BANGOR (AP) – Maine leaders used a weekend visit by the director of the Air National Guard to make a pitch for bringing new refueling tankers, and possibly an active duty unit, to Bangor International Airport, home of the 101st Air Refueling Wing.

Gov. John Baldacci and Maine’s congressional delegation met Saturday with Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, who was invited to come to Bangor by Maj. Gen. Bill Libby, commander of the Maine National Guard.

Bangor’s 101st Air Refueling Wing plays an important role in refueling military aircraft coming and going from Europe and the Middle East, delivering more jet fuel than any other Air National Guard Base in the country, said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

“Strategically, Bangor is located about 18 minutes flying time from one of the most heavily used operational aerial refueling corridors in the world,” she said.

But the 101st Air Refueling Wing’s KC-135 aircraft that fly air-to-air refueling missions over the Northeast have air frames that date to the late 1950s and 1960s.

Maine leaders want the Air Force and Air National Guard to step up replacement of those aging tankers and possibly bring an active duty squadron with 200 airmen to Bangor. They also want to build a new hangar that could be used for existing KC-135s in addition to larger tankers in the future.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said putting an active-duty unit in Bangor would bring an added bonus. “The military is far less likely to close or realign a base that has both an active duty component and a guard unit,” she said.

Whether KC-135 is replaced with newer KC-10 tankers or next-generation tankers remains to be seen.

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its U.S. partner Northrop Grumman Corp. won a $35 million contract to build 179 next-generation tankers. But Boeing Inc., which competed for the lucrative contract, has filed a formal protest over the contract process.

AP-ES-04-06-08 1350EDT