Air base in Duluth, Minn. to get new F-16 fighters

The Minnesota Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth is getting new fighter planes.

Rep. Jim Oberstar and Sen. Amy Klobuchar say the base will get 18 new F-16s starting in April. The planes will replace an aging generation of F-16s that are being retired.

Both Minnesota Democrats say the new planes are a sign of the base's long-term future.

The Duluth base was threatened with closing five years ago. Klobuchar says the facility is the city's ninth largest employer with more than 1,200 full- and part-time employees.

The Bulldogs of the 148th have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and in domestic homeland defense operations in Hawaii, Alaska and South Carolina.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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