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WASHINGTON — Air Force officials say they are moving away from plans to rapidly retire F-117 stealth fighter aircraft from Holloman Air Force Base, a decision New Mexico's senators say will help ensure the base stays active until new planes can be delivered.

The Bush administration earlier this year announced the Air Force would retire all 52 F-117s from the base near Alamogordo by 2008. The Pentagon plans to replace the planes with 36 F-22A Raptors beginning in 2009.

New Mexico officials had worried that retiring the F-117s by 2008 would leave the base idle for a year or more.

But the senators announced Monday that Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne has said he would slow down the schedule because his top commanders were concerned that retiring the F-117s too quickly would create a gap in military capability.

The senators praised the plan to move in a "slower, more orderly fashion."

"Until F-22A Raptors are online, the F-117 can still be a valuable tool in the war on terror," said Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican.

Added Silver City Democrat Jeff Bingaman, "Retiring the F-117s before they could be replaced with the Raptor seemed not only to defy logic, but it didn't appear to be in the best interest of our national security."

The Pentagon's initial plan called for retiring 10 F-117s by 2007 and the rest in 2008, and for the F-22A to arrive at Holloman between 2009 and 2011, Air Force spokeswoman Jean Schaefer said.