Luke selected for USAF F-35A training base.

[neptune]

LRIPs 5,6&7 would provide the 70+ a/c for Luke starting in 2014-16. These would include 13 a/c for Italy, Turkey, Norway and Australia.

Something is not right with those numbers. The entire USAF production run for F-35As for LRIP5-7 is only 62. As far as for foreign F-35s, I am not sure what commitments have been made.

I'll have to watch that i hour presser again to look for details.

- I only reference the published contracts to LM by DOD.

http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contra ... actid=4816

- My latest F-35 contract is 0n 20Jun12 for LRIP7 N00019-12-C-0004 Mod. 1

- LRIPS 5,6,7 (Revised)
LRIP5 CTOL-USAF 21+1
LRIP6 CTOL-USAF 19, ITAF 4, RAAF 2
LRIP7 CTOL-USAF 19, ITAF 3, TUAF 2, NOAF 2
Totals: USAF 60, ITAF 7, RAAF 2, TUAF 2, NOAF 2
ALL 73

Please provide a reference where I may be able to improve the accuracy of the data.

[SpudmanWP]

Luke is for USAF only, not F-35B/C jets.

I went off the FY2013 budget docs for my totals.

[Fox1]

So what happens to Eglin and the 33rd once Luke becomes fully operational as a training location? Will it continue to serve as a second training unit? Will it become an operational F-35 base/unit? Or will the 33rd be deactivated and its assets transferred to Luke? I am a bit confused about how this is all suppose to play out.

[Corsair1963]

So what happens to Eglin and the 33rd once Luke becomes fully operational as a training location? Will it continue to serve as a second training unit? Will it become an operational F-35 base/unit? Or will the 33rd be deactivated and its assets transferred to Luke? I am a bit confused about how this is all suppose to play out.

That makes two of us......

[spazsinbad]

This excerpt may explain....

The F-35 Readies For Takeoff Gabe Starosta 2013 Apr AIR FORCE MAG'N

"...Pilots and maintainers from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and the F-35 program’s international partners all will go through initial training at Eglin before moving on to more advanced, service-specific training at other locations. For the Air Force, that site is Luke AFB, Ariz.

“There’s about a two-year process to stand up a training base, and within that two years, the large majority of it is all of the construction that has to be done,” Dunlop said. According to the current Air Combat Command beddown plans, the first F-35s will arrive at Luke in January 2014. “It’s not terribly far away,” Dunlop noted...."

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArch ... akeoff.pdf (0.7Mb)

[Corsair1963]

This excerpt may explain....

The F-35 Readies For Takeoff Gabe Starosta 2013 Apr AIR FORCE MAG'N

"...Pilots and maintainers from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and the F-35 program’s international partners all will go through initial training at Eglin before moving on to more advanced, service-specific training at other locations. For the Air Force, that site is Luke AFB, Ariz.

“There’s about a two-year process to stand up a training base, and within that two years, the large majority of it is all of the construction that has to be done,” Dunlop said. According to the current Air Combat Command beddown plans, the first F-35s will arrive at Luke in January 2014. “It’s not terribly far away,” Dunlop noted...."

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArch ... akeoff.pdf (0.7Mb)

So, USN/USMC Pilots will leave Eglin and go where???

[spazsinbad]

To Advanced F-35B/C training bases. One on each coast at least for the USN probably (they are still figuring out EISs and squadrons at moment AFAIK). USMC bases have been identified but I don't recall those exact details at moment (why? because it has nothing to do with me chief). Other threads will have these details.

BEAUFORT is one USMC East Coast Training and Operational Squadron Base as per:

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#255246
____________

Good info about USN doing it all initially in VFA-101 (because they lag behind the rest):

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#254419

Will be the RAG: http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#254205
_________________

Selected Acquisition Report (SAR)
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft (F-35) As of December 31, 2012

"...Over the course of 2013, the training wing at Eglin AFB will prepare pilots for operational test, operational implementation and the stand-up of future training sites at Luke AFB and MCAS Beaufort in 2014...."

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#252755

[Corsair1963]

To Advanced F-35B/C training bases. One on each coast at least for the USN probably (they are still figuring out EISs and squadrons at moment AFAIK). USMC bases have been identified but I don't recall those exact details at moment (why? because it has nothing to do with me chief). Other threads will have these details.

