Det danske Fredsakademi

Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 23. Oktober 2005 / Time Line October 23, 2005

22. Oktober 2005, 24. Oktober 2005

10/23/2005
Idaho base could host new jet
By CHRISTOPHER SMITH Associated Press writer Sunday, October 23, 2005
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/23/news/regional/c019502d54e9a8e0872570a20020fe89.txt BOISE, Idaho -- The Pentagon is considering Idaho's Mountain Home Air Force Base as a future home for the military's next-generation tactical fighter jet, according to a new report sent to Congress.
The prospect that the Joint Strike Fighter -- also known as the F-35 -- may be stationed at Mountain Home could take some of the sting out of the prospect of losing 569 jobs and 36 fighter jets from the southwestern Idaho base under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendations that are awaiting congressional approval.
In the report by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission President Bush forwarded to Congress Sept. 15, the panel wrote that while Mountain Home will lose some of its weapons systems under the plan, "the Air Force indicated that the base is being considered as a potential location for the bed-down of the Joint Strike Fighter as well as a training ground for international squadrons."
Both the House and Senate -- including all four members of Idaho's congressional delegation -- have voted to cut millions from the $245 billion Joint Strike Fighter project, which is the most expensive weapons program in U.S. history. Concerns over the ballooning deficit, the price tag of Gulf Coast hurricane rebuilding and mounting questions over the F-35's cost and design may dramatically reduce the number of planes the Pentagon buys and limit Mountain Home's chances of landing the new jet and the hundreds of additional jobs it will bring.
Since the program began in 1996, the cost of the plane has increased 81 percent, the number of planes to be bought by the Pentagon has been cut by 535 to 2,443 and the delivery date of operational aircraft has been delayed by five years, according to a report released in March by congressional auditors at the Government Accountability Office.

10/23/2005

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