In a country that spends more money on military
power than any other nation, the United States’ next major military project are
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The F-35 program is said to cost $1.5
trillion, making it the most costly weapon system in history. Along with
the extremely expensive cost comes a high list of design flaws and technical
issues. The Vermont Air National Guard in South Burlington has been the first destination to station the F-35’s and is scheduled to arrive in 2020. The F-35’s stationing in Burlington has turned into a very controversial issue and many residences of the Burlington area are
not happy about the idea of having the F-35’s flying over the skies of their community.
The
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been in development by Lockheed Martin for the
past fourteen years and has become the most expensive weapon system in U.S
military history. It was designed to
replace the aging “fourth generation” F-16 Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35 is the first “fifth generation”
Joint Strike Fighter and features revolutionary capabilities way beyond that of
the F-16s or any other fighter jet of it’s kind. Its features such as advanced stealth design,
fully fused sensor information, and state-of-the art helmets give the F-35
complete flying dominance over any other military aircraft. The innovative new technology added to
the F-35, has plagued the aircraft with constant bugs and technical issues. However despite these issues the Pentagon has allowed Lockheed
Martin to continue production on the F-35s’s instead of working out all the
bugs and given Lockheed near-total responsibility for all F-35 operations. As a result the F-35’s are seven years behind
schedule and have cost the military $167 billion dollars in cost overrun due to
various technical issues and design flaws.
The F-35’s also have difficulty dropping bombs, performing flying
engagements, and flying in bad weather; making the dating F-16 a more capable fighter
jet.
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| Governor Peter Shumlin speaking at the F-35 induction cermony alongside Vermont Senator Leahy and Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger |
In
December of 2013, the decision was made to bring the F-35’s to the Vermont Air
Guard in Burlington. According
to the Vermont Air Guard, its future would be uncertain had it not been able station
the F-35’s. Supporters say it will help
the local economy and national security. They feel that it is needed to maintain jobs at
the Air Guard and it will keep the skies of the Northeast United States
safer. Vermont politicians such as
Senator Patrick Leahy, Governor Peter Shumlin, and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger
are all in favor of the F-35’s coming to Vermont. It is the first time a new aircraft system
will be stationed at an Air Guard base, making it a great honor for the state
of Vermont. However with the F-35’s
coming to Burlington comes the huge debate on the impact of the aircraft being stationed in a residential area and the major harm it could
cause to the Burlington area community.
Burlington Vermont was one of six locations that were considered for the first home of the F-35’s. Due to the Burlington Air Guard’s high reputation they got the edge over the other contenders. However despite the fact that Burlington got the F-35’s, they were the only locations that were in the heart of a civilian population. If the F-35’s are to be stationed in the Burlington area, it would have a very negative impact on the residents living in the area. The F-35’s are significantly louder than the F-16’s are. The noise levels of the F-35’s reach up to 115 decibels, which is significently louder than maximum amount of decibel levels suitable for living. Due to the significant increase in noise from the F-35’s, 6000 people will live in an area that is unfit for residential use. There have already been homes in South Burlington torn down to make way for the F-35’s and now the homes that were behind the one torn down are even more subject to the noise levels. Living in the zone where the F-35’s fly will cause serious environmental harm to residents from the noise including childhood development issues and increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and hearing loss. Another environmental issue is the damage the plane would do to the community if it were to crash. The F-35’s have the highest percentage of stealth coding of any aircraft ever made. If the aircraft were to crash than it could burn for days, releasing high amounts of toxins into the air harming many citizens in the Burlington area. It is crazy to think of all the negative impacts this new aircraft system will have on the community yet the environmental impact statement issued on the F-35’s said that no residential areas will be negatively affected. The Air-Guard also said that no houses are located in the crash zone, which is false.
As
a result of so many homes being in a zone unfit for residential use, property
values will decrease drastically. Homes in neighborhoods around Burlington and Winooski will now be in an area
of high jet noise levels, which will bring down the value of the homes in these
areas. Therefore potential homebuyers in
the Burlington area will have to be made aware that many of the homes they are
looking will be in the noise path of the F-35’s, which will make it difficult for people trying to sell their homes and could result in them loosing a lot of money on their property.
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| Protestors in Winooski opposed to F-35 basing |
The impact of the F-35’s on the Burlington community has also brought up an environmental justice issue. It is said that 75% of Winooski, which is a town over from Burlington, will be considered unfit for residential use. Winooski has a high population of minorities, low-income families, and immigrants who may not realize the F-35’s will be arriving and impacting them. Therefore their is a large majority of low income citizens in Vermont that will be effected by the F-35's. “This really bothers me and feels very exploitative,” said Prof. Kirby, a philosophy professor at St. Michael’s College and activist against the F-35’s. “We had protests outside Senator Leahy’s office begging him to talk to the people in Winooski affected and he wanted nothing of it,” said Kirby.
There
have been many actions taken by citizens of Vermont and members of the
Burlington community to oppose the F-35 basing.
The most notable recently are the two lawsuits being filed against the
city of Burlington and the Air Force. The
lawsuit against the city of Burlington states that Burlington did not follow
the Act 250 requirement for in allowing the stationing of the F-35’s, which
reviews major environmental, social, and fiscal impacts on developments in
Vermont. The lawsuit against the Air
Force says that they did not follow the EPA requirements in eight different
areas in stationing the F-35’s. Many
other actions have been taken including letter campaigning to government
officials and protest organizations such as stopF35. There was also a panel at St. Michael’s in
2012 with people speaking for both sides of the debate.
The
F-35 aircraft has made significant progress recently, making its first
successful landing onto an aircraft carrier this past week. However bringing them to an area like Burlington
with thousands of people being negatively affected by the increased noise
levels could do serious harm to the community.
“The F-35’s are negatively affecting so many people and benefiting so few,” said
retired Air Force Colonel Rosanne Greco.
I have grown to love living in the Burlington area and going to school
at St. Mikes and I would hate to see the F-35’s bring a burden to
what is a great place to live. Therefore
I hope that an agreement can be made to stop the F-35’s from coming to the
Burlington Air Guard.
Source List
Dynamic News Sources
http://www.stopthef35.com/
https://www.facebook.com/StopTheF35
http://greenribbonsf35.org/
https://www.f35.com/
https://www.warresisters.org/stop-f-35-burlington-vermont
http://www.vtchamber.com/issues-policy/statewide_f-35_petition.aspx
http://saveourskiesvt.org/
Static News Sources
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2014/08/20/lockheed-contribution-vermont-delegation-follow-f-contract/14344483/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/2/air-force-sued-over-f-35-basing-decision/?page=all
http://www.wptz.com/news/vermont-new-york/burlington/sources-pentagon-selects-vermont-for-f35/22981068
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/07/14/pentagons-big-budget-f-35-fighter-cant-turn-cant-climb-cant-run/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/2/vermont-guard-hopes-f-35-can-be-flown-quietly/
https://www.f35.com/news/detail/air-force-announces-record-of-decision-for-operational-basing-of-the-f35a-i
http://digital.vpr.net/post/5-things-you-should-know-about-f-35-basing
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/09/joint-strike-fighter-lockheed-martin#
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-melton/time-to-get-real-about-th_1_b_5942080.html
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/10/19/home-buyers-told-f-impact/17444089/
http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130625/NEWS02/306250046/Vt-F-35-opponents-demonstrate-noise
Interview Sources:
Greg Delanty- St. Michael's College English professor
Katherine Kirby- St. Michael's Philosphy professor
Roseanne Greco- retired Air Force Colonel
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