F-5 Freedom Fighter

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Image:Caf.f5.750pix.jpg The F-5 Freedom Fighter (or Tiger II) is a fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the USA, beginning in 1962.

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Development

Originally designed by Northrop (designated N-156) as a low-cost, low-maintenance fighter, there was little market for such a craft. The U.S. Army expressed interest in it for ground support, but operating fixed-wing aircraft was a U.S. Air Force responsibility and the Air Force would neither agree to operate the N-156 nor to allow the Army to operate fixed-wing combat aircraft. The F-5 proved to be a successful combat aircraft that never entered frontline service with the US due to diverging priorities of the US services.

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Operational history

When the Military Assistance Program under the Kennedy Administration needed a low cost fighter for distribution to less-developed nations, the N-156F was at the top of the pile, and subsequently became the F-5A. The first contract for the production F-5A was issued in 1962, the first overseas order coming from Norway in February 1964. 636 F-5As were built before production ended in 1972. These were accompanied by 200 two-seat F-5B aircraft. These were operational trainers, lacking the nose-mounted cannon but otherwise combat-capable.

The USAF made a combat evaluation of the F-5A under the Skoshi Tiger (little tiger) program in 1965. 12 aircraft were delivered for trials to the 4503rd Tactical Fighter Wing (subsequently the 10th Fighter Commando Squadron), redesignated F-5C. They performed combat duty in Vietnam, flying more than 3,500 sorties from the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Bien Hoa in South Vietnam. Two aircraft were lost in combat. The program was short-lived, more a political gesture than a serious consideration of the type for U.S. service. The 10th FCS's surviving aircraft were subsequently turned over to the air force of South Vietnam. Ironically, when Bien Hoa was later overrun by Communist forces, several of the aircraft were captured and used operationally by the NVAF, in particular against China.

In 1970 Northrop won a competition for an improved International Fighter Aircraft (IFA) to replace the F-5A. The resultant aircraft, initially known as F-5A-21, subsequently became the F-5E. It was lengthened and enlarged, with increased wing area and more sophisticated avionics, initially with an Emerson AN/APQ-159 radar (the F-5A and -B had no radar). Various specific avionics fits could be accommodated at customer request. A two-seat combat-capable trainer, the F-5F, was offered. Unlike the gunless F-5B, it retained a single M39 cannon in the nose, albeit with a reduced ammunition capacity. A reconnaissance version, the RF-5E Tigereye, with a sensor package in the nose displacing the radar and one cannon, was also offered.

The F-5E eventually received the official popular name Tiger II. It is sometimes incorrectly thought to be the only aircraft designated as its own replacement; in fact, the previous "Tiger" was the Grumman F11F/F-11. The AV-8B Harrier II, which followed the AV-8A/C Harrier, is the only aircraft to have truly been designated as its own replacement.

Northrop built 792 F-5Es, 140 F-5Fs and 12 RF-5Es. More were built under license overseas: 56 F-5Es and -Fs plus 5 RF-5Es in Malaysia (they plan to sell them after being upgraded), 90 F-5Es and -Fs in Switzerland (of which some are currently rented to Austria to bridge the gap between the retirement of the Saab Draken fleet and the delivery of new Eurofighter jets), 68 in South Korea, and 380 in Taiwan.

Various F-5 versions remain in service with many nations. The most advanced are those of Singapore, which has approximately 49 modernised and re-designated F-5S (single-seaters) and F-5T (two-seaters) aircraft. Upgrades include new radar, manufactured by Israel, updated cockpits with multi-function displays, and compatibility with the Rafael Python and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. Similar programs have been carried out in Chile (with Israeli assistance) and Brazil, the former being called the F-5E Tiger III, armed with Python III and 4 (with Dash helmet-mounted cue system) and new radar, cockpit displays, and electronics, and the latter being called the F-5 Plus, with Griffon radars and other improvements. It is believed that the Chilean Air Force F-5E also carry the Israeli Derby medium range missile, proving the aircraft with BVR capability.

Image:USN F5 aggressor.jpg

Although the United States does not use the F-5 in a frontline role, it was adopted for an opposing-forces (OPFOR) "aggressor" training role because of its performance similarities to the Soviet MiG-21.

