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The F-5 Freedom Fighter (or Tiger II) was a low cost entry level supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the United States, beginning in 1962. It is also the design on which the F/A-18 Hornet series was based.

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. 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. The USAF did adopt the T-38 Talon trainer version of the airframe as the world's first supersonic trainer.

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 the Royal Norwegian Air Force 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.

Vietnam

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. It may be noted that the double-sonic F-104 Starfighter and the sophisticated F-102 Delta Dagger were also tried, but completely withdrawn from Vietnam.

The 10th FCS's surviving aircraft were subsequently turned over to the air force of South Vietnam, which previously had only slow A-1 Skyraider and A-37 Dragonfly attack aircraft. The president of Vietnam asked for the F-4 Phantoms used by the Americans, but the VNAF flew primarily ground support as the communist forces employed no opposing aircraft over South Vietnam, MiG or otherwise. 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 Khmer Rouge. In view of the performance, agility and size of the F-5, it might have appeared to be a good match against the similar MiG-21 in air combat, however US doctrine was to use heavy faster and longer range aircraft over North Vietnam like the F-105 Thunderchief and F-4.

Tiger II

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 with 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.

United States

Although the United States does not use the F-5 in a frontline role, it was adopted for an opposing-forces (OPFOR) "aggressor" for dissimilar training role because of its small size and performance similarities to the Soviet MiG-21. A small target is much more difficult to see than an aircraft as large as an F-14 Tomcat or F-15 Eagle. F-5s are the black painted "threat" aircraft that were portrayed in Top Gun.

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. Many of these have been replaced by F-16s which aren't much larger than the F-5.

Tigershark

The F-5 has long be regarded as an entry level fighter that was not suitable to frontline use by the US armed forces.

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. It got good reviews as a less expensive but more capable alternative to the F-16, but it never had the appeal of the much newer fighter design even at a lower cost.

Hornet: The other F-5 derivative

Northrop had an internal study of a complete rethinking of the F-5 which would have quite a different fate. The maximum takeoff weight of the F-5 was roughly the same as the 23,000 lb YF-17 Cobra LWF lightweight fighter prototype. The USAF would judged it to fall short of the YF-16 in terms of performance and operating costs. However, the Navy's original VFAX envisioned a plane smaller than the heavy F-4 Phantom II. They liked two engines, and built the F-18, which upsized the plane into something of a Phantom-lite with conformal carriage of two Sparrow missles, that had reduced range compared to the A-7 Corsair or A-6 Intruder.

A 1974 Aviation Week article about the design of the YF-17 Cobra details how the lighweight fighter entry was based on the F-5 as a starting point. Northrop found that the small leading edge root wing extensions of the F-5E enhanced maneuverability. The long "cobra hood" extensions are those same extensions taken all the way to the front of the canopy. The basic lightly swept leading edge and slight negative sweep trailing edge wing shape is the same as the F-5. The wing is moved to the top of the fuselage, while the forward fuselage, also similar to the F-5, is raised so the extensions go around either side, with an opening to let air through at high angles of attack. To break up the large vortices created by the extensions, twin tails are used moved as far forward as possible. This decision would also lead to improved survivability as tail hits on F/A-18s from IR missles over Desert Storm tended to only damage the tail nozzles rather than control surfaces. The horizontal stabilizers are oversized for faster turning.

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a growth of the F/A-18 Hornet, which was derived from the YF-17 Cobra, which was a redesign of the F-5 Tiger II.The product of probably more growth evolutions than any other design, the derivative 66,000 max takeoff weight Super Hornet "Superbug" is heavier than the 55,000 lb Phantom II, and has already replaced the up to 78,000 lb F-14 Tomcat as the US Navy's primary strike and air superiority fighter in 2006. The Super Hornet will eventually replace not only all jet combat types, but also electronic warfare and tanker support missions. This has led to the appearance on boards of the term TankBug, and humourous speculation about upcoming E-18 SuperBugEye AEW, C-18 SuperBus or FH-18 SuperSeaHawk derivatives. As the distant descendent of the entry level fighter no US service wanted, the Super Hornet is probably capable of replacing at some difference in performance level and cost all USAF and USN combat jets, though the JSF and F-22 Lightning are slated to replace the low and high level fighter roles.

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-5E Tiger III : Upgraded version of the F-5E in use by the Chilean Air Force.
  • F-5G : The temporarily designation given to the F-20A Tigershark.
  • F-5N : Ex-Swiss Air Force F-5Es used by the US Navy as "aggressor" aircraft
  • F-5S : Upgraded version of the F-5E in use by the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

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. The RF-5E Tigereye was exported to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Malaysia.
  • RF-5E Tigergazer' : Upgraded single-seat reconnaissance version of the F-5E. The Tigergazer is now in service with Taiwan.
  • RF-5S Tigereye : Single-seat reconnaissance version of the F-5S for the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

Training versions

  • F-5B : Two-seat training version.
  • F-5B(G) : Two-seat training version of the F-5B for the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
  • 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-5F Tiger III : Upgraded version of the F-5F in use by the Chilean Air Force.
  • F-5T : Upgraded F-5F in use by the Republic of Singapore Air Force

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. Canadian designation CF-116A.
  • CF-5A(R) : Single-seat reconnaissance version of the CF-5A. Built in very small numbers for the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadian designation CF-116A(R).
  • CF-5D : Two-seat training version for the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadian designation CF-116D.
  • 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-5A : Single-seat version of the CF-5A for the Venezuelan Air Force. This designation was given to some Canadair CF-116s which were sold to the Venezuelan Air Force.
  • VF-5D : Two-seat training version of the CF-5D for the Venezuelan Air Force.

Use in fiction

  • Apocalypse Now features 4-5 aircraft dropping Napalm on a battlefield. These belonged to the Philippine Air Force which provided numerous aircraft, including the helicopters, for the film. The aircraft are portrayed as American in the film.
  • Top Gun features a number of F-5Es and F-5Fs as the fictional MiG-28s that battle against US Navy F-14s. At least a few of the aircraft kept the overall black paint scheme and were used as 'aggressors' at the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School.

  • The film Thirteen Days shows a number of F-5s on the flightline during the Cuban Missile Crisis in USAF markings (most likely Philippine Air Force aircraft used)
  • The game series Ace Combat uses the aircraft exclusivley as a 'starter' aircraft, with standard equipment, in the 5th edition Squadron Leader it is the only aircraft that can be used for the first few missions, but is capable in the game.

Operators

  • Austria, Bahrain, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ethiopia, Greece, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Pakistan (Temporarily borrowed from allied countries during a war against India), Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, South Vietnam, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United States (Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps), Venezuela, Yemen,

Specifications (F-5E Tiger II)

References

Related content

U.S. fighter aircraft 1950-1959

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "F-5 Freedom Fighter".

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