The US Air Force command started the deployment of F-35A fighter jets to the Eielson air base in Alaska. This comes after two incidents of intercepting Russian maritime patrol aircrafts over international water separating the United States from Russia.
“It is planned that the base will receive two F-35A aircraft per month after the delivery of the first aircraft. It is expected that by December 2021, 54 planes and 1,300 people will be in Eielson,” the command of the US Air Force said. The F-35A fighters will be replacing F-16 fighters.
A third F-35 is set to arrive this month, with follow-on aircraft filling out two squadrons and expanding Eielson’s fleet from 30 aircraft to 84 by the end of 2021. The base also hosts nine KC-135 Stratotankers from the Alaska Air National Guard and 21 F-16 Fighting Falcons—one of USAF’s two organic Aggressor squadrons.
By the end of 2021, the number of Airmen at Eielson is expected to nearly double, from about 1750 in 2019 to 3,250.
In March, two Russian Tu-142 maritime patrol aircrafts were intercepted by F-22 fighters over international waters in the Chukotsk and Beaufort Seaon March 14. Later in April, two Il-38 maritime patrol aircrafts were also intercepted by F-22s over international waters in the Bering Sea, that separates Alaska from the Russian Far East.
