Navy a a-6e intruder which is now reaching the end of its service life As a aircraft Carrier based Long Range strike Jet. Cheney said the air Force version Oil the plane the advanced tactical air Craft designed for deep attack missions which Are now handled by the Al 11 Andl f-15, a can safely be delayed Given the current nature of the threat and Capa Ilij ties of aircraft in i at a production would be delayed be Lyond 1997, the end of the Pentagon a Long term five year budget Cycle Cheney said. I Cheney also suggested that purchases of the Advance tactical fighter be Del played from 1994 to 1996. The aircraft is intended to replace the air forces f-15.1 the number to be purchased should re main at 750, Cheney said. The Secretary said he wanted the Planel delayed so that contractors could com plete their development work. A in Short we Are going to make sure the at works Well before launching into full scale production a Cheney said. I the delay in that fighter will also delay the procurement of the Navy a version by two years and reduce the number of aircraft to 546, from the original 618 planned the Pentagon proposal Given Ivi years for distributing marijuana Heilbronn West Germany a a Heil Bronn Soldier has been sentenced to 2 v2 years in prison after conviction on two counts of distributing marijuana according to an army official. Spec. Terry d. Hughes 24, of Stuttgart ark., assigned to co a 2nd in 4th inf was tried tuesday at the Heilbronn Legal Center the official said. Hughes had pleaded innocent to the charges but judge it. Col Robert d. Newberry ruled that he was guilty of having distributed the illegal drugs on oct. 28 and dec. 28 in Heilbronn. Newberry also sentenced Hughes to a dishonourable discharge forfeiture of All pay and allowances and reduction to the lowest enlisted rank. Smiling Polhill returns to from Page 1 a much ado about almost nothing a controversy Over a hit by stealth fighter aircraft during the United states invasion of Panama dec. 20. The debate has entered on whether one of two bombs dropped by the Al 17a was off target. Welch said the original Mission plan called for the aircraft to hit two bar i Racks that housed panamanian defense forces. But officials changed the Mission and the pilots Only dropped bombs near the Barracks he said. The change was made because the United states wanted the panamanian defense forces to a become our friends on the invasions third Day Welch said. A the pilots carried out i their Mission and did Welch what they were supposed to do a Welch said. A the real glitch came in the internal reporting. It Wasny tas Clear As it should have been to those in Washington who talk about those kinds of things exactly what took place. That a fairly easy to understand. A remember a he went on to say a the unit that flew this Mission has been a top secret compartment de done to Tell anybody anything unit for 12 years. The Mission was flown in support of a top secret unit. No one should be tremendously surprised that we did no to have a tremendously free flow of Welch who is expected to retire this year would not say who will succeed him. President Bush is expected to make the announcement within Days. Andrews fab my. Apr freed hostage Robert Polhill returned to american soil thursday offering a Broad smile and a thumbs up Salute but no word on his 39 months in Captivity. Polhill 55, stepped off a military Jet minutes after Landing at Andrews fab outside Washington. He smiled and offered intermittent Waves and thumbs up signs but would not respond to questions shouted by reporters. He pointed to his Throat at one Point when pressed to speak and mouthed the words �?o1 his reception was Low key with a state department protocol official and army and air Force officers on hand to Welcome the new yorker and his lebanese wife Feryal. Polhill walked from the plane to a government car and was whisked away under sunny skies to Walter Reed army medical Center for a physical and other medical tests. He gave a final Salute As the car passed by reporters and about 30 other people most of them uniformed air Force personnel gathered on the Edge of the Tarmac. Polhill was flown Here from Wiesbaden West Germany where he spent three Days in an air Force Hospital after his weekend release. Army doctors on hand for the arrival said the length of Polhill a stay at Walter Reed depends on his condition. Polhill a diabetic lost 25 pounds during his Captivity. He was reported to have had a voracious appetite in Wie Sbal Den. A rather than speculate what his problems will be we would like to take some time to evaluate and allow him to rest a said one of the doctors Russ Zajtchuk. At the White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said president Bush planned to have Polhill in for a visit Mooij but that a Date had not been set. Also leaving Wiesbaden on thursday was the team that debriefed Polhill amid developments Thal dampened Hopes another american hostage might Sotir be freed. I immediately after Polhill a release there was so Hope that at least one of the seven americans still held ill Lebanon would be released. In the last few Days however a number of developments have suggested otherwise among them demands from shiite militants that aral prisoners held by Israel and Kuwait be freed before theol release another hostage. I House passage earlier this week of a Resolution recognizing Jerusalem As the capital of Israel also angered aral leaders a we have no indication that there is going to be 1 release in the near future Fitzwater told reporters. Polhill a business professor was abducted with two other american educators on Jan. 24, 1987. The other Jesse Turner of Idaho and Alann Steen of Boston remain captives. Controllers regain Contact with Hubble Cape canaveral Fla. Apr ground controllers cheered after re establishing Contact thursday with the $1.5 billion Hubble space Telescope through its main antennas. An attempt six hours earlier had failed. A a in a pretty relieved i must say a said a1 Boggess Hubble project scientist at Goddard space flight Center in Greenbelt my. Applause erupted at Goddard a space Telescope operations control Center when the High Speed Contact was made thursday afternoon. Controllers sent information to the Telescope about its location and a this basically improved the telescopes knowledge of where it was what its position was a said Goddard a Dave Drachlis. They also widened the radio beam to cover a larger area around the two High Speed dish antennas. A we have confirmation that we have achieved comm i Nica Tion with the tracking and data relay satellite through the High gain Antenna system a Drachlis report Elt a. J the antennas Are the primary communications i mks for relaying scientific information to the ground. Inexperience was part of the problem Boggess said. A this probably wont be the last time we have problem a he said. A a we la keep working at it until we Lave All these things that need to be done done Wei get them i the problem began thursday morning when Engh neers tried to Point the two High Speed antennas 01 Ward two widely separated tracking and relay sate 1 without Success. Two Low Speed antennas wer�.9 1 ing Fine but Boggess said they would be sex crucial ally slow in sending data. J there had been a communications outage with m Telescope earlier. It lasted Only 45 minutes and was to to human error. F-15 was on fire when Pilot ejected. A .1___thfl Sembach a West Germany a amps a the f-15 fighter that plunged into the North sea on wednesday was on fire when its Pilot ejected a 17th air Force spokesman said thursday. Maj. Greg Smith said pieces of the aircraft have been recovered and sent to Raf Lakenheath England As part of the investigation. The plane was assigned to the 32nd tac fighter group at Oesterberg a in the nefherland5 Pilot maj. George d. Hulsey was 1not injured in 3 45 . Accident. He returned to so Este be g thursday after being held overnight for observe i the Raf Lakenheath col. John Graham jr., director of options to 1 66th electronic combat Wing Sembach a West l Many will head the investigation Board Smith Saia. 1
