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Northrop F-5E TigerII
"Bert" VFC-13
The Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and F-5E/F Tiger II are part of a family of widely used light supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the United States, beginning in 1960s. Hundreds remain in service in air forces around the world in the early 21st Century, and the type has also been the basis for a number of other aircraft.
The F-5 started life as a privately funded light fighter program by Northrop in the 1950s. The first generation F-5A Freedom Fighter entered service in the 1960s. Over 800 were produced through 1972 for U.S. allies during the Cold War. The USAF had no need for a light fighter, but it did specify a requirement for a supersonic trainer and procured about 1,200 of a derivative airframe for this purpose, the T-38 Talon.
The improved second-generation F-5E Tiger II was also primarily used by American Cold War allies and, in limited quantities, served in US military aviation as a training and aggressor aircraft; Tiger II production amounted to 1,400 of all versions, with production ending in 1987. Many F-5s continuing in service into the 1990s and 2000s have undergone a wide variety of upgrade programs to keep pace with the changing combat environment.
In the mid 1950s, Northrop started development a low-cost, low-maintenance fighter, with the company designation N-156, partly to meet a US Navy requirement for a jet fighter to operate from its Escort Carriers, which were too small to operate the Navy's existing jet fighters. This requirement disappeared when the Navy decided to withdraw the Escort Carriers, but Northrop continued development of the N-156, with both a two seat advanced trainer (the N-156T), and a single-seat fighter (the N-156F) planned. The N-156 was based on the use of a pair of an afterburning version of the General Electric J85 engine which was originally designed to power the tiny McDonnell ADM-20 Quail decoy, then carried by the B-52 bomber. This requirement created a very small engine with a very high thrust-to-weight ratio.
The N-156T was selected by the United States Air Force as a replacement for the T-33 in July 1965, allowing development of the trainer to progress at full speed, the first example, later designated YT-38 Talon flying on June 12, 1959, with a total of 1,158 Talons being built by the time production ended in January 1972. Development of the N-156F continued at a lower priority as a private venture by Northrop, which was rewarded by an order for three prototypes on February 25, 1958 as a prospective low cost fighter that could be supplied under the Military Assistance Program for distribution to less-developed nations. The first N-156F flew at Edwards Air Force Base on July 30, 1959, exceeding the speed of sound on its first flight.
Although testing of the N-156F was successful, demonstrating unprecedented reliability and proving superior in the ground-attack role to the USAF's existing F-100 Super Sabres, official interest in the Northrop type waned, and by 1960 it looked as if the progam was a failure. Interest revived in 1961, however, when the U.S. Army tested it, (along with the A-4 Skyhawk and Fiat G.91) for reconnaissance and close-support, but although all three types proved capable during Army testing, operating fixed-wing combat aircraft was legally the responsibility of the Air Force, which would neither agree to operate the N-156 nor to allow the Army to operate fixed-wing combat aircraft (a situation repeated with the C-7 Caribou).[9] In 1962, however, the Kennedy Administration revived the requirement for a low-cost export fighter, selecting the N-156F as winner of the F-X competition on April 23, 1962 subsequently becoming the F-5A, being ordered into production in October that year.[10] It was named under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system which included a re-set of the fighter number series (the General Dynamics F-111 was the highest sequentially numbered P/F- aircraft to enter service under the old number sequence).
In 1970 Northrop won a competition for an improved International Fighter Aircraft (IFA) to replace the F-5A, with better air-to-air performance against aircraft like the Soviet MiG 21. The resultant aircraft, initially known as F-5A-21, subsequently became the F-5E. It had more powerful (5,000 lbf) J-85-21 engines, and had a lengthened and enlarged fuselage, accommodating more fuel. Its wings were fitted with enlarged leading edge extensions, giving an increased wing area and improved manouverability. The aircraft's avionics were more sophisticated, cruicially including a radar (initially the Emerson Electric AN/APQ-153) (the F-5A and B had no radar). It retained the gun armament of two M39 cannon, one on either side of the nose) of the F-5A. Various specific avionics fits could be accommodated at customer request, including an inertial navigation system, TACAN and ECM equipment. The first F-5E flew on August 11, 1972.
A two-seat combat-capable trainer, the F-5F, was offered, first flying on September 25, 1974, with a new, longer nose, which, unlike the F-5B which did not mount a gun, allowed it to retain a single M39 cannon, albeit with a reduced ammunition capacity.[14] The two-seater was equipped with the Emerson AN/APQ-157 radar, which is a derivative of the AN/APQ-153 radar, with dual control and display systems to accommodate the two-men crew, and the radar has the same range of AN/APQ-153, around 10 nm. A reconnaissance version, the RF-5E Tigereye, with a sensor package in the nose displacing the radar and one cannon, was also offered. The latest radar upgrade included the Emerson AN/APG-69, which was the successor of AN/APQ-159, incorporating mapping capability, however, most nations chose not to upgrade due to financial reasons, and the radar only saw very limited service in USAF aggressor squadrons and Swiss air force.
