The F-16's at Fresno's Air National Guard base play a vital role in homeland security but by 2012, they'll need to be replaced with newer F-15 Eagles. Though the federal government is aware of the need of F-15's at the base, so far there are no firm plans on when a new fleet will arrive, or where the jets will come from. A spokesperson for the base says it will use the new funding to build a new operations center and hopefully show the Feds the base is doing all they can to get ready for the new F-15's.
"With the current squadron operations building, we don't have the capabilities that we need to bed down the F-15's right now," said Lt. Col. John Cotter.
Cotter says the base could break ground on the new project as soon as 2010.
