Seen taxying towards the Turtmann runway. The backdrop in the Rhone valley is impressive!

Photo was taken shortly before the handover to the Austrian Air Force. For the period after the decommissioning of the Saab Draken and before the introduction of the Eurofighter Typhoon, Austria needed an interim solution. It was decided to lease 12 F-5E Tiger II of the Swiss Air Force for 4 years. On 1 July 2005, the F-5E Tiger II took over active airspace surveillance over Austria, replacing the Saab Draken in day-to-day operations. On 30 June 2008 the return to Switzerland began with the transfer of the first 4 aircraft. Since then, the Typhoon have been monitoring Austrian airspace.