New Stealth Takes Flight
    After more than three months of delays, the F-22 stealth fighter
 took its first flight Sunday as hundreds of people watched from out-
 side the Dobbins Air Reserve Base north of Atlanta. Escorted by two
 F-16 fighters, test pilot Paul Metz put the new advanced tactical
 fighter through its paces on an hour-long flight in clear skies. The
 F-22 Raptor was originally scheduled to fly on May 29 but was beset
 by a fuel leak and faulty auxiliary power unit this summer.  It is
 the slated replacement for the U.S. Air Force's aging fleet of F-15
 Eagle fighters. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the F-22
 will cost about $100 million per plane, making it one of the cost-
 liest programs in U.S. history.
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          Pentagon plans 'smart' substitute for landmines
     WASHINGTON (September 8, 1997 00:45 a.m. EDT) ---- The Pentagon
 is looking to develop an alternative to landmines that would use un-
 manned aircraft piloted by remote control. The drones would hover
 over a battlefield using cameras and infra-red sensors to detect
 movement by units on the ground.
     Once any had been spotted, other drones would carry anti-person-
 nel bombs to the scene and drop them directly on the troops below.
 So instead of seeding a large area with mines in advance, a defend-
 ing force would be able to target its attacks directly on invaders.
     Research on the drone concept was described as promising by
 Robert Bell, President Clinton's director for defense and arms con-
 trol policies on the National Security Council. He said the high-
 tech idea was expensive but was only one of several options under
 consideration by Pentagon planners.
     The U.S. military already has some unmanned drones in operation,
 though not yet as an alternative to mine-laying. Armed with surveil-
 lance cameras, they have been used successfully as spotter aircraft
 in Bosnia and will be in the U.S. Army's experimental Fourth Infan-
 try Division where units will be linked in a battlefield Internet
 designed to provide exact information on an enemy's whereabouts.
 ..... Much unrelated material deleted..........
 (Cohen, Bell and most of Clinton's military staff have NO military
 training OR experience... How can they judge... TV show? Jim)
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