The F-5E saw service with the US Air Force from 1975 until 1990, serving in the 64th Aggressor Squadron and 65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and with the 527th Aggressor Squadron at Alconbury RAF Base in the UK and the 26th Aggressor Squadron at Clark AB in the Philippines. The Marines purchased ex-USAF models in 1989 to replace their F-21s. Serving with VMFT-401 at Yuma MCAS, the F-5 fleet continues to be modernized with F-5N replacements purchased from Switzerland. The US Navy used the F-5E extensively at The Naval Fighter Weapons School at NAS Miramar, VF-127, VF-43 and VF-45. Currently, the only Navy unit flying the F-5 is VFC-13 at NAS Fallon in Nevada.

Northrop attempted to develop an advanced version of the F-5E, originally designated F-5G, as an export competitor for the F-16. The -5G was later redesignated the F-20 Tigershark.

The F/A-18 Hornet was derived from the YF-17 Cobra, which in turn was based in part on the F-5 Tiger II.

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Fighter Versions

  • N-156F : Single-seat fighter prototype. Only three aircraft were built.
  • YF-5A : The three prototypes were given the US Air Force designation YF-5A.
  • F-5A : Single-seat fighter version.
  • F-5A (G) : Single-seat fighter version of the F-5A for the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
  • XF-5A : This designation was given to one aircraft used for static tests.
  • F-5C Skoshi Tiger : 12 F-5A Freedom Fighters, were tested by the US Air Force for four and a half months in Vietnam.
  • F-5E Tiger II : Single-seat fighter version.
  • F-5G : The temporarily designation given to the F-20A Tigershark.
  • F-5S :
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Reconnaissance Versions

  • RF-5A : Single-seat reconnaissance version of the F-5A fighter.
  • RF-5A (G) : Single-seat reconnaissance version of the F-5A fighter for the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
  • RF-5E Tigereye : Single-seat reconnaissance version of the F-5E fighter.
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Training Versions

  • F-5B : Two-seat training version.
  • F-5-21 : Temporarily designation given to the YF-5B.
  • YF-5B : One F-5B was fitted with a 5,000 lb s.t (2,268 kg) General Electric J85-GE-21 engine, and used as a prototype for the F-5E Tiger II.
  • F-5D : Unbuilt training version.
  • F-5F Tiger II : Two-seat training version.
  • F-5T :
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Foreign variations

  • Iran has reverse engineered its F-5 fighters supplied to it before the Iranian Revolution and developed two indigenous fighters: the Saeqeh Fighter and the Azarakhsh Fighter.
  • CF-5A : Single-seat fighter version for the Canadian Armed Forces. Built under licence in Canada by Canadair as the CF-116 Freedom Fighter.
  • CF-5D : Two-seat training version for the Canadian Armed Forces.
  • NF-5A : Single-seat fighter version of the CF-5A for the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
  • NF-5B : Two-seat training version of the CF-5D for the Royal Netherlands Air force.
  • SF-5A : Single-seat fighter version of the F-5A for the Spanish Air Force. Built under licence in Spain by CASA.
  • SRF-5A : Single-seat reconnaissance version of the RF-5A for the Spanish Air force. Built under licence in Spain By CASA.
  • SF-5B : Two-seat training version of the F-5B for the Spanish Air Force. Built under licence in Spain by CASA.
  • VF-5 : This designation was given to some Canadair CF-116s which were sold to the Venezuelan Air Force.
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Use in fiction

  • Apocalypse Now features 4-5 aircraft dropping Napalm on a battlefield. These undoubtedly belonged to the Philippine Air Force, who provided numerous aircraft (including helicopters) for the film. The aircraft are portrayed as American in the film.
  • Top Gun features a number of F-5s as the fictional MiG-28 that battle against US Navy F-14s.
  • Shin Kazama of Area 88 acquired an F-5 after his F-8 Crusader was destroyed.
  • Thirteen Days Shows a fair number of F-5s on a flightline during the Cuban Missile Crisis in USAF markings (most likely Philippine Air Force aircraft used)
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Operators

  • Austria, Bahrain, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ethiopia, Greece, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, South Vietnam, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United States (Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps), Venezuela, Yemen,
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Specifications (Tiger II)

Image:F-5 3-view.jpg Template:Airtemp

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Related content

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