Seven of those bombers would come from Barksdale Air Force, which has the large majority of the nation's B-52s.

Barksdale would maintain its current squadrons, under the plan that is described as still in its preliminary stages.

Even if it loses some B-52s, Barksdale appears in line to wind up with a net gain of 300 jobs because of an Air Force plan to increase training and management of nuclear operations. The jobs would not be related to Cyber Command, which Barksdale hopes will become its permanent headquarters.

South Dakota Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Congressman Earl Pomeroy said a new B-52 squadron would bring 1,000 people to Minot and would increase the total number of combat-ready B-52s from 12 to as many as 22. One B-52 would come from a squadron at Minot. There would be 54 B-52s at Barksdale, under that plan.

Lawmakers said they have fought to push back military efforts to cut the number of B-52 bombers in the Air Force to 56.

Conrad said an additional 17 B-52s will be maintained for parts.

The B-52 has been widely used in Afghanistan and is able to drop an array of weapons, including conventional bombs and laser-guided cruise missiles.

The Air Force did not return a call for comment.

Minot earlier this spring was recertified in the handling of nuclear weapons after months of retraining and sanctions imposed on about 65 airmen. That followed a mix-up last year in which a B-52 bomber was mistakenly loaded with nuclear missiles under its wings and flown to Barksdale, where a bomb crew noticed what had happened. The B-52 had sat for hours at Barksdale.

Under a change announced in February, the Air Force said B-52 crews assigned to training for a nuclear attack mission will do that exclusively for at least six months at a time.

Dorgan said the South Dakota delegation has no timetable yet for the new bomber squadron but he believes it will happen quickly. The Air Force has estimated the B-52 bomber has another 30 years of life, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report