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.”
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.