The Air Force has not ruled out sending B-52s to US Central Command to backfill the capability of B-1Bs leaving theater to undergo an avionics upgrade, a service spokesman said Thursday. “All options are on the table with regard to what mix of aircraft will replace the B-1 in the US Central Command area of operations,” the spokesman said. Lt. Gen. John Raymond, USAF’s deputy chief of staff for operations, had suggested that B-52s were out of the mix at a Wednesday AFA-sponsored, Air Force breakfast.
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.