Fighter jet enters airport relocation fray

[question everything]

Fighter jet enters airport relocation fray

F-35 makes Miramar a no-go, Marines say
By Jeff Ristine
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 17, 2006

A revolutionary next-generation warplane, the Joint Strike Fighter, is coming to Miramar Air Station and will leave no room for discussion of a civilian operation there, senior Marine Corps officials said. New orders from the commander of operation forces in the Pacific may confirm what was previously a fundamental belief for the military amid acrimony over a proposed commercial airport.

(snip)

Miramar officials said the development comes as no surprise. It could have implications for the Nov. 7 ballot measure from the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, which looks to Miramar as a possible replacement for Lindbergh Field. Advocates of a commercial airport at Miramar have largely agreed joint-use is infeasible under today's circumstances. Seeking to overcome the constraints at Lindbergh, they have held out hope that circumstances might change after 10 years or more as the installation's F-18 jet squadrons are moved or phased out. Marine officials argued that the orders from Maj. Gen. John F. Goodman, issued from the Hawaii headquarters for Marine Corps forces in the Pacific, put that scenario to rest.

(snip)

The Joint Strike Fighter, a supersonic stealth aircraft, is being developed by the United States and allies to replace a variety of fighter and attack aircraft including the F-18 Hornet. The Marine Corps' deputy commandant for aviation, Lt. Gen. John G. Castellaw, said the Joint Strike Fighter could be at Miramar as early as 2012. It will use essentially the same airspace as the F-18s do today, Castellaw said, making civilian operations every bit as problematic as they would be now. Miramar is getting the aircraft because it has become a premier, world-class base that benefits enormously from its proximity to other Marine facilities, Castellaw said.


(snip)

Consultants to the Airport Authority developed a joint use concept with two civilian runways south of the existing military operation, but it requires a major change in the airspace used for field carrier landing practice at Miramar. Doing so would add more than 15,000 people in Tierrasanta, Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa and Clairemont to areas of so-called “adverse” noise impacts, now confined largely to the base.

(snip)

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060817-9999-7m17miramar.html

[Solo_in_MD]

1. Tne dual use study also forgot about ordinance issues

and put the terminal directly down range from where ordinance is loaded.

Miramar is not suitable for dual use. Its either a military facility or a civilain one. Chose one, you can not have both.

The real push behind this is so the San Diego and grow commercially. Its for future business needs. I am not sure that is adequate justification.

[MindPilot]

2. San Diego does not need a new airport. Period.

We are not a hub and never will be. The only reason anybody is making any noise about a new airport is that the developers--who have the City Council and the County board of Supervisors in their back pocket--want the land to build condos and office high-rises.