Posted on Apr 4, 2016
Alaska Air Force Base To Get F-35s in 2020
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WASHINGTON — Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, will be the future home of the Air Force's first operational F-35 joint strike fighters in the Pacific theater, the service announced today.
The base will receive two squadrons of F-35As, which will join the wing's F-16 squadron currently assigned to Eielson, according to an April 4 Air Force statement. On-base construction to prepare for the JSF is planned to start in fiscal year 2017, and the new jets are scheduled to begin arriving in 2020.
Eielson will be the first base outside of the continental United States in the Pacific area of operations to receive the Air Force's fifth-generation fighter jet, service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said April 4. The Air Force looked at a variety of overseas locations, including bases in foreign nations, but ultimately settled on Eielson as the preferred alternative, she said.
The Alaska base's proximity to the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) was a factor in the final decision, allowing the Air Force to take advantage of JPARC's 65,000 square miles of airspace for large force exercises.
The decision to base two F-35 squadrons at Eielson, combined with the existing F-22s at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, will double the Air Force's fifth-generation fighter aircraft presence in the Pacific arena, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said April 4.
"Integrating that fifth-generation force with Navy, Marine, and allied F-35 forces will provide joint and coalition warfighters unprecedented survivability, lethality and battlespace awareness in contested environments," Welsh said, according to the statement. "It's an exciting time for Pacific airpower."
The base will receive two squadrons of F-35As, which will join the wing's F-16 squadron currently assigned to Eielson, according to an April 4 Air Force statement. On-base construction to prepare for the JSF is planned to start in fiscal year 2017, and the new jets are scheduled to begin arriving in 2020.
Eielson will be the first base outside of the continental United States in the Pacific area of operations to receive the Air Force's fifth-generation fighter jet, service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said April 4. The Air Force looked at a variety of overseas locations, including bases in foreign nations, but ultimately settled on Eielson as the preferred alternative, she said.
The Alaska base's proximity to the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) was a factor in the final decision, allowing the Air Force to take advantage of JPARC's 65,000 square miles of airspace for large force exercises.
The decision to base two F-35 squadrons at Eielson, combined with the existing F-22s at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, will double the Air Force's fifth-generation fighter aircraft presence in the Pacific arena, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said April 4.
"Integrating that fifth-generation force with Navy, Marine, and allied F-35 forces will provide joint and coalition warfighters unprecedented survivability, lethality and battlespace awareness in contested environments," Welsh said, according to the statement. "It's an exciting time for Pacific airpower."
Alaska Air Force Base To Get F-35s in 2020
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Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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And by then how many revisions of this plane will it go through and will it end up looking like the A-10 in the end?
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Hopefully that is good news that Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, will be the future home of the Air Force's first operational F-35 joint strike fighters in the Pacific theater SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL. I hope the F-35 support package of units, equipment, supply and maintenance required to support the F-35 is on station when the arrive and is not delayed.
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