FORT SMITH -- A project at the Fort Smith Regional Airport aims to provide an extra level of safety for military aircraft.
The airport is collaborating with the U.S. Air Force to construct an arresting system, which will be used to stop any aircraft equipped with a tailhook that is in danger of running off the runway. Installation of the Runway Arresting System is required for the airport to meet the operational needs of the Foreign Military Sales program at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, according to a press release from the city of Fort Smith.
The press release says the project is being funded by the Air Force and expected to be completed in August.
"This project is expected to significantly enhance the region's strategic aviation capabilities," according to the press release.
The system is similar to arresting systems operated on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, according to an article from the Montana Air National Guard's 120th Fighter Wing, which also uses the system at the Great Falls International Airport. An aircraft's tail hook is deployed by a pilot, snagging a cable that is raised above the runway remotely by Federal Aviation Administration employees in the airport tower.
The project at the Fort Smith airport is being designed by engineering firm Halff with construction management assigned to Beshears Construction.
The Fort Smith press release said certain segments of the airport runway will close temporarily during the work, but the airport will operate at full capacity to ensure uninterrupted service of incoming and departing flights.
According to a news release written in November by Mila Cisneros, communication specialist at the U.S. Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, construction related to the Foreign Military Sales program at Ebbing will cost more than $500 million. It said the Air Force Civil Engineer Center partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 97th Contracting Squadron at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, and the 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron from the Installation and Mission Support Center to award more than $27 million for construction planning and design.
The release said Ebbing will require new infrastructure, including a mix of military construction and facility renovation projects, for the program. It said the Installation and Mission Support Center plans to use 10 temporary facilities so the base is ready for initial operations in 2024. Those facilities will be used until permanent infrastructure is in place, which is anticipated to be late 2028.
Col. George Nichols, Air Force Civil Engineer Center Directorate deputy director, said the Mission Support Center's team of 4,000 military and civilian personnel keeps airfields and infrastructure ready for combat operations at more than 140 locations worldwide. The unit also manages installation and mission support programs for 32 Air Force specialties and 83 installations across the service.
Col. Adam Rice, who leads Air Education and Training Command efforts at Ebbing, said the 188th Wing will continue its mission and operations under the Air National Guard, including during construction. The instructor pilots and support personnel who will conduct Foreign Military Sales pilot training will be a part of the Training Command's 33rd Fighter Wing, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
The 33rd Fighter Wing is a graduate flying and maintenance training wing for the F-35A Lightning aircraft and is one of two training command wings already conducting an F-35 training mission.
Rice said Ebbing also will host missions intended to enhance U.S. national security, including Agile Combat Employment training and exercises. The concept shifts operations from centralized locations to a network of smaller, dispersed locations that can complicate adversary planning, improve resilience and provide more options for joint force commanders, he said.
Rice said although Ebbing shares an active runway with the city of Fort Smith and has other existing former F-16 facilities on the base, some construction is necesssary because there are no current F-35 facilities in place.
To support the Foreign Military Sales mission until the needed permanent facilities are in place at Ebbing, Rice said the pilot training center will use temporary facilities and a hybrid training approach for students in which training missions will be conducted at Ebbing, while academics and simulator training will be conducted at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Foreign Military Sales is a security assistance program authorized by the Arms Export Control Act. The act allows the U.S. to sell defense equipment, conduct training and provide services to a foreign country when the president deems doing so will strengthen U.S. national security and promote world peace.
Ebbing was selected in 2021 as the preferred location for a pilot training center for Singapore and other countries participating in the program. The proposal was to accommodate up to 24 foreign F-35 aircraft and move 12 F-16s from the Singapore Air Force, currently with the 425th Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
Lt. Col. Drew "Gus" Nash, who is in charge of getting the Fort Smith base training center at Ebbing operational, said the earliest foreign planes and pilots would arrive at the base is 2024, and he expects Polish pilots to arrive first. Poland is purchasing 32 F-35 Lightning II aircraft from Lockheed Martin. The total estimated cost of the planes is $4.6 billion.
The mission is expected to bring 900 military members and their families to the River Valley area.
Retired Air Force Col. Robert Ator, director of military affairs at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said the current plan is to have the Singapore Air Force come with 12 F-16 aircraft and transition to the F-35. He said the current program is for 36 aircraft, with the remaining 24 being split among Poland, Finland and Germany.
CORRECTION: The project at the Fort Smith airport is being designed by engineering firm Halff. An earlier version of this story used an previous version of the company's name.