The Air Force on Thursday declared Utah's Hill Air Force Base as one of three finalists to house its next-generation F-35 fighter-bomber.

"This, I believe, secures the future of Hill Air Force Base into as far as any of us can see," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

Technically, the Air Force said Hill is one of three "preferred choices" to house active operations squadrons that will fly the F-35 as early as 2013. Others are Mountain Home, Idaho, and Shaw, S.C. They were chosen from among 205 air bases.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said making the final three essentially ensures that at least some F-35s will be sent to Hill, as long as it does well on some upcoming environmental impact statements.

One of his aides compared it to receiving a college acceptance letter, and as long as the student passes his final exams and graduates high school, he should expect to be at that college next fall.

But Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the situation is not that secure. "It is not a done deal, and we should not make that assumption."

He added, "I like to say we won the swimsuit competition, but now we're still in the evening gown phase." Bishop said the Air Force could place F-35s at all finalist bases, or just one or two.

Bishop, Hatch and Bennett said the Air Force indicated it could put one to three squadrons at Hill. The base currently has three squadrons of F-16s, totaling 70 planes, with its 388th Fighter Wing, but the Air Force is phasing out the old F-16s and replacing them with stealthy F-35s that can carry both bombs and missiles.

"Many of our pilots are currently flying aircraft older than they are. And that is a tremendous strain on the airplanes to have to be maintained constantly after they are that old, and there are safety issues and, of course, obsolescence issues, so the F-35 is a logical step forward," Bennett said.

Col. Scott Zobrist, 388th Fighter Wing commander, said Hill is honored to be among the bases considered for the F-35 mission, but many factors go into the final selection including Air Force operational and strategic needs, force structure changes, aircraft retirements, affordability, the use of existing assets and the environmental evaluation. "The Air Force is committed to keeping base personnel, community leaders and the public informed as the process moves forward," he said.

In addition to the three bases, the Air Force ic considering Burlington International Airport Guard Station, Vt.; Jacksonville International Airport Air Guard Station, Fla.; and McEntire Air Guard Base, S.C., as homes for the F-35.