- Yes
- No
F-5E Tiger II
History:
On September 25, 1974, the purchase of 18 Northrop F-5 Tiger II aircraft, fifteen single-seat F-5E aircraft (J-800 to J-814) and three two-seater F-5F (J-815 to J-817) was authorized for the amount of $44,311,859.00, renamed the “Peace Lama” acquisition project. The aircrafts arrived in Chile between 1976 and 1977, just before the Kennedy amendment began, which in the future would make it impossible to buy spare parts or war material from the United States, thus initiating the Supersonic era of the Chile Air Force. It should be noted that this purchasing process carried out by the FACH (Chilean Air Force) took place within the framework of the purchases that Peru had made in the early 1970s where they acquired Sukhoi Su-20/ Su-22 Fitter, Cessna A-37B and Mirage 5P being an air force superior to Chile in those years, in addition, Peru was under the government of Army General Juan Velazco Alvarado, who had come to power under a coup and who had anti-Chilean ideologies, so a possible invasion of Peru to Chile could occur trying to recover the territory that Chile had won during the War of the Pacific.
The situation would worsen when in 1978 the border problems would begin, now with Argentina, where the Argentine air force violates Chilean airspace several times, so the Chilean F-5E Tiger IIs flew to intercept them carrying Sidewinder AIM-9J missiles, fortunately this would not escalate at the beginning of a war, for the time being. During those years of tension with Chile’s neighbors, the F-5 Tiger IIs carried various weapons, general-purpose bombs of various sizes and weights and also cluster bombs manufactured in Chile by Industrias Cardoen, FFAR and Zuni rockets and the aforementioned AIM-9J air-to-air missiles.
Aesthetically, Chile’s F-5 Tiger IIs used light gray camouflage that over the years wore out, especially in the years of maximum tension with Chile’s neighbors, where these aircraft were used a lot and did not have adequate maintenance due to the United States embargo, during military exercises some of these aircraft were painted with a red stripe on the tail of the plane, simulating enemy aircraft. another aesthetic feature was the symbol of two tigers on the tail of the plane representing the standard Tiger II which gave them personality.
Later, the Chilean F-5 Tiger II would be modernized under the Israeli F-5 Plus program where they would integrate a new radar, Israeli weaponry, among many other improvements, making the Chilean F-5 one of the most powerful F-5s in the world and being renamed F-5 Tiger III Plus.
Chilean F-5E Tiger II during the 80s, you can see the cockpit
Specifications:
- Crew:
- 1
- Armament:
- Primary: 2x 20 mm M39A3 cannons
- Secondary:
- Bombs: Mk.82/83/84 bombs, Mk.82 Snake Eye, CB-250-K cluster bombs, External fuel tanks
- Rockets: LAU-10A each with 4 Zuni rockets, LAU-3A each with 19 FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
- Missiles: 2x AIM-9J, AGM-65B
- Dimensions:
- Lenght: 14.6 m
- Wingspan: 8.13 m
- Height: 4.07 m
- Empty weight: 4,392 kg
- Weight maximum take-off: 11,192 kg
- Performance:
- Powerplant: 2x General Electric J85-GE-21A turbojet
- Maximum speed: 1,778 km/h
- Service Ceiling: 15,240 m
- Rate of climb: 149 /m/s
- Additional systems: Emerson Electric AN/APQ-159 radar, 40x Chaff/Flare
Photos:
Sources:
- Amazon.com
- El F-5 cumple 45 años de servicio en la Fuerza Aérea de Chile
- ¿Cómo ha evolucionado la Fuerza Aérea chilena? - Noticias Defensa defensa.com Chile
- DEFENSA CHILENA: F-5 TIGER III PLUS
- https://www.fgmedia.cl/40-anos-llegada-f5-a-fach/
- 45 años de la llegada de los primeros F-5E Tigre II de la FACH
- F-5 Tigre III, a 45 años de la entrada de Chile en la era supersónica – Vortexxmag