BEAUFORT is one USMC East Coast Training and Operational Squadron Base as per:

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#255246
____________

Good info about USN doing it all initially in VFA-101 (because they lag behind the rest):

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#254419

Will be the RAG: http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#254205
_________________

Selected Acquisition Report (SAR)
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft (F-35) As of December 31, 2012

"...Over the course of 2013, the training wing at Eglin AFB will prepare pilots for operational test, operational implementation and the stand-up of future training sites at Luke AFB and MCAS Beaufort in 2014...."

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#252755

Sorry, but thanks for the information.........

[spazsinbad]

US Navy Program Guide 2013 13 Mar 2013

"...STOVL Initial Operational Capability (IOC) is planned in 2015, and CV IOC is planned in 2018. By the end of 2014, the Navy plans to procure 50 STOVL (with 34 delivered) and 26 CV aircraft (with 13 delivered). The first USMC STOVL transition of a legacy F/A-18 squadron took place in November 2012. The first Navy CV transition of a legacy F/A-18 squadron is scheduled for 2016...."

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... ing#250948
OR
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/policy/sea ... -npg13.pdf (9.7Mb)

[neptune]

All,

USN basing structure for fighter/ attack squadrons is rather simple; Atlantic Squadron ships are supported by the CV Wings from NAS Oceana at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Fleet Replacement Squadron Aviators are trained by VFA-106 (Gladiators) F/A-18A,B,C,D,E,F and the F-35C, when future F-35C a/c are available as a squadron. Likewise, Pacific Squadrons are from NAS Lemoore near Fresno, California. FRS Aviators are trained by VFA-122 (Flying Eagles) F/A-18A,B,C,D,E,F and future F-35C.

[spazsinbad]

I do not believe all of the above is correct. For example there is a toss up between Lemoore and the other place (El Centro?) about where F-35Cs should go. I do not really follow it all because (NMC=NotMeChief) it is still up in the air anyway and a long way off as noted - first CV transition for a legacy Hornet squadron in 2016.

[spazsinbad]

Navy selects Lemoore for F35 fighter base 14 Feb 2013 John Lindt

"The U.S. Navy has given a preliminary nod to basing the West Coast squadron of the next generation of stealth fighters at Naval Air Station, Lemoore, rather than El Centro near San Diego.

The F-35C has been developed as the Navy’s next strike-fighter aircraft as a replacement to FA-18C Hornet.

"Beginning in 2016, seven Navy Pacific Fleet FA-18 squadrons (70 total aircraft) currently based at NAS Lemoore would progressively transition to the new F-35C aircraft, with the transition to be complete by 2028," said a Navy news release. "In the 2017 timeframe, the West Coast F-35C training squadron (also known as Fleet Replacement Squadron, or FRS), consisting of approximately 30 aircraft, will be established to meet the requirements for training Navy pilots."

The Navy has set March 19 for a public meeting in Lemoore to discuss the findings of the two-year impact study. In January 2011, the Navy narrowed down its list of potential home bases from 134 military air facilities in the continental U.S. and found that Lemoore and El Centro “best meet Navy F-35C requirements.”

If the Navy had picked El Centro, locals feared the impact would hit Kings County hard.

A 2008 economic assessment study found the Lemoore base contributed $161 million in labor income annually to the local economy and has a total economic impact of just under $1 billion every year. The total population associated with the local base that straddles Kings and Fresno Counties is around 44,000, the study showed.

That will grow with the basing of the new fighters here. The Navy established the Kings County base in 1961 — the newest West Coast base. NAS Lemoore now hosts the Navy’s entire West Coast fighter/attack capability.

The Navy has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and a Draft General Air Conformity Determination to evaluate the potential environmental effects that may result from home basing the Navy F-35C in Lemoore or El Centro.

"Although both alternatives are considered viable, the Navy has identified NAS Lemoore as the preferred alternative in this DEIS. No basing decisions have yet been made. Following public comment on the DEIS and the publication of the Final EIS, the Secretary of the Navy or his designee will publish a Record of Decision outlining the basing decision," according to the news release...."

http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/ ... ghter-base

[neptune]

[quote="spazsinbad"][b]Navy selects....quote]

Tut, tut..... The thing a Washington politician hates worst, is a plan.

[neptune]

OMG another Pop Corn

deleted

[spazsinbad]

PLAN? Sequestration was supposed to be the PLAN that would NEVER eventuate. Yep. Plan for the Plan.