HAFB to Get New Joint Strike Fighters

None by KCPW

Two Squadrons Expected

(KCPW News) Further strengthening its position as the premier air logistics center in the Air Force, Utah's Hill Air Force Base has been named one of three operational bases for the F-35A Lightening II, or Joint Strike Fighter. Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ed Thomas says the Air Force will be fielding the F-35As over the next three decades, but Hill will see them first:

"Hill's been chosen, the Guard side and the active duty side of the base, as one of our first three operational bases. So these three bases that are in the first round will be seeing the aircraft in just a few short years."

In addition to Hill, Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina and Kadena Air Force Base in the Pacific will be getting the F-35As, a stealth fighter that combines a first-rate ground-attack capability with advanced avionics, providing pilots a "first-look, first-shot capability" when engaging enemy aircraft. Because Hill already has a similar mission with the outgoing F-16s, Thomas says the environmental impact analysis that must be completed prior to deployment should go smoothly:

"We anticipate that they [F-35As] will be very similar to the current mission [of F-16s]. We're looking at everything from aircraft noise to aircraft pollution to specific requirements, fuels and other things unique to that aircraft."

Hill can expect to start with at least two F-35A squadrons, which means 48 permanent Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and the pilots and personnel to support them. Currently, Hill's 388th Fighter Wing has 72 aircraft divided between three squadrons.

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