Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has taken issue with the Air Force’s 2007 budget proposal to retire some B-52 bombers because, he says, “Right now deep strike largely resides on the back of these ancient B-52s.” Hunter pointed out during an Air Force budget hearing last week that the service has “resisted quite strongly” any new starts on new bombers, noting that additional B-2 initiatives were “dropped like a rock.” Hunter asserted that relying on “this tiny contingent of B-2s, even with our new smaller precision munitions, you still are cutting it very, very close.” He added that with attrition factored in, “We are in what I would call real trouble.”
Two U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers flew with Japanese fighters over the Sea of Japan after a string of Chinese provocations toward Japan—including a joint bomber patrol with Russia—in response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan.
