TRAFFIC

Idaho air bases are finalists for new F-35 fighter jet

Mountain Home Air Force Base and Boise's Gowen Field are among 11 bases that are being considered to house or provide training for the state-of-the-art F-35.

BY KATHLEEN KRELLER - kkreller@idahostatesman.com

Published: 10/30/09

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Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force

F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

F-35 finalists

Candidates for bases for operations: Mountain Home Air Force Base; Burlington International Airport Guard Station, Vt.; Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Jacksonville International Airport Air Guard Station, Fla.; Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.; and McEntire Air Guard Base, S.C.

Candidates for training: Gowen Field; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.; Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.; and Tucson International Airport Air Guard Station, Ariz.

If selected, the Idaho bases will have new high-profile missions that could mean at least 20 years of stability.

Mountain Home is competing with five other sites to house the F-35 Lightning, which in 2013 will begin to replace aging F-15 and F-16 aircraft. Gowen is in the running with four other bases to provide training.

"It is very exciting news," said Col. John Bird, commander of Mountain Home's 366th Fighter Wing. "It is a major step when you think they are considering hundreds of bases around the country. To be named one of the finalists ... is a big deal."

The Air Force considered 205 bases during the initial selection, evaluating sites on factors like airspace, training ranges, weather, support facilities, environmental concerns and cost.

Mountain Home's finalist status makes its proposal to expand its airspace by 29 percent even more important, Bird said.

A military study of the environmental impact of the fighter jets flying overhead and dropping fake bombs is wrapped up. The proposed expansion is in the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration, which typically takes a little less than a year to approve or kill such proposals.

An expanded range would ensure viability of the air base, a major economic force in southern Idaho, base officials said. The base has more than a billion-dollar impact each year on Idaho's economy and is the state's second-largest employer, base officials said.

The next step in the F-35 base-selection process includes a formal environmental analysis, site surveys and public meetings.

Senior Air Force officials will evaluate that and other data before cutting down the candidates in late spring of 2010. A final decision should come by early 2011.

Initial deployment of the F-35 begins in 2013, with from 250 to 300 aircraft projected for delivery by 2017.

Kathleen Kreller: 377-6418

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