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.
Unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous aircraft may provide a solution to operating in heavily contested domains such as the Taiwan Straits, according to a panel of expert who suggested operationalizing artificial intelligence for such purposes sooner rather than later. The group gathered virtually to help launch the Mitchell Institute for…