Mayor Michele Kern of the community of El Mirage next to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona complained during an Arizona Republic editorial board last week that the community she represents does not want Luke to close, but the community has suffered disproportionately in the fight to preserve the base from encroaching development. The community last week hosted a meeting to discuss its opposition to basing the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Luke, a position that has put it at odds with the state’s Congressional delegation and the governor and other communities. El Mirage has looked at the legal action taken by Valpariso, Fla., to fight the F-35 schoolhouse going in at Eglin AFB, Fla., and has asked the Air Force to bring one of the new fighters to Luke for noise tests rather than using modeling to inform an environmental assessment. (Arizona Republic report)
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
