Free Republic

Switzerland agreed to buy F-35 jet fighters to park on a remote runway. Then the U.S. zeroed in on the Wangs, who owned the rustic hotel next door. UNTERBACH, — The Hotel Rössli, a century-old lodge in this Alpine valley village, enjoys a spectacular view . ... But it is the view from the back that caught the attention of American intelligence agencies. About 100 yards from the rear of the rustic, wood-paneled inn .. cuts the runway where the Swiss military had agreed to base several F-35s, the world’s most advanced jet fighter. The airstrip, only partly fenced, is...

Indonesia is still waiting for confirmation from the United States (US) government on its request to be a recipient of F-16 jet fighter planes Washington is planning to donate to other countries. "We are now still waiting for confirmation on our request for the F-16 jet fighters," Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal TNI Imam Sufaat said here Monday. Imam said the Indonesian Air Force had submitted a request to the United States related to 24 F-16 jet fighters Washington had been wanting to donate to other countries since 2009 but so far it had not received any confirmations...

Satellite photos recently revealed that the Chinese Navy has received J-11 jet fighters. These are illegal Chinese copies of the Russian Su-27. This plagiarism has been a source of friction between Russia and China for over five years. It all began, legally, in 1995, when China paid $2.5 billion for the right to build 200 Su-27s. Russia would supply engines and electronics, with China building the other components according to Russian plans and specifications. But after 95 of the Chinese built aircraft were built, Russia cancelled the agreement. They claimed that China was using the knowledge acquired with this Su-27...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2003 -- American forces have found Russian fighter jets buried in the Iraqi desert, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an Aug. 5 press briefing. "We'd heard a great many things had been buried, but we had not known where they were, and we'd been operating in that immediate vicinity for weeks and weeks and weeks … 12, 13 weeks, and didn't know they were (there)," Rumsfeld said. The secretary said he wasn't sure how many such aircraft had been found, but noted, "It wasn't one or two." He said it's a "classic example" of the challenges...

DEBLIN, Poland, Apr 18, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Poland on Friday signed a deal to buy 48 U.S.-made F-16 jet fighters for US$3.5 billion, the biggest defense contract by a former Soviet bloc country since the end of the Cold War. Along with the purchase of planes from Lockheed Martin Corp., Polish and U.S. officials concluded an agreement for U.S. investment in Poland, business deals with Polish manufacturers and transfer of technology that the government valued at a minimum of US$7.5 billion. With its complexity, scope and promise of economic benefits for the former communist nation, the package...

PRINCE SULTAN AIRBASE, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes were within two minutes of firing at an Iraqi Mig-25 fighter jet when it sneaked into Saudi airspace in an intensifying cat-and-mouse game between Western and Iraqi warplanes, U.S. air force pilots say. The daring probe on Thursday by Iraq's fastest warplane -- a move apparently rarely attempted since the 1991 Gulf War -- indicated Baghdad was willing to take risks to test U.S.-led forces rapidly building up planes and troops in Saudi Arabia. "He came 15-20 miles into Saudi airspace and went nose-to-nose with us at 70,000 feet," F-15C fighter...