Maj. Gen. Michael DubieCOLCHESTER, Vt. -
Vermont's National Guard commander says the new F-35 jets won't be as loud as critics fear.
The stealth fighter bombers are in production and could land at Vermont's Air Guard base in a few years.
An Air Force environmental impact study suggested the F-35s will be significantly louder than the F-16s the guard now flies.
Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie says the raw comparison of the Air Force study doesn't take into account the procedures the guard uses to reduce noise impact.
"I've been in the guard a long time. I was here when we had the F-4. I lived in Chittenden County when we had the F-4. The F-4 was louder than the F-16 and the F-4 was louder than the proposed F-35. The F-35 noise will be somewhere between the F-16 and the F-4. And depending on how we mitigate that noise with our procedures, it will depend on the impact to the community," Dubie said.
Dubie says the guard intends to remain a good neighbor to the residents of Chittenden County. And he emphasized that if Vermont is not chosen to host the F-35s the future of the Air Guard base would be in doubt.
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