Europe to Get U.S. Ultimatum on F-16 Pullout

The Administration, about to deliver an ultimatum to its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, said Thursday that the United States will bring 72 F-16 fighter planes expelled from Spain back to the United States and disband the unit unless NATO finds a new home for the jets and pays relocation costs.

Angry U.S. officials said that NATO can look for some other means of defending the alliance’s southern flank if it does not arrange the relocation, which would cost several hundred million dollars. A diplomatic note spelling out the U.S. position on the planes will be delivered to NATO defense officials in the next few days, sources said.

Spain is forcing the United States to remove the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing from its base at Torrejon outside Madrid as part of a domestic political deal in exchange for Spain’s continued membership in NATO. The U.S. operations have been criticized as an affront to Spanish sovereignty.

Mission Reviewed

The United States last week reluctantly agreed to the deal and officials have been considering what to do with the planes and with their mission in NATO’s air defense network.

The U.S. reaction to the Spanish decision may signal a new hard line in dealing with host countries for American military facilities. The United States is facing difficult base rights negotiations with a number of countries over the next few years, including Greece, Portugal, Turkey and the Philippines.

U.S. officials are expected to demand that host countries pay a higher share of the cost of maintaining American military facilities abroad because of tight U.S. budgets.

U.S. military planners would prefer that any new base for the expelled F-16s be in a country on NATO’s southern flank--Portugal, Italy, Greece or Turkey. None of these countries have yet offered to accept the jets, but Italian officials signaled an interest in keeping the planes in Europe.

Prime Minister Giovanni Goria, after meeting with senior ministers of his government Wednesday, said that the planes should remain in Europe until an East-West agreement can be reached reducing non-nuclear forces in Europe.

If NATO offers no new site and relocation costs, the United States will disband the wing and assign the planes to Air National Guard units, Administration officials said.

Congress has barred the spending of any U.S. funds to relocate the fighter wing.

Effort to Meet Spending Cuts

The Air Force, trying to meet $10.5 billion in spending cuts mandated by Congress, has decided it cannot afford to maintain the air wing on active status if NATO does not pick up the added costs.

The 401st fighter wing employs about 4,500 airmen and support personnel, as well as 1,000 local workers. It costs more than $120 million a year to operate and pours nearly $50 million into the local economy, officials said.

Under conditions of the agreement with Spain, the United States must withdraw the 72 F-16s within three years. In exchange, Spain will allow the United States continued use of two smaller airfields, the large naval station at Rota, near the Strait of Gibraltar, and a string of communications facilities.

But the City Council in Saragossa in northeastern Spain called on the Madrid government Thursday to negotiate the closure of one of the airfields, located outside the city, the Reuters news agency reported. A council spokesman said it was the third time the city has sought removal of U.S. operations from the field, which is used mainly as a training center for planes based in northern Europe.

Reuters quoted the spokesman as saying that the field, six miles from Saragossa, is “far too near and it is far too noisy.” Under a defense agreement up to 1,400 U.S. personnel may be stationed at the field.

Wing May Move Sooner

An Administration source who requested anonymity said, “The agreement with Spain says we have three years to withdraw the 401st, but it will go sooner than that if NATO doesn’t step up to the problem” and find a new base for the planes.

Italy may offer to allow the planes to use the U.S. air base at Aviano, in northern Italy, which currently houses fighter support facilities and a communications wing, sources said.

The U.S. Air Force appears to favor transferring the 401st fighter wing to the newly built-up cruise missile base in Comiso, Italy, on the island of Sicily. The United States has spent millions in recent years to build housing and administrative facilities at the island base to support the deployment of ground-launched cruise missiles.

But with the anticipated elimination of the cruise missiles under a new treaty banning medium-range missiles in Europe, the facilities will be vacant. Runways would have to be lengthened to accommodate the high-performance F-16s, but most of the needed support facilities and housing are in place.