Where the Swiss Hornets Meet the Mountains
There are air bases where the aircraft are the attraction, and then there are air bases where the landscape is every bit as important as the machines that operate from them. Meiringen belongs firmly to the latter category. Nestled deep within Switzerland’s Haslital in the Bernese Oberland, Meiringen Air Base occupies an extraordinary position at the foot of the Alps, its runway squeezed into a narrow valley and surrounded on almost every side by imposing mountain peaks. It is a setting that seems almost too spectacular to be the backdrop to an active fighter base, yet this remote corner of Switzerland has been home to military aviation for more than eight decades.
I visited Meiringen in February 2025, arriving in the depths of the Swiss winter when the surrounding mountains were covered in snow. The scene could hardly have been further removed from the image normally associated with a modern fighter base. Instead of vast expanses of concrete and open countryside, the airfield was surrounded by steep, snow-covered slopes, forests and small communities scattered across the valley. Yet beneath the apparent tranquillity was a fully operational military installation, home to one of Switzerland’s most important fighter units and an airfield whose very design reflects the country’s unique approach to national defence.
Meiringen’s history as a military airfield dates back to 1941, when Switzerland was surrounded by the Axis powers and maintaining an independent military capability had become more important than ever. Its location was both a challenge and an advantage. The narrow Alpine valley offered relatively little room for expansion, but the surrounding mountains provided something that an airfield on the Swiss plateau could never offer: natural protection and concealment. During the Cold War, Switzerland developed an extensive network of hardened facilities designed to ensure that its aircraft could survive an attack, and Meiringen became one of the most remarkable examples of this philosophy.
The most striking manifestation of this remains hidden inside the mountain itself. Rather than leaving its combat aircraft exposed on the flight line, the Swiss Air Force constructed a cavern capable of sheltering its fighters deep inside the rock. The facility was subsequently modified to accommodate successive generations of aircraft, including the F/A-18 Hornet. Even today, the sight of a Swiss fighter disappearing into the mountain remains one of the defining characteristics of Meiringen and an extraordinary reminder of the defensive thinking that shaped Swiss military aviation during the second half of the twentieth century.
For aviation enthusiasts, however, Meiringen is particularly synonymous with the F/A-18C/D Hornet and Fliegerstaffel 11, the famous “Tigers”. The squadron can trace its origins back to 1925, making it one of the oldest formations within the Swiss Air Force. Over the course of its long history it has operated an impressive succession of aircraft, including the Fokker CV, EKW C-35, de Havilland Vampire, Hawker Hunter and Northrop F-5E Tiger II, before eventually transitioning to the F/A-18 Hornet.
The relationship between Fliegerstaffel 11 and Meiringen is also deeply rooted in the history of Swiss fighter aviation. The unit operated Hawker Hunters from the base between 1959 and 1975, before eventually returning with the Hornet. Following its transition from the F-5 to the F/A-18, the squadron moved from Dübendorf to Meiringen in 2005, becoming operational from the Alpine base in January 2006. Since then, the sight and sound of a Swiss Hornet climbing away from the runway with the mountains rising behind it have become almost inseparable from the identity of Meiringen.
The F/A-18 is an imposing aircraft wherever it operates, but at Meiringen the setting changes the entire impression of the machine. Against a conventional European airfield, a Hornet can appear simply as another modern combat aircraft. Here, it seems almost dwarfed by the mountains around it. The aircraft can emerge from the cavern, taxi towards the runway and, within moments, launch into the narrow Alpine valley before climbing sharply into the surrounding sky. The combination of advanced fourth-generation fighter technology and an environment shaped over millions of years creates a visual contrast that is difficult to reproduce anywhere else in Europe.
The Swiss Hornets are not maintained at Meiringen simply for the benefit of aviation photographers, of course. Their presence forms part of Switzerland’s national air-defence and air-policing capability. Despite the country’s long-standing policy of neutrality, the Swiss Air Force maintains a requirement to monitor and protect its sovereign airspace, with its fighter force capable of responding to aircraft requiring identification or intervention. Meiringen contributes to that readiness while also providing an important training environment for Swiss fighter crews.
The timing of my visit was particularly interesting because winter is an important period for Swiss military aviation. The annual World Economic Forum in Davos brings heightened security requirements to Swiss airspace, and fighter activity increases accordingly. Meiringen’s position in the Alps gives the Swiss Air Force a valuable location from which to conduct operations during a period when the surrounding landscape is often covered in snow and the weather can be distinctly unforgiving.
That winter environment is part of what makes flying from Meiringen so fascinating. The mountains impose obvious geographical constraints, while snow, ice, low cloud and rapidly changing weather can all influence operations. From the photographer’s perspective, however, these same conditions can transform an ordinary sortie into something extraordinary. A grey Hornet against a grey winter sky is one thing; a Hornet climbing above a snow-covered Alpine valley with the peaks illuminated in the background is quite another.
