Navy puts off final decision on location of new F35 joint strike fighter

The “Record of Decision” will specify which alternative the Navy will implement and will address comments received on the Final Environmental Impact Statement. The Navy extended the comment period from the original deadline of April 22, 2013. The final EIS was released last May.

In that decision it appears that the newest jet in the U.S. military’s arsenal will be home stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Following a long exhaustive EIS, the Navy said that the best place to locate seven F-35C fleet squadrons and a fleet replacement squadron, was in the Central Valley at the West Coast’s largest Naval Installation.

The Navy last May published a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register concerning the Final EIS for the home basing of the new jet fighter. The EIS went on to state that El Centro, which had lobbied hard for the new aircraft, will maintain training operations at NAF El Centro.

“This alternative best meets mission requirements; optimizes operational efficiencies related to personnel, training, and logistics support functions; maximizes the reuse of existing facilities and minimizes the need for new construction; and preserves NAF El Centro as a valuable training asset,” stated a press release sent out by the Navy at the release of the EIS.

The City of El Centro, a community of about 47,000 in Southern California’s Imperial Valley and home to NAF El Centro, against huge odds, made an all-out effort to land the F-35C.

El Centro and Naval Air Station Lemoore were identified by a Navy Draft Environmental Impact Report released in February, 2013 that identified the two Navy installations as most likely sites for housing the new strike fighter.

The report, after identifying characteristics of both locations, identified Naval Air Station Lemoore as the preferred alternative based largely on its ability to maintain and operate a master jet base. Lemoore also has extensive support facilities that can easily be transitioned to the F-35C.

The Navy wants to replace aging Navy Pacific Fleet FA‐18 aircraft with F‐35C aircraft while meeting pilot training and readiness requirements. According to the report, the home basing may begin as early as 2015. Seven Pacific Fleet FA-18 squadrons (70 aircraft) currently based at NAS Lemoore would transition to the new F-35C beginning in 2015 with the transition to be completed by 2028.

The Navy also wants to create an F-35C fleet replacement squadron consisting of approximately 30 F-35 C planes by 2017.

The Navy intends to base all its West Coast F-35Cs at one location in order to maximize the efficiency of its support facilities, simulation devices, and on-site support personnel, areas in which NAS Lemoore clearly excels. Many Navy installations were examined in a three-level screening process to identify potentially suitable F-35C home base locations, and NAS Lemoore and El Centro were identified as the two best alternatives.