Not So Stealthy

EXECUTIVE MEMO

pparently, the Pentagon is using a different definition of "stealth" than appears in most dictionaries. If you want to know about the Defense Department's travel rules or spending plans you'll be hard pressed to find anyone to talk. But ask about stealth bombers, the radar-evading, covert planes the Pentagon has spent billions developing, and plenty of people will tell you all about them.

Pentagon officials couldn't stop talking about the eight F-117A stealth fighters it sent to the Persian Gulf in September to impress Iraqi bad boy Saddam Hussein. They were happy to supply the plane's dimensions (66 feet by 43 feet), speed (subsonic), weight (52,500 pounds), and the radar signature (it registers as if it were a hummingbird), among less interesting data.

If only the agency were so forthcoming about a few other things.