US to Launch Training Site for Foriegn F-35 Pilots in Arkansas

As the demand for F-35 Lightning II pilots grows worldwide, the US Air Force is about to enlist the Arkansas Air National Guard’s Ebbing Air National Guard Base to help train some of the world’s next F-35 pilots. Poland and Singapore will be the first nations to use Ebbing, but the Finns, Germans, and Swiss Air Forces will also use the base.

Transitioning to the F-35

Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, used to be an A-10 Warthog base until 2013 and now supports MQ-9 Reaper drone operations. According to a Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs June 3, 2021 statement, the plan is to use the base for training other nations how to operate the F-35 best and move the Singapore Air Force’s 425th Fighter Squadron to Ebbing Air National Guard base. This will require Ebbing Air National Guard Base to receive up to 24 F-35s, as published author and USAF Lt. Colonel Hasard Lee pictured below flew one at Spokane’s 2024 Skyfest, and up to 12 Singaporean F-16s also.

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

This is because Luke Air Force Base is facing capacity constraints and needs to relocate the Singaporeans. Additionally, as per below, the Singapore Air Force has allowed for US Air Force F-35As of the 356th Fighter Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base Alaska, to join the Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons during bilateral training at Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore, March 5, 2024.

Photo: Tech. Sgt. Eric Summers | Pacific Air Forces | US Air Force

However, the Poles will be going first, starting in September. Below you can see Col. Karol Budniak, F-35 Implementation Team Chief of the Polish Air Force, give a briefing during a visit to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on May 6, 2024 by himself and Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, Inspector of Polish Air Force to prepare to conduct flight and maintenance training from there:

Photo: Tech. Sgt. Christopher Sherlock | 33rd Fighter Wing | US Air Force

The base has won significant construction contracts to support its new mission of training F-35 international pilots and having a Singapore Air Force F-35 and F-16 training squadron co-locate. For instance, Considering that the Singapore Air Force is purchasing the F-35B jump jet model, Ebbing Air National Guard Base will require reinforcement to its runways to handle the strain of all that thrust hurled directly at the runway.

Additionally, until high-quality flight simulators – definitely more immersive than one’s desktop Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, or Digital Combat Simulation World (DCS World) – are built, some of the training will have to occur at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

USAF Commitment to international F-35 training

As Acting Secretary of the US Air Force John P. Roth shared,

As such, according to a recent Defense News report by Rachel Cohen, US instructor pilots, and maintainers will pass on to a rotating cadre of nations the US operational experience with the F-35 as those nations stand up F-35 capability for their air forces. This way there is interoperability and better quality pilots at the end of the training.

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Therefore the US Air Force intends to stand up the 85th Fighter Group and 57th Fighter Squadron to support these efforts. The 57th Fighter Squadron has some historical roots, having been the 57th Fighter-Intercept Squadron based out of Iceland during the Cold War. The late William “Bill” Anders was a former member who would go on to bigger contributions to aviation.

In a March 25, 2023 statement, the Arkansas Economic Development Council director of military affairs Retired Air Force Col. Robert Ator, shared

“The State of Arkansas has a long history of supporting our military and its missions, which are major economic drivers in Arkansas. The addition of hosting the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the F-35 Foreign Military Sales Pilot Training Center only furthers that history and emphatically places Arkansas on the international stage for strategic deterrence, using the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft. This basing action is an example of the local community, the State of Arkansas, and the United States Air Force working together for our shared future and the stability of the globe at a time of great strategic competition.”

There was competition from the State of Michigan for the basing; but Ebbing Air Force Base is already being used for F-35 training. Additionally, an environmental assessment preferred Ebbing Air Force Base.

Ebbing Air Force Base already conducting F-35 training

According to a US Air Force October 20, 2023 statement and the cover photo for this story, Agile Combat Employment (ACE) training occurred at Ebbing Air Force Base. The ACE training involved not just pilots refueling their own F-35s but also using the 25mm cannon in strafing runs.

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