Page 76 - World Airnews Magazine May 2020 Edition

NEWS DIGITAL

SPRAWLING ALASKA COMPLEX

BECOMES NEWEST HOME FOR

F-35A

By Steve Trimble

Tucked deep within
Alaska’s rugged interior, next
to a town named “North
Pole,” Eielson AFB may seem
an unlikely station for 54
Lockheed Martin F-35As. But
the commander of the 354th
Fighter Wing asserts the
location is more central than it
looks.
Indeed, the logic of Euclidean
geometry places Eielson within
a daylong flight, assisted by
aerial refueling, of the biggest duty personnel will be added to the base when the 356th and a
hot spots for the Indo-Pacific Command and European Command. still-unnamed second squadron are at full strength, doubling the
On a great circle route, the Alaskan base is closer to Taiwan than size of the Alaskan base’s current workforce.
Oahu by more than 300 nm. The Air Force has been preparing for Eielson’s dramatic growth
To reach Estonia across the Arctic Circle, Eileson’s future F-35As since the F-35A basing announcement in 2016. The $500 million
would have roughly the same ferry flight as Air National Guard expansion project is made more challenging by the base’s location,
F-35As flying from Burlington, Vermont, the next-closest U.S. F-35 which is 1.42 deg. of latitude, or about 85 nm, further north of
base. Norway’s Orland Main Air Station, another F-35A base.
“A lot of people think Alaska is kind of stuck in the corner of the Norway qualified a drag parachute to slow the F-35A on icy
map. But as an airman lives, we’re actually in the middle of every- arctic runways in winter. The Polish Air Force adopted the same
thing,” says Col. Benjamin Bishop, the 354th Wing’s commander. modification with its announced F-35A selection in January, but
Another advantage of Eielson’s location is its neighbors. the U.S. Air Force decided the added weight of the drag parachute
Although a remote location, the base is less than 230 nm north of a is unnecessary. The Air Force decision is helped by the fact that
Lockheed Martin F-22 squadron stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf- Eielson boasts one of the world’s longest runways, at 14,507 ft.,
Richardson and adjacent to the home of the F-16-equipped 18th which the base’s busy snowplows work to keep clear through the
Aggressor Sqdn. and, not least, the Joint Pacific Alaska Range long Alaskan winter, Bishop says. The F-35A is rated to land and
Complex, which is the largest U.S. instrumented training range for take off from surfaces with a Runway Condition Rating (RCR) of 7,
air combat. only two steps up from a completely iced-over RCR-5 surface.
The US air force declared the F-35A operational in 2016, but “We have a whole team of airmen that are really focused on that
service officials are still learning how to optimize the aircraft’s [snow-removal] mission alone, and it’s not just the runways. It’s
capabilities, especially in joint operations with F-22s. the taxiways, too,” Bishop says.
“I see the F-35 really maturing in the skies of Alaska,” Bishop The Air Force also had to make other adjustments to the F-35A’s
says. standard survival gear. The 18th Aggressor Sqdn., for example,
That maturation process is about to get started. In early April, includes a sleeping bag rated for -40F in the survival seat pack of
Lockheed transferred ownership to the Air Force of the first F-35A the F-16, designed to keep pilots warm overnight after an ejection
bound for the newly reactivated 356th Fighter Sqdn. at Eielson. until they can be reached by a rescue team. But the same sleeping
Despite administrative disruptions caused by the response to the bag does not fit inside the F-35A seat pack, so the base’s support
novel coronavirus and resulting COVID-19 pandemic, Bishop still staff has stuffed the pack instead with supplemental heating
expects to complete the first F-35A delivery to Eielson on schedule equipment.
in April. For maintainers, the Arctic weather presents another challenge.
The 356th should receive ownership of its first three F-35As by The Army Corps of Engineers is constructing a 16-bay shelter for
the end of April. the F-35A on Eielson’s permafrost terrain, the first of several such
The 356th was reactivated seven months ago with only two structures to support the aircraft during the Alaskan winter.
employees—the squadron commander and the deputy. Since then, The shelter “is not really for the aircraft,” Bishop says. “It is more
the squadron has added eight trained pilots and a full complement for the maintainers. When it’s -40F, it’s really difficult to work
of trainers and maintainers, Bishop says. About 1,200 active outside for an extended period.” Q

World Airnews | May Extra 2020
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