Within days of action by the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee eliminating funding to keep 18 attrition reserve B-52s at Minot AFB, N.D., Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) struck a blow that would at least delay Air Force plans to retire any BUFFs anytime soon. The full Senate Appropriations Committee approved a Dorgan amendment requiring an independent study to evaluate whether retiring part of the B-52 fleet would create a “bomber gap.” Dorgan believes that the report will show that it makes little sense to retire the most “cost effective bombers in the military’s fleet.”
The Pentagon is considering ditching the Air Force’s plan to buy the E-7 Wedgetail as it looks to outsource the airborne target-tracking mission to space, defense officials indicated this week.