Although Fliegerstaffel 11 and its Hornets form the centrepiece of Meiringen’s identity today, the base has a much broader connection with Swiss military aviation. For many years the airfield was also strongly associated with the Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II. Fliegerstaffel 8 “Vandalos” operated the type from Meiringen for many years, continuing a long tradition of Swiss militia fighter operations, before the squadron was disbanded in 2017. The F-5 itself, however, remained in Swiss service, with Fliegerstaffel 19 at Emmen continuing to operate the aircraft in a training and aggressor role.
This created an interesting generational contrast. The small and relatively simple F-5 Tiger II could still serve as an effective adversary for the much more sophisticated F/A-18, providing Swiss fighter crews with a different type of opponent during tactical training. During my visit in February 2025, Meiringen continued to feature in the F-5’s operational activity, with additional Tiger operations scheduled at the base later that month. It was another reminder that Swiss military aviation has always placed considerable value on extracting as much useful service as possible from its existing aircraft.
The juxtaposition of the two generations of fighter was particularly appropriate given the history of Fliegerstaffel 11 itself. The squadron’s identity is built around the tiger, and its association with the NATO Tiger Association has given it an international presence extending well beyond Switzerland. Although Switzerland is not a member of NATO, Fliegerstaffel 11 participates in the annual NATO Tiger Meet alongside fellow units whose traditions and insignia are similarly linked to the tiger. The unit’s distinctive markings and heritage have consequently become familiar to military aviation enthusiasts throughout Europe.
Yet the most fascinating aspect of Meiringen is perhaps not any particular aircraft or squadron, but the way in which the entire airfield has been shaped by its surroundings. Space is at a premium in the valley, and the air base exists in close proximity to the civilian world. Roads and agricultural land sit alongside the military installation, and one of the distinctive features of Meiringen is the requirement to temporarily close a public road when aircraft movements take place. Barriers stop civilian traffic while military aircraft cross the road between different parts of the airfield, an arrangement that would seem almost inconceivable at many major European fighter stations.
Meiringen does not dominate its surroundings in the way that many large military installations do. Instead, it seems to have grown into the landscape. The mountains, villages, roads, farms and military facilities all coexist within the same confined space. Even the approximately 200 personnel who work at the air base form part of the local community, making Meiringen as much a feature of the Haslital as the surrounding peaks and valleys.
The base also supports more than just fighter operations. Various Swiss military helicopters and light aircraft can operate from Meiringen, providing additional capabilities and adding further variety to the activity on the airfield. Nevertheless, there is no escaping the fact that the Hornet remains the aircraft that defines the location.
By the time of my visit, however, the Swiss F/A-18 was already entering the later chapters of its career. Switzerland had selected the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II as the replacement for the Hornet, marking the beginning of another major transition for the Swiss Air Force. The F/A-18 fleet is expected to remain operational into the early 2030s, but the arrival of the F-35A will eventually bring an end to more than three decades of Swiss Hornet operations.
That knowledge adds another dimension to photographing the aircraft at Meiringen today. These are not simply operational fighters; they are increasingly becoming representatives of an era of Swiss military aviation that will soon belong to history. The Hornet has been an integral part of Swiss air defence since the late 1990s, and at Meiringen it has acquired an identity unlike that of the aircraft operated by almost any other air force.
Watching a modern fighter being moved towards an opening in the mountains is an experience that remains difficult to reconcile with the conventional image of a fighter base. The aircraft slowly disappears into the rock, leaving behind only the imposing entrance and the knowledge that an entire operational facility lies hidden beyond it. It is an extraordinary solution to the fundamental problem of protecting military aircraft, and one that reflects the particular circumstances of Swiss defence planning during the Cold War.
The cavern also provides a direct physical connection between the past and the present. The facility was conceived during an era when the threat of a major European conflict was very real, yet it continues to serve modern combat aircraft decades later. The technology has changed dramatically, but the fundamental principle has remained the same: protect the aircraft, preserve the ability to operate and make use of the natural environment wherever possible.
Looking back at my visit, that contrast is probably what left the greatest impression. The surroundings were peaceful, almost idyllic. Snow covered the mountains and the valley appeared quiet beneath the winter sky. Yet just a short distance away, one of Europe’s most capable fighter aircraft was being prepared for another sortie. Then the engines came to life. The tranquillity of the valley was suddenly replaced by the unmistakable sound of the Hornet. The aircraft moved towards the runway, passed through a landscape that seemed more suited to skiing than fighter operations and accelerated into the Alpine sky. For a few moments, the F/A-18 was framed against the enormous mountains before disappearing from view. It was difficult to imagine a more appropriate setting for the Swiss Air Force.
For the aviation photographer, it is a remarkable place to visit. For anyone interested in military aviation, it is a place that deserves to be experienced. And for the Swiss Air Force, it remains what it has been for generations: a fortress in the mountains, ready to send its Tigers into the skies above Switzerland.
