Meanwhile, Heritage is busy claiming that the US military is gutted because we’re still flying the B-52 and that other planes require cannibalizing equipment from other aircraft.

What’s entirely missing from that whole discussion? Namely that the USAF has failed to produce a single bomber after the B-52 that can do all that the B-52 can do. No other bomber can deliver the payload of the B-52 or the types of munitions - everything from SDBs to nukes to cruise missiles.

It doesn’t have the speed of the B-1 or the stealth of the B-2, but it doesn’t cost what either does, and it’ll probably continue flying long after other two are retired.

It’s the same story with the A-10. The USAF wants to retire it before its replacement is ready (the F-35), and the replacement can’t do the job nearly as well or as cost-effectively.

So, because the USAF has to watch its costs because its acquisition program for the F-35 is so bloated and everything depends on that program moving ahead, all the other aircraft in the arsenal are getting short shrift in the interim.

That’s also the result of sequestration, but the GOP doesn’t mind that except when it comes to things military.