The World : Honduras Gets 12 U.S. Jets

The United States has delivered the last of 12 supersonic jet fighters to Honduras--a move that Nicaragua views as threatening the military balance in Central America, military sources said. Honduras says the F-5 jets, costing a total of $75 million, will maintain its traditional air supremacy in the region and replace a fleet of aging, French-built Mirage fighters. However, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has said his country would be justified in obtaining Soviet MIG-21 fighters to counteract the F-5s. Meanwhile, about 600 U.S. troops from Ft. Bragg, N.C., have begun a four-week exercise with Honduran troops near the Honduran town of La Paz.