The Air Force simultaneously announced Thursday that Luke AFB, Ariz., is the service’s preferred site for the next F-35 training schoolhouse. Luke was picked for the training mission ahead of the other previously announced candidate bases of Boise ANGS, Idaho, Eglin AFB, Fla., Holloman AFB, N.M., and Tucson ANGS, Ariz. Environmental impact studies will continue here as well.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be operational in the late 2020s, several years before the Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems, Air Force officials told the House Armed Services tactical aviation panel. The CCAs will first be “shooters,” then electronic warfare platforms, then sensors, in that order, they added.