Posted on April 23, 2010 by Fighter Country
The Defense Department is waging a battle over the increasing price of its new stealth aircraft program. Kwame Holman reports on why the Joint Strike Fighter program, which was supposed to save the military money, is taking fire in Washington. Transcript below JEFFREY BROWN: Next: to the saga of a U.S. military plane that was designed to do more for less, but is now hitting headwinds. Congressional Correspondent Kwame Holman has the story… KWAME HOLMAN: It may look like any other fighter jet at Patuxent River Naval Air station, but the Joint Strike Fighter taking shape here is the Pentagon’s…
Posted on April 6, 2010 by Fighter Country
by Nishi Gupta KTVB.COM – News Channel 7 ****** BOISE — As the government decides where to house the new fleet of F-35 fighter jets, residents decide whether they want them in the Treasure Valley. The U.S. Air Force is considering storing the jets in Mountain Home and training the pilots at Boise’s Gowen Field. Supporters say it will bring money and jobs to the local economy. Critics are concerned what else will come in the tailwinds — noise. A concerned resident held a special meeting Monday night at Owyhee Elementary school in Boise. Monty Mericle decided it was time…
Posted on March 15, 2010 by Fighter Country
SOUTH BURLINGTON — Air Force officials, responding to a request from South Burlington officials, will meet with the public in April to discuss the local deployment of its newest — and probably noisiest — jet fighter, the F-35. City Manager Chuck Hafter said Friday that he’d confirmed the meeting for 7 p.m. April 19, but a location has not been finalized. The Vermont Air National Guard base at Burlington International Airport is one of five installations under consideration for hosting the fighter, which is thought to be several years away from deployment. However, Wednesday is the deadline for the public…
Posted on March 9, 2010 by Fighter Country
The F-35 Lightning II is a multinational, multi-service, single-pilot fighter designed with first-day-of-the-war, precision all-weather strike capability. This highly survivable fighter will be built in three variants – conventional takeoff and landing, short takeoff/ vertical landing, and carrier-based. Overall, the F-35 cockpit is a generation beyond preceding aircraft, as large liquid crystal touch-screen displays feature color-coded symbology, pictographs, and digital information. Also, the head-up display has been replaced by a helmet-mounted display as the primary flight reference. The complexity of missions, sensors used, and weapons employed make this fifth-generation cockpit necessary. Advanced technology makes it possible. Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman/BAE…
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Fighter Country
EAST HARTFORD, Conn., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pratt & Whitney has achieved initial service release (ISR) for the conventional take off and landing/carrier variant (CTOL/CV) F135 engine, marking another major milestone as the engine is cleared for operational use in the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. “Achieving initial service release means the F135 CTOL/CV engine, with more than 13,000 test hours, has met all necessary requirements and proven the safety, reliability and performance of this product for operational use in the field,” said Warren Boley, Vice President of F135…
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Fighter Country
The Lockheed Martin executive responsible for development of the troubled F-35 joint strike fighter, Dan Crowley, got a strong endorsement and vote of confidence Thursday from his boss, Lockheed Chief Executive Robert Stevens. “I have absolute confidence in him in this role,” Stevens said in a telephone news conference. “I have no intention of removing Dan Crowley from this program.” Stevens’ comments came in a joint conference call with Ashton Carter, the chief Pentagon weapons buyer, after a two-day meeting in Fort Worth on the F-35 program. After Carter and Stevens discussed the revised plan and budget for the F-35…
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Fighter Country
Breaking news from the emerald coast – Valparaiso and the Air Force reached a settlement agreement VALPARAISO — Valparaiso and the Air Force reached a settlement agreement Monday night in the months-long legal dispute over dreaded F-35 noise. After holding an hour-long executive session, commissioners unanimously agreed to the terms of the agreement, and Mayor Bruce Arnold signed the five-page document. Monday was the court’s deadline for parties to settle or come back to court. The settlement negotiations ended last November but faced a long journey up the chain of command. Now, the settlement needs one more Air Force signature…
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Fighter Country
The town of Buckeye has supported the mission of Luke Air Force Base for decades. Just recently, the Town Council unanimously approved a resolution strongly encouraging the U. S. Department of Defense, Congress and the Administration to designate Luke Air Force Base as a training site for the Air Force version of the F-35 Lightning II fighter. The operations at Luke AFB have impacted people from all walks of life and from every state in the nation. Since 1988, Luke Air Force Base has trained 16,270 fighter pilots to fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon and graduated 9,071 crew chiefs. They…
Posted on February 27, 2010 by Fighter Country
The new generation of Nomads will have a new generation of flight suits. Joint Strike Fighter pilot instructors were fitted for their new gear Thursday morning in Nomad Hall during a press conference. View a photo gallery of the pilot instructors getting fitted » Representatives from the suit and helmet manufacturers fielded questions. They shared the number of measurements taken to fit pilots into the gear and safety measures taken to make the suits. They also detailed features of everything, including the socks. But they would not talk prices. “It costs more than your house,” said Bob Foote, chief technology…
Posted on February 25, 2010 by Fighter Country
GLENDALE, Ariz. (Feb 25 2010) – West Valley residents are turning out in large numbers this week to show their support in bringing the new F-35 fighter jet to Luke Air Force Base.
Tuesday night’s meeting in El Mirage and last night’s meeting in Surprise each attracted big crowds of approximately 300 people. Luke supporters donning military hats, t-shirts, pins and stickers could be found everywhere at the meetings, which are being conducted by the Air Force to solicit input from citizens in preparation of the F-35 environmental study at the Glendale base.
Based on reports from other communities, such as New Mexico, Utah and Idaho, which are also under consideration to receive the Air Force’s joint strike fighter program, the Luke meetings are drawing record crowds.
“At last night’s meeting in Surprise, there was a line of people waiting to get inside the meeting room,” said Fighter Country Partnership’s Steve Yamamori, whose organization is working with 12 West Valley cities and Maricopa County to bring the F-35 to Luke. West Valley residents and others are showing up in force at these meetings to express their support for the Air Force to bring the F-35 to Luke. This strong support by local citizens is definitely going to send a clear message to decisions makers back in Washington, D.C. that Arizona strongly supports the F-35.”
Based on the criteria the Air Force will use to evaluate sites for the F-35 mission, Luke is well positioned to receive the F-35 and continue to serve as the Air Force’s “school house” for America’s fighter pilots and maintainers.
Local leaders know, however, that until a decision is made, nothing can be taken for granted, and they urge continued strong support from Arizonans statewide.
Luke has been training fighter pilots since 1941, and Arizona features the ideal climate, land, airspace and training rangers – including the Barry M. Goldwater Range in southern Arizona – that cannot be replicated anywhere in the country.
For more information on the public-scoping meetings, which run through Friday, or to register your support for the F-35 at Luke, visit www.LukeForward.com.
CONTACT: Steve Yamamori, Fighter Country Partnership, 623-882-2191
