The Department of the Air Force selected the next bases to receive two of its newest fighters.
Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, was selected as the preferred location to host the next F-35A Lightning II squadron and Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans and Fresno Air National Guard Base, California, will replace their F-15C/D Eagles with F-15EX Strike Eagles.
The new squadrons will consist of 18 F-35As at Barnes ANGB and 18 F-15EXs each at both Fresno ANGB and NAS JRB New Orleans.
The decision to host the next F-35As and the F-15EXs at their respective bases came after conducting site surveys at each location, assessing the location's ability to facilitate the mission and infrastructure capacity, while accounting for community support, environmental factors and cost.
The Department of the Air Force will conduct environmental impact analyses at each base, which are expected to be completed in spring 2024 before a final decision is made.
