January 13, 2005

US Air Force is pushing to keep production of F/A-22 fighter jet in full production despite crash during test flight near Las Vegas on Dec 20 and Defense Sec Donald H Rumsfeld's report that Defense Department plans to cut number of planes it will buy by about one third; F/A-22 tops list of $30 billion in weapons programs that Rumsfeld want to chop from fiscal 2006 budget and years beyond as Bush administration seeks to rein in spending while costs of war in Iraq continue unabated and budget deficit looms; underlying F/A-22 cuts is policy debate between Rumsfeld and Air Force over future of military air fleet and nature of aerial warfare; debate also sets up political dogfight between highly advanced F/A-22 and Joint Strike Fighter, cheaper, more prosaic fighter that is supposed to replace F-16 workhorse, starting in 2013; Rumsfeld's decision to provide funds for only 180 F/A-22 Raptors, down from previously planned 227, suggests Air Force has become more vulnerable in Washington's endless bureaucratic wars; that is partly result of political scandal over Air Force proscurement practices that contributed to decision last November of Air Force Sec James G Roche, staunch F/A-22 supporter, to resign this month; photos (M)

Alessandra Stanley reviews new ESPN drama Tilt starring Don Everest, Kristen Lehman, Eddie Cibrian and Todd Williams; photo (M)

Lincoln Center chairman Bruce Crawford, 75, who assumed post in June 2002, says, in interview, that he will step down in June; decision comes in midst of ambitious fund-raising campaign for first phase of center's major redevelopment plan: $475 million overhaul of West 65th Street; photo (M)

Officials overseeing $1.25-billion settlement of class-action suit over conduct of Swiss banks during Holocaust era publish list of 3,100 newly released names of Nazi-era depositors; attorney Burt Neuborne explains publication, after months of negotiation, of list culled from records of millions of Swiss bank accounts opened between 1933 and 1945 (M)

Chess game databases give players opportunity to study their opponents' strategies; rapidly improving computer programs can analyze games and make suggestions about moves; some champions say databases have made chess more predictable and less fun, stifling creativity, especially in openings; innovations become known almost as soon as they are played, making things more difficult for creative players; photos (M)