El Mirage: Test F-35s before February forums
The Pentagon will hold public meetings in late February regarding the F-35 jet fighter possibly coming to Luke Air Force Base in Glendale.
The Phoenix suburb of El Mirage says noise tests of the new fighter should be completed at Luke before those public Feb. 22-26 forums. The U.S. Defense Department has not yet said if and when such tests might be conducted.
El Mirage officials cite concerns that F-35 will be far nosier than the F-16, which now flies out of Luke on training missions. El Mirage Mayor Michele Kern asked U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., last year to bring F-35s to Luke for noise evaluations and the senator said he would.
“The noise needs to be studied,” said El Mirage spokeswoman Stacy Pearson.
Glendale spokesman Jerry McCoy said Glendale is open to the Luke tests, but they should be conducted in a uniform way and at the same time as at other sites being considered for F-35 training fast payday loans. Luke is the U.S. Air Force’s prime training base for F-16 pilots and Glendale is leading the effort to bring the F-35 training to Arizona.
The F-35 is succeeding the F-16 in the U.S. military arsenal.
Luke fighters now take off and land over El Mirage to the north of the base and Goodyear to the south.
McCoy also said Glendale is urging residents and base supporters to attend the DOD meetings.
Luke is competing with bases in Florida and New Mexico for F-35 training. Sites and times for the public forums on Luke have not yet been announced.