The F-5E eventually received the official name Tiger II. The F-5E experienced numerous upgrades in its service life, with the most significant one being adopting a new planar array radar, Emerson AN/APQ-159 with a range of 20 nmi to replace the original AN/APQ-153. Similar radar upgrades were also proposed for F-5F, with the derivative of AN/APQ-159, the AN/APQ-167, to replace the AN/APQ-157, but was never carried out.
In October 1965 the USAF began a five-month combat evaluation of the F-5A titled Skoshi Tiger. Twelve aircraft were delivered for trials to the 4503rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, and after modification with probe and drogue aerial refueling equipment, armor and improved instruments, were redesignated as the F-5C. Over the next six months, they performed combat duty in Vietnam, flying more than 2,600 sorties, both from the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Bien Hoa over South Vietnam, and from Da Nang Air Base where operations were flown over Laos. One aircraft was lost in combat. Though declared a success, with the aircraft generally as capable a ground-attack aircraft as the F-100, but suffering from a shorter range, the program as much a political gesture intended to aid the export of more F-5s than a serious consideration of the type for U.S. service. From April 1966 the aircraft continued operations as 10th Fighter Commando Squadron with their number boosted to seventeen aircraft. (Following Skoshi Tiger the Philippine Air Force acquired F-5A and B models in 1965, putting twenty-three into service. These aircraft, along with remanufactured F-8 Crusaders, eventually replaced the F-86 Sabre in the air defense and ground attack roles.)
In June 1967 the 10th FCS's surviving aircraft were turned over to the air force of South Vietnam, which previously had only A-37 Dragonfly and A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft. This new VNAF squadron was titled the 522nd. The president of Vietnam had originally asked for 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 like the F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantom II over North Vietnam. Several of the F-5s left over from the Vietnam war were sent to Poland and Russia, for advanced study of US aviation technology, while others were decommissioned and put on display at museums in Vietnam.
Although the United States does not use the F-5 in a front line 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.
The Marines purchased ex-USAF models in 1989 to replace their F-21s, which served with VMFT-401 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The U.S. Navy used the F-5E extensively at the Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) when it was located at NAS Miramar, California. When TOPGUN relocated to become part of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at NAS Fallon, Nevada, the command divested itself of the F-5, choosing to rely on VC-13 (redesignated VFC-13 and which already used F-5s) to employ their F-5s as adversary aircraft. Former adversary squadrons such as VF-43 at NAS Oceana, VF-45 at NAS Key West, VF-126 at NAS Miramar, and VFA-127 at NAS Lemoore have also operated the F-5 along with other aircraft types in support of Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT).
The U.S. Navy F-5 fleet continues to be modernized with 36 low-hour F-5E/Fs purchased from Switzerland in 2006. These were updated as F-5N/Fs with modernized avionics and other improved systems. Currently, the only U.S. Navy units flying the F-5 are VFC-13 at NAS Fallon, Nevada and VFC-111 at NAS Key West, Florida.
General characteristics: Crew: 1, Length: 47 ft 4¾ in (14.45 m), Wingspan: 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m), Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m), Wing area: 186 ft² (17.28 m²), Airfoil: NACA 65A004.8 root, NACA 64A004.8 tip, Empty weight: 9,558 lb (4,349 kg), Max takeoff weight: 24,664 lb (11,187 kg), Powerplant: 2× General Electric J85-GE-21B turbojet, Dry thrust: 3,500 lbf (15.5 kN) each, Thrust with afterburner: 5,000 lbf (22.2 kN) each, Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0200, Drag area: 3.4 ft² (0.32 m²), Aspect ratio: 3.86, Internal fuel: 677 US gal (2,563 L), External fuel: 275 US gal (1,040 L) per tank in up to 3 tanks. Performance: Maximum speed: 917 kn (1,060 mph, 1,700 km/h, Mach 1.6), Range: 760 nmi (870 mi, 1,405 km), Ferry range: 2,010 nmi (2,310 mi, 3,700 km[64]), Service ceiling: 51,800 ft (15,800 m), Rate of climb: 34,400 ft/min (175 m/s), Lift-to-drag ratio: 10.0. Armament: Guns: 2× 20 mm (0.787 in) Pontiac M39A2 cannons in the nose, 280 rounds/gun Hardpoints: 7 total (3× wet): 2× wing-tip AAM launch rails, 4× under-wing & 1× under-fuselage pylon stations holding up to 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) of payload. Rockets: 2× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× /7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively); or 2× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets); or 2× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× Zuni 127 mm rockets); or 2× Matra rocket pods (each with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets) Missiles: Air-to-air missile: 4× AIM-9 Sidewinders or 4× AIM-120 AMRAAMs,Air-to-surface missile: 2× AGM-65 Mavericks, Bombs: A variety of air-to-ground ordnance such as the Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs (including 3 kg and 14 kg practice bombs), CBU-24/49/52/58 cluster bomb munitions, napalm bomb canisters and M129 Leaflet bomb Others: up to 3× 150/275 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time. Avionics: AN/APQ-153 radar on early batch of F-5E, AN/APQ-159 radar on later production F-5E
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