Senate approves move to update B-52 fleet

Posted on: Mar. 20th, 2006 || Source: airforcetimes.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Louisiana lawmakers persuaded the Senate on Thursday to approve a proposal that calls for keeping and upgrading all of the Air Force's B-52 bombers. The proposal runs counter to a Pentagon plan to cut the fleet from 92 to 56 planes.

Barksdale Air Force Base is home to most of the planes — 63 bombers. The Pentagon said the B-52s are outdated and need to be replaced by a new generation of long-range strike bombers.

But Louisiana’s two senators, Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter, said the new bombers won’t be ready for another decade.

“Until we have a new generation of long-range bombers, we cannot put our nation at risk by cutting our B-52 fleet,” Landrieu said.

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