Members and equipment of the Royal Singapore Air Force are scheduled to begin arriving at Mountain Home Air Force Base this fall.

Under a 5- to 20-year contract, nearly 180 active duty Singapore personnel and their families will head to the southern Idaho base in October, and up to 20 new F-15SG fighter jets will arrive next April. The arrival will also require about 128 U.S. personnel to repair planes and beef up other facilities.

Singapore, an island nation of 4.5 million and one of Asia’s shipping and private banking capitals, is a close ally of the United States and a staunch supporter of the war on terror.

(AP)