WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate appropriators offered sympathy and support for the Air National Guard in its effort to gain new tactical aircraft. Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye told the director of the Air National Guard that appropriators would do their best to make sure replacement fighters are in the budget. The Guard uses F-16s and F-15s. The Government Accountability Office reported in January that if the planes aren’t replaced by 2020, 11 of 18 domestic air sovereignty alert sites could be without aircraft. (Source: Aviation Week, 03/25/09)
