The U.S. Air Force has announced the selection of new bases to receive its latest fighter jets. Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts will be the host of the next F-35A squadron. Meanwhile, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans and Fresno Air National Guard Base in California will replace their F-15C/D Eagles with F-15EX Strike Eagles.
Each new squadron will consist of 18 aircraft, and the decision to select these respective bases was made after conducting site surveys to ensure that they have the infrastructure capacity to facilitate the mission. The selection process also took into account community support, environmental factors, and cost.
The service will conduct an environmental impact analysis at each base, and a final decision will be made in the spring of 2024.
In addition to these new selections, the Air Force had previously announced that Jacksonville Air National Guard Base, Florida, will receive the fifth-generation F-35. While, Kingsley Field and Portland Air National Guard Base, both in Oregon, will receive the fourth-generation F-15EX, a heavily-upgraded version of the F-15E. This brings the total number of F-15EX bases to four.
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