The Northrop F-5F is a twin seat version of the F-5E which has seen use by the US as a training aircraft for it’s various aggressor squadrons. Originally being just a twin seat F-5E, recently the US purchased low flight hour Swiss F-5F’s to modernise and replace their aging fleet of original F-5F’s.
History
The F-5 began it’s career with it’s first flight in 1963 at Edwards AFB after the need for a lightweight tactical fighter was called for by NATO. The USAF would adopt the F-5 soon thereafter however. In October of 1965 the F-5 would start a five month combat evaluation where it proved a success after missions over Vietnam.
The F-5 would then go on to be adopted as OPFOR units to train pilots against in varying situations. These flew in the 64th and 65th Aggressor squadrons based out of Nellis AFB in Nevada. They would also be used by the US Marines to serve with VMFT-401 at Marine Cops Air Station Yuma and also with the US Navy which used them extensively in the Naval Fighter Weapons School, better know as TOPGUN.
The F-5 would develop into the F-5E in 1970 followed by a twin seat version, the F-5F. The F-5F would essentially be the same as the F-5E except for the obvious second seat which allowed it to be used as an effective training aircraft to teach new pilots how to fight and a longer nose which allowed it to maintain a single M39 cannon, something that the previous twin seat F-5B did not have.
The F-5 would also go on to be a popular choice by other nations such as Taiwan, Brazil, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, Singapore, and most importantly (for this suggestion) Switzerland. Switzerland originally bought their F-5F’s in the mid-late 70’s.
Swiss F-5F’s which had bought bought from the US in the late 70’s would be bought back in 2006 by the US as they were looking to upgrade their aging F-5Fs with ones with less flight hours and that they could upgrade. Once delivered the US began modernising them with all new avionics such as a new radar, the AN/APG-69, and the ability to carry more modernised air-air missiles such as later AIM-9 Sidewinder variants such as the AIM-9L, this would match them to the same standard as the now designated F-5N (F-5E bought from Switzerland as part of the same deal.)
More recently in 2020 the US bought a new batch of Swiss F-5’s to further improve them with an improved cockpit and various warning systems such as a ground-proximity warning system. The first of the latest batch arrived in the US in early 2024.
Specifications
Size
- Length: 51 feet 7 inches (15.7 meters)
- Wingspan: 26 feet 8 inches (8.1 meters)
- Height: 13 feet 1.75 inches (4.0 meters)
Weight:
- Weight: Max. gross, take-off: 24,722 pounds (11,214 kg)
Engine:
- 2 x J85-GE-21C afterburning turbojet engines each producing 5,000 pounds (2,273 kg) of thrust
Max Speed:
- Mach 1.56 at 36,000 feet
Ceiling:
- 50,000+ feet (15,420 +meters)
Armament
Guns
- 1 x 20mm M39A2 Revolver Cannon, 280 rounds
Air-to-Air
- 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinders (Presumed to be AIM-9L/9M)
Air-to-Ground
- Hydra 70mm rockets
- Zuni rockets
- AGM-65 Maverick
- Yes
- No
- Tech Tree
- Event
- Squadron
- Premium
- I said no
- 10.3
- 10.7
- 11.0
- 11.3
- 11.7
- 12.0+
- I said no
Sources
US Navy - F-5N/F Adversary Aircraft
NAVAIR - F-5 Tiger II
Flight Global - US Navy releases photos of first Swiss F-5E fighter destined for aggressor duty
Wikipedia - Northrop F-5
The War Zone - First Navy F-5 Aggressor Begins Upgrade That Will Make The Entire Fleet Far More Potent
The War Zone - Marine F-5 Aggressors Becoming Far More Threatening Via “Red Net” Data Link Upgrade
Airfighters - Northrop F-5F Tiger II Aircraft Data
