John McCain's outspoken support of the administration's decision to retire the B-1 bomber.

CNN: Senate Democrats give Jeffords committee chair

"We compete in the land of the giants, " says Jones, 56, a onetime fighter pilot for the Air Force who later spent 15 years coaxing Congress and the Pentagon to fund big-ticket Rockwell International programs like the B-1 bomber.

FORBES: Top Gun

To achieve these reductions, the Peacekeeper ICBMs have been retired, the Navy has removed four Trident submarines from strategic service and the B-1 bomber is now used for conventional weapons only and will not retain its capability to return to a nuclear role.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: US Nuclear Stockpile

This 96 B-1's were procured as an interim bomber until B-2's were available.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Letter to the President

Originally designed to speed nuclear bombs into Cold War Russia, the B-1 was retooled to become a long-range bomber able to carry more conventional bombs, allowing it to hit more targets over a wider area.

CNN: B-1 bomber burns after landing in Qatar

Given the persistent problems that may compromise the future ability of the B-1 to penetrate those defenses and the uncertain political fate of the B-2 bomber, retaining the right to deploy a sizeable and technologically competitive U.S. air-launched cruise missile force is imperative.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | A Schizophrenic Policy Toward The USSR: Hard Line On Defense Cuts; Soft Line In Arms Talks

The B-1B has some stealth features: A smooth design and the use of radar-absorbing materials gave it an appearance on radar that is said to be only 1% of that of the older B-52 bomber, even though it is only a little shorter - at 146 feet (44.5 metres) - and weighs almost the same.

BBC: Profile: B-1 bomber

The Boeing B-29 bomber, for instance, had 40, 540 different parts, and 1, 400 sub- contractors provided most of them.

ECONOMIST: The "dollar-a-year" men and what they achieved

At present the nation's long-range bomber force consists primarily of two aircraft: the B-52 and the B-1.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Letter to the President