According to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Government of Singapore has decided to train its F-16 pilots with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing. He said in a Jan. 7 statement, “The decision will bring an additional $60 million into Tucson’s economy and is a vote of confidence in the future of the Tucson Air National Guard in light of the pending evaluation by the Air Force for the stationing of the F-35 Lightning at Tucson IAP.” The Ohio ANG’s 178th FW at Springfield learned Jan. 4 it would not get the new contract, reports the Springfield News-Sun. The 178th FW, which loses its F-16s under BRAC 2005, expects to wrap up its training mission for Dutch F-16 pilots this fall. An Ohio National Guard official told the newspaper that although the Air Force and Air Guard had discussed a number of missions, “all of that is still up in the air.”
It’s Time for the Air Force to Embrace the F-35
May 23, 2025
Douglas A. Birkey The United States revolutionized air combat with the invention of stealth technology and the low-observable combat jet. Beginning in the 1980s with the F-117 and continuing in the years that followed with the B-2, F-22, F-35, and...