WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is fighting congressional attempts to maintain the full fleet of B-52 bombers, according to U.S. Defense Department documents.
The U.S. Air Force wants to reduce the fleet from 94 to 56 B-52s but has been opposed by the House of Representatives, which prohibited the move in its version of the 2007 defense authorization report. That report requires the current fleet to be maintained until 2018, when a new long-range bomber can come into the inventory.
The Air Force wants to retire large numbers of B-52s, part of a scheme to cut more than $20 billion from its own budget over the next four years and direct the savings into high-tech programs, including the purchase of the expensive F-22 fighter jet.
"The Department acknowledges there are risks associated with a smaller bomber fleet when applied to a scenario involving two major combat operations," states the Pentagon appeal to the Congress on the 2007 defense authorization bill. But it says the risks can be mitigated by reevaluating how strike missions are carried out.
The funding scheme was approved late last year in a closely guarded program budget decision that also cancelled the U-2 spy plane and the F-117 fighter jet.
The Air Force has attempted to reduce the B-52 fleet multiple times over the last decade and Congress has repeatedly required the full complement of 94 aircraft be kept.
The Air Force wants to retire 18 of the workhorse bombers in FY-07 and another 20 in FY-08, according to Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Thomas.
UPI erroneously reported Aug. 8 the Air Force planned to take the fleet down to 33.
