John Milburn

A dozen Eisenhower-era refueling tankers are leaving Kansas and heading for retirement in Arizona, even as debate continues in Congress over a contract to build replacement aircraft.

The aircraft have been parked on the ramp at Topeka's Forbes Field since last fall as the Kansas Air National Guard moves toward using only new versions of the tankers, KC-135Rs. Ground crews have been keeping the old planes, KC-135Es, in a federally mandated "warm ready" state in case of emergency, even though the Kansas Guard has no one certified to fly them.

CHARLIE RIEDEL / The Associated Press

Master Sgt. Mark Mertel walks past one of a dozen soon to be retired tankers Wednesday located at the 190th Air Refueling Wing based at Forbes Field.

CHARLIE RIEDEL / The Associated Press

Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting talks about the retirement of old refueling tankers, while Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., looks on during a news conference Wednesday at the 190th Air Refueling Wing at Forbes Field.

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ONLINE RESOURCES

• Kansas Air National Guard: www.kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral

• Air Force: www.af.mil

• Boyda's office: www.boyda.house.gov

Last month, the Air Force awarded a $35 billion contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. to replace all of the KC135s. It passed over Boeing Co., which had been considered the heavy favorite. Boeing built the KC-135s starting in 1955, and they are a military version of its 707 commercial airliner.

The 190th Air Refueling Wing based at Forbes flies 12 of the newer KC-135s, making space limited for operations, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, adjutant general for Kansas.

"We want to keep it as open as possible," said Bunting, who approached Rep. Nancy Boyda about accelerating the retirement of tankers.

Boyda, a Democrat representing Kansas' 2nd District, said the decision to keep obsolete tankers made no sense and was wasting resources.

"It has a nationwide impact," Boyda said. "It's time to put them to bed. They've had a very good life."

In all, close to 100 of the older-model tankers are sitting on tarmacs across the country with an annual maintenance budget of $93,000 each. That includes removing snow and ice from wings in the winter and basic repairs to keep them airworthy. The average age of the 12 Kansas aircraft is 35 years.

"I don't think that when the folks at Boeing designed them they thought they'd last for 50 years," Bunting said.

Two of the older planes were already retired this year, with four more slated to go to storage in Arizona by early June.

President Bush signed a bill late in 2007 increasing the number of aircraft that the Air Force could retire annually from 48 to 85. That decision was contingent upon the awarding of a contract to replace 179 refueling tankers.

Boeing is protesting the Air Force decision, saying the bidding process was tilted toward its competitors. Many in Congress also are outraged, saying the decision will result in a loss of jobs in the United States and compromises national security. The tankers will be built in Europe and assembled in Alabama.

Until the new tankers are built and put into service, Bunting said the KC-135R models could last 20 or 30 more years.

Bunting and Boyda said clearing space at Forbes would create more room for current operations or to bring another air mission to Kansas, such as an airlift wing flying cargo planes.

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