Sen. Byron Dorgan included funding in the 2008 defense spending bill to preserve 76 B-52 bombers, despite Air Force efforts to retire all but 56 of the big bombers. In a statement, Dorgan calls the B-52 “our lowest-cost bomber” and says “it makes no sense to park these planes when they are … performing indispensable missions in the war on terror.” The full Senate has yet to take up the bill, and then it faces a conference session with the House. Earlier this year, House and Senate authorizers also added funds to keep 76 B-52s. The full Senate plans to take up the 2008 defense policy bill this week, but work on the spending bill probably won’t start till after the new fiscal year starts on Oct. 1.
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…