All Singapore jets to be at Ebbing in Fort Smith by summer 2027

Singapore’s F-35 fighter jets are expected to arrive at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith in late 2026, with the country’s F-16 fighters set to arrive in the summer of 2027. Up to 400 personnel are to be stationed in Fort Smith when all Singapore planes arrive.

The arrival dates and personnel numbers were provided Monday (Dec. 1), by the U.S. Air Force Air Education Training Command (AETC), which is in charge of pilot training for the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

Formal approval for the Republic of Singapore to be based at the foreign pilot training center at Ebbing was announced Oct. 31 by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the Department of Defense. The agency approved $353 million for construction of Singapore operations at Ebbing, which will be paid by the country, a small nation in Asia located at the end of the Malayan peninsula.

Ebbing in Fort Smith was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term FMS pilot training center supporting F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the program. The base will also house and provide training support for Republic of Singapore F-16s.

The Air Force, in response to questions from Talk Business & Politics, said the estimated cost to complete the training center is $807 million. The previous estimate, provided by federal and state officials, ranged between $850 million and more than $1.2 billion. Around $600 million in federal funds has been appropriated since 2021 for the center.

Singapore announced in June 2024 it was buying eight additional F-35A jets, which are expected to be delivered by 2030. The planes will join the 12 F-35B models — short take off and landing — already ordered by the Asian nation.

According to information provided to Talk Business & Politics from AETC, construction on Singapore facilities awaits completion of a government mandated Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) expected to be complete by summer 2026.

The SEIS was required when the FMS announced in August plans to expand the pilot training center by leasing 6 more acres from the Fort Smith Regional Airport. The expansion will support 36 F-35 jets, up from the initial plan of 24 jets.

With SEIS approval, construction is estimated to begin by spring 2027, according to AETC, and the Singapore F-35 pilot academic training facility and the F-16 facilities will be on a separate part of Ebbing from other FMS partner facilities. The AETC said Singapore operations will be “on their own campus” at Ebbing.

The AETC also said Singapore operations should be fully in place at Ebbing by the fall of 2027, with between 300 and 400 Singapore personnel — including pilots, crews, and family — to be in Fort Smith.