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🇰🇷F-5A Freedom Fighter 자유의 투사
Introduce
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On April 30, 1965, ROKAF received 16 F-5As and 4 F-5Bs from the United States as part of the MAP (Military Aid Program). As a result, Korea became the second country to introduce the F-5 after Iran. From 1965 to 1972, 88 F-5As and 20 F-5Bs were additionally provided by the United States. The tail numbers are 63-08373~63-08437, 64-13306~65-10554, 66-09131~67-21191, 68-09043~68-09049, 70-01383~70-01404.
History
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Entering the 1960s, countries around the world began introducing Mach 2-class fighters. North Korea also began to introduce the Mig-21 thanks to Soviet support. However, the South Korean Air Force was, at best, all of the used F-86s handed over from the United States, and it was close to impossible to block the North Korean Air Force’s Mig-21 and Mig-19. At the time, the Korean military desperately wanted the introduction of the F-4 Phantom, but the US did not sell the F-4 to Korea, a second-class ally, and as described above, provided the F-5A/B through MAP. On April 30, 1965, a reception ceremony for 20 F-5A/Bs was held, and they were deployed to combat squadrons under the 10th Fighter Wing.
In the early 1970s, the United States prepared to withdraw from the Vietnam War. While signing the Paris Peace Agreement, the United States agreed to increase South Vietnam’s military power for the cause of the agreement. However, the US Air Force did not introduce the F-5, and eventually tried to support Vietnam with all 76 F-5A/B deployed in Korea. However, Korea strongly opposed this. So the US offered to provide T-38 trainers instead of taking the F-5s, but South Korea cited examples of the shooting down of the US Navy EC-121, the January 21 Incident in which North Korean armed guerrillas tried to raid the Blue House, and the capture of the USS Pueblo. The ROKAF’s flagship aircraft, the F-5, could not be taken out as the crisis escalated. In the end, the United States decided to exchange two squadrons of F-5s (36) and one squadron of F-4Ds (18) with South Korea, and these aircraft were exchanged with each other’s roundels repainted. Considering that ROKAF’s F-5s at the time were ‘borrowed’ from the United States, this is very strange.
The F-5A of the ROK Air Force made a revolutionary contribution to destroying the North Korean spy ship. Near Gyeongnyeolbi-yeoldo in 1967, Daeheuksan-do and Soheuksan-do in 1969, Yeongdeok coast in 1970, and near Mukho and Soheuksan-do in 1971, spy ships were destroyed by F-5As.
The F-5A has been defending the country for decades, but the passage of time has been unavoidable. Therefore, due to aircraft aging and the introduction of new aircraft, the F-5A/B retired from the Korean Air Force after the farewell flight on August 3, 2005.
Characteristic
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South Korean F-5As do not have chaff/flare dispensers. (The original F-5A series does not have a dispenser. The F-5A released in War Thunder has historical errors.) And Korea only used the AIM-9B at the beginning of the introduction of the F-5A, but also used the AIM-9P later. Other than these two, nothing special.
Technical Data
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Specification
Length: 14.38m
Height: 4.01m
Width: 7.7m
Landing Gear Width (Front To Back): 4.67m
Landing Gear Width (Left To Right): 3.35m
Empty Weight: 3,667kg
MTOW: 9,333kg
Engine: J85-GE-13 (1,225kgf to 1860kgf)
Max Speed: 1719km/h (Mach 1.4)
Armament
Guns: 2 × 20mm M39
AAM: 2 × AIM-9B or AIM-9P
Rockets: 4 × LAU-3/A (76×Hydra 70)
Bombs: 5 × M117
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ5 × Mk.82
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ5 × Mk.20
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ5 × CBU-58
Photo
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Black Eagles (1966)
Black Eagles (1969)
Black Eagles (1973)
Black Eagles (1977)
Silver-Colored Camouflage
Kim Too-man’s F-5A
This is the F-5A of General Kim Too-man, who served as the 11th Air Force Chief of Staff, and is the first aircraft in the Korean Air Force to achieve 100 sorties. The aircraft number is 63-8393.
Source
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『대한민국 공군 F-5(ROKAF F-5: Sky Guardian Tiger)』- Lee Won-ik (2020)
http://archives.warmemo.or.kr/pss/media/pssMediaDetail.do?MID=UM00015&ctgryClfcCd=10&archvNttNo=4699
