| Aviation News-F-117 Stealth phase-out at Holloman AFB.
President Bush has proposed phasing out over two years all the Air Force's F-117 stealth fighter jets located at New Mexico's Holloman Air Force Base, a move that would represent a major cut in the base's mission.
Bush's $2.77 trillion budget blueprint for 2007 would retire 10 of the sleek, triangular fighters next year. The plan released Monday suggests eliminating the rest of the Air Force's F-117 Nighthawks in the 2008 budget.
All the airplanes have been located at Holloman, near Alamogordo, N.M., since 1992.
New Mexico's senators have fought off previous efforts by the Bush
administration to cut the aging stealth fighters, which were pivotal in the first Iraq war. This is the first time the president has made the case for retiring the jets in just two years.
The plans alarmed both senators, who vowed in a joint statement to ensure the fighters aren't removed until a new mission can be found to replace them.
"Today's news is certainly disappointing," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. "But I know that Holloman Air Force Base is an excellent facility that will play a major role in the future."
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said: "The only questions that remain are: What will replace the F-117 and when will the transition take place? We will work very hard with the Pentagon to ensure that the transition is seamless, and that the impact on the community is minimal."
The senators last year inserted language in defense spending bills that
prohibited the Pentagon from retiring the stealth fighter. Previous spending proposals called for retiring the jets by 2011.
Bush's budget plan must be approved by Congress, and lawmakers often make significant changes.
"It is appropriate that (the Air Force) must retire older, less capable
aircraft like the F-117," said Tom Fuller, Holloman's chief of media relations.
The stealth fighter, designed in the 1960s, first flew in 1981. Once the premier low observable aircraft, it has been surpassed by newer, more efficient airplanes, said Dan Goure, a military expert at the Arlington,
Va.-based Lexington Institute.
The Air Force is in a tricky position as it moves toward using fewer, higher-tech airplanes, Goure said. As the Air Force downsizes, it will mean difficult decisions about which bases keep which planes.
"We have an abundance of bases and a shortage of aircraft," he said.
Domenici and Bingaman said they are optimistic the Air Force will want to keep Holloman healthy. Last year, the Pentagon recommended closing Cannon Air Force Base, near Clovis, N.M., but left Holloman virtually unscathed."Holloman offers the Air Force great flying weather, excellent air space, super facilities and an exceptional relationship with the local community of Alamogordo," Fuller said.
An Air Force team visited Holloman in mid-January to survey the facilities and capabilities as a possible future home for the F-22, the Air Force's newest stealth fighter, Fuller said. He said it is too early to speculate whether the military would choose Holloman to house those airplanes.Holloman has also been considered for other possible weapons systems, he said.
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