As worries continue about the numbers of ships to be built at Bath Iron Works, Sen. Susan Collins has expressed concern on the number of planes flown at Brunswick Naval Air Station.
The Navy’s fleet of P-3 Orions, based in Brunswick and three other U.S. bases, could be reduced by 31 planes.
The plan is part of President Bush’s proposed budget, released on Feb. 7.
The decision for retirement may be one of practical necessity.
The P-3, a four-engine, turbo-prop, was first built by Lockheed in 1962. Some of the P-3s that are still flying in the Navy’s fleet are 1960’s vintage.
Dale Gerry, a former military adviser to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and former U.S. Sen. William Cohen, R-Maine, said Friday the Navy may have no choice but to retire the planes.
They have lasted as long as they have, Gerry said, because of constant maintenance, which has included periodic rebuilding at the Naval Aviation Depot in Jacksonville, Fla.
In recent years, about 100 P-3s have been retired because of age, John James, spokesman for Brunswick Naval Air Station, said Friday.
And a new generation of the planes, a modified version of the Boeing 747, is due to begin replacing the P-3 in 2012.
However, until the new planes are introduced, the Navy needs to be careful about getting rid of the ones it has, Collins said.
“We should use caution when assuming an aircraft, weapons system, or base is no longer needed,” Collins said Friday in a prepared statement.
“We do not know what the threats of the future are going to require, no matter how much we try to predict what those threats might be,” the senator continued.
The planes were first created for the Cold War, tasked with hunting for submarines and, if needed, destroying them.
However, in the 1990s, the planes’ mission expanded to include reconnaissance.
Currently, P-3s from Brunswick are helping in the tsunami relief efforts. They have also been included in missions over Iraq and Bosnia.
Brunswick Naval Air Station is the home base for four active-duty P-3 squadrons and one reserve squadron.
Active-duty squadrons typically have eight planes each. The reserve squadron has four.
The Navy’s other P-3 bases are in Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Barber’s Point, Hawaii.
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