Idaho’s F-35 hopes in trouble

BOISE, Idaho -- The Federal Aviation Administration's denial of a request for expanded training airspace could harm Idaho's chances of landing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter wings, the commander of the Mountain Home Air Force Base in southern Idaho said.

Col. Ron Buckley said the FAA earlier this month denied the base's request for
29 percent more space in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada to accommodate the advanced F-35 jets, but the agency did increase vertical airspace.

"The modest vertical increase in airspace will definitely improve our mission-training opportunities to some extent," Buckley told the Idaho Statesman. "But it will not permit the very long-look, long-range and targeting setups needed for future training missions" for the F-35 fighters.

Idaho officials predict the jets could bring a $1 billion economic boost to the state, which is competing with other states to land the F-35 fighters. Final decisions are not expected until 2011.

Gowen Field Air National Guard Base in Boise is also a possible destination for some of the jets.

"The airspace that we have and the training ranges we have, we expect those to certainly be a factor" in getting an F-35 mission, said Col. Tim Marsano, Idaho National Guard spokesman.

Bill Richey, special assistant for military affairs for Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, said the request for airspace was denied partly because the FAA wants to reserve some of the space for commercial planes during bad weather.