The Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and the F-5E/F Tiger II are part of a family of light supersonic fighter aircraft, initially designed in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation.

• Role: Light supersonic fighter aircraft
• National origin: United States
• Manufacturer: Northrop
• First flight: F-5A: 30 July 1959, F-5E: 11 August 1972
• Produced: 1959–1987
• Introduction: 1962
• Status: In service
• Number built: A/B/C: 847, E/F: 1,399
  
• Developed from: Northrop T-38 Talon
• Variants: Canadair CF-5
• Developed into: Northrop F-20 Tigershark

Military Operators

• Austrian Air Force: On loan from Switzerland
• Bahrain Air Force
• Botswana Air Force
• Brazilian Air Force
• Royal Canadian Air Force
• Chilean Air Force
• Ethiopian Air Force
• Hellenic Air Force (Greece)
• Honduran Air Force
• Indonesian Air Force
• Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
• Royal Jordanian Air Force
• Kenya Air Force
• Republic of Korea Air Force
• Royal Libyan Air Force
• Mexican Air Force
• Royal Moroccan Air Force
• Royal Malaysian Air Force
• Royal Netherlands Air Force
• Royal Norwegian Air Force
• Philippine Air Force
• Royal Saudi Air Force
• Republic of Singapore Air Force
• Spanish Air Force
• Sudanese Air Force
• Swiss Air Force
• Republic of China Air Force (Taiwan)
• Royal Thai Air Force
• Sovjet Air Force
• Tunisian Air Force
• Turkish Air Force
• United States Air Force
• United States Marine Corps
• United States Navy
• Venezuelan Air Force
• Vietnam Air Force
• Vietnam People’s Air Force
• Yemen Air Force

Specifications (F-5E Tiger II)

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)
• Loaded weight: 15,745 lb (7,157 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 24,722 lb (11,214 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 U.S. gal (2,563 L)
• External fuel: 275 U.S. gal (1,040 L) per tank in up to 3 tanks

Performance

• Maximum speed: 917 kn (Mach 1.6, 1,060 mph, 1,700 km/h) ; at altitude
• Range: 760 nmi (870 mi, 1,405 km)
• Ferry range: 2,010 nmi (2,310 mi, 3,700 km)
• 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) M39A2 Revolver cannons in the nose, 280 rounds/gun
• Hardpoints: 7 total (only pylon stations 3, 4 and 5 are wet-plumbed): 2× wing-tip AAM launch rails, 4× under-wing & 1× under-fuselage pylon stations with a capacity of 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of:
  • 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: ***4× AIM-9 Sidewinders or 4× AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile
    • 2× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles
    • AA-8 Aphid, AA-10 Alamo, AA-11 Archer and other Russian/Chinese AAMs (Iranian ver.)
  • Bombs: A variety of air-to-ground ordnance such as the Mark 80 series of unguided bombs (including 3 kg and 14 kg practice bombs), CBU-24/49/52/58 cluster bomb munitions, napalm bomb canisters and M129 Leaflet bomb, and laser-guided bombs of Paveway family.
  • Other: ***up to 3× 150/275 U.S. gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time.
    • 2× GPU-5/A 30mm cannon pods (fitted only on Thai F-5s)

Avionics

• Emerson Electric AN/APQ-153 radar on early batch of F-5E
• Emerson Electric AN/APQ-159 radar on later production F-5E
• AN/AVQ-27 Laser Target Designator Set (LTDS), for F-5B and F-5F only.