Eglin AFB to host F-35 training aircraft

Byron Longe

In an effort to continue providing airmen with the most advanced tools in modern warfare, the Air Force has announced plans to deliver 59 new F-35 Lightening II Joint Strike Fighters to Eglin AFB to help train the next generation of pilots on one of the most technologically advanced aircraft currently in the sky.

The aircraft, which will be separated into two unique training squadrons, had initially been expected to find a home in Mountain Home Air Force Base and Gowen field in Idaho, though both have been remanded to the reasonable alternative list.

Colonel Ronald Buckley, the commander of the 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB, tells the Mountain Home News that the Air Force plans to field around 1,700 of the fighters of the next few years, with new batches of jets finding their way to Air Force bases across the country every two to three years.

Created as a multi-service jet, the F-35 was intended to replace the Air Force's aging F-16 Fighting Falcon that has been in production since then 1970s. The service plans to place between 200 and 300 of the aircraft in the skies by 2015, says the news provider.

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