Nellis to be site for F-22 training

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Jan. 28, 2000 | 11:26 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nellis Air Force Base will play a key role in pilot training for the F-22 Raptor, the next generation jet fighter, the Air Force confirmed Thursday.

The high-tech jet is expected to be the most expensive ever and still faces hurdles in Congress. But the Air Force is making room for the plane and now is eyeing Langley Air Force Base in Virginia as the home base for the first operational F-22 wing, about 78 planes, Lt. Col. Brian Holt said today.

Langley is home to many of the Air Force's F-15 fighters, which the F-22 would eventually replace, Holt said.

Nellis, home of the Thunderbirds, was never really a candidate for the first operation wing of the F-22 because it serves a variety of other functions.

The naming of Nellis as a training facility was expected, but the base had not been officially designated until the word from the Air Force came down Thursday.

"When you are talking about an operational wing, that pretty much becomes the mission of that base (Langley)," Holt said.

But because Nellis plays a key role in training pilots, the base is a logical home for F-22 fighter training. The Air Force under an early proposal had expected to house six F-22s at Nellis as early as 2002; and 17 jets by 2008.

"We recently selected Nellis AFB, Nevada, as the location for the F-22 Force Development Evaluation program and Weapons School," Air Force Major Gen. Michael Moseley wrote in a letter Thursday to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The letter closed with a hopeful, "Thank you for your continued support for the F-22 and Global Hawk programs."

The letter said that Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida is the "preferred alternative" for an F-22 training base. Nellis would be used for pilots in various stages of specialty training with the F-22s and would not have as many planes as Tyndall, Holt explained.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said Nellis was the obvious choice for advanced F-22 testing.

"(Nellis) is the Ph.D. of fighter technology," Gibbons said.

The Air Force hopes to have 339 F-22 fighters if Congress agrees to fund the planes.

Last year, Congress agreed to spend $1.3 billion for several test models of the jet, but not full-blown production.

Some lawmakers have questioned whether the United States needs the sophisticated new fighter and have questioned its cost, as much as $200 million per plane, by some estimates.

The Air Force had wanted at least $1.8 billion to begin rolling new F-22s off the assembly line.

Despite the F-22's uncertain future, Congress last year allocated $18.6 million for three new F-22 projects to be built at Nellis: a fabrication shop, maintenance shop and parts warehouse.

Air Force officials say they are not certain where they would base the 339 F-22s, although it likely would be at a number of bases around the country. Nellis should be in the running, Gibbons said.

A Reid spokesman agreed.

"We feel like if the money is authorized to go, we're confident Nellis will play a role in the F-22's development, and we feel confident that eventually a wing would be stationed at Nellis," spokesman David Cherry said.

Reid and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., could not be reached for comment early today.

The Air Force has constructed two early versions of the F-22, now being analyzed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In separate developments, the Air Force also is trying to determine where to base its Global Hawk system.

The Global Hawk , an unmanned, long-endurance aircraft, relays high-altitude intelligence data in "near-real time."