An F-35A Lightning II assigned to Hill Air Force Base in Utah takes off for a mission in 2022. The Air Force announced April 18, 2023, that Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts had been selected as the preferred location to host the next F-35A squadron. ( Makenna Gott/U.S. Air Force)
Air Force bases in three states are slated to add advanced and upgraded fighter planes to their fleet, the service announced this week.
Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans and Fresno Air National Guard Base in California were selected, according to an Air Force statement Tuesday.
The Massachusetts installation is due to receive the next F-35A Lightning II squadron, while the other two will replace their F-15C/D Eagles with F-15EX Strike Eagles.
Environmental impact studies at each base are expected to be completed in the spring of 2024, and the findings will determine whether the service’s decisions are finalized.
The Air Force rollout of the F-35s began in 2011. There are 10 bases that now have the fifth-generation fighters, according to contractor Lockheed Martin’s website.
The most recent F-35 arrival in the service was at RAF Lakenheath in England, which received two additional F-35A jets on April 13 for the 493rd Fighter Squadron.
