Why The B-52 Got $11.9 Billion

[ErnstBlofeld]

DoD Buzz/Colin Clark:


When the Air Force announced an $11.9 billion sustainment contract to Boeing last week for the venerable and enduring B-52 eyebrows shot up along the Potomac, especially on Capitol Hill.

It appeared to provide roughly $127 million per airplane spread out over eight years, one hell of a lot of money for a plane that originally cost $9.3 million in 1955 (somewhere around $76 million per in current dollars). So we checked with the Air Force to get some details on just what was happening and why.

Congressional aides were flabbergasted by the contract, for which no money has been authorized and almost none obligated. When I shared the Air Force response with some congressional aides they were not happy since I got an answer more quickly than they did. One of them put it this way: “I can’t validate or comment yet on what you’ve been given, other than the fact that it’s “ops normal” on how the Pentagon chooses to interact and engage with the Hill.” (There were also a few choice words about how “dysfunctional” the legislative affairs office at the Pentagon is, but we won’t go into that.)


Here are the details on the B-52 deal. It’s an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. The amount is “based on estimated costs derived from current activities and in-house estimates for future projected support requirements for B-52 modernization.” In an interesting approach, the Air Force gave the contract a “sufficient ceiling” for “programs critical to maintaining B-52 mission capability as funding is appropriated and authorized.” That may allay some of the concerns on the Hill about the deal.