AFCEC moves forward on Air Force F-35 beddown

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Schneider
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO - LACKLAND, Texas -- --  Three installations are a few steps closer to bedding down their anticipated fleets of F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, as the Air Force Civil Engineer Center kicks off construction at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and finalizes construction on four projects at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., and Nellis AFB, Nev.

In December, the Air Force selected Hill as the new home for the Air Force's first operational F-35s, culminating a nearly four-year process that included an extensive environmental impact statement.

Three projects have been awarded for construction at the base, including renovation and extension of an existing hangar to accommodate an F-35 aircraft maintenance unit, construction of two munitions storage magazines, and renovation of an existing building to accommodate new simulators, said Jaime Cantu, AFCEC project manager for the Hill F-35 construction.

Construction is expected to begin this month, and the first F-35 aircraft are scheduled to arrive in 2015. The base is projected to eventually receive 72 of the fighter jets.

At Luke, construction of a new operations building and updates to an existing AMU were recently completed, paving the way for the first F-35 fighter jets to arrive later this month.

"Our final stages of preparation for Luke's first F-35 are in full swing," said Lt. Col. Scott Fredrick, 56th Fighter Wing F-35 division chief.

The Luke projects, valued at $15.86 million, are the first phase of a $142 million construction effort to establish Luke as an international training center for the F-35. In all, the base will accommodate six new F-35 fighter squadrons for a total of 144 fighter jets, eventually phasing out the service's aging fleet of F-16s and A-10s, and making Luke the largest F-35 base worldwide, said Fredrick.

Still under construction at Luke is a $54 million international academic training center, which is scheduled for completion by summer 2014. The two-story ATC will total over 145,000 square feet and house up to 12 F-35 simulators. The facility will also include office and classroom space, as well as a classified-capable auditorium.

"Out of all of the construction projects planned as part of the F-35 beddown at Luke, the ATC is the largest," said David Irwin, AFCEC project manager for the Luke F-35 construction.
Nellis, which will be conducting force development evaluation of the F-35s, has two F-35 projects wrapping up: a $23.3 million six-bay hangar and AMU, and a $12.5 million aerospace ground equipment maintenance facility.

The 55,000 square-foot hangar was completed in November, while the AGE maintenance facility is scheduled to be finished by February, a month ahead of schedule. With the hangar complete, construction is beginning on the addition of a 4,000 square-foot engine shop to the hangar.

AFCEC has completed three beddown projects at Nellis, including a $7.4 million test evaluation squadron facility, a $9.8 million flight simulator facility and a $1.6 million flight test instrumentation facility.  Nellis is expecting a total of 36 jets.

Building facilities for aircraft still under development adds a unique challenge to construction, said Paul McMullin, AFCEC project manager for the Nellis F-35 construction.

"These projects are unique in that we are designing and constructing facilities for aircraft and their support systems and infrastructure that are still being finalized and developed," McMullin said. "The F-35 aircraft has some unique requirements which are different than the legacy aircraft currently supported at Nellis. The requirements for the F-35 continue to evolve as the aircraft continues to be tested and evaluated."

Several additional projects are planned at all three installations over the next several years to complete the beddown effort.