F-5.

This is coolbert:

That aircraft that collided with the Iranian AWACS Simorgh is described as being a F-5E of the Iranian air force!

The F-5! A light-weight fighter, touted as being: "a low-cost, low-maintenance fighter"!




The F-5 Tiger! I have often wondered why this combat airplane was not used more extensively by the USAF and other U.S. military services?

Was and is employed by a variety of nations around the world! Very popular and still going strong with many refurbishments almost FIFTY YEARS after initial design and development.

"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"

Low-cost, low-maintenance! Cheap! But not necessarily so in the sense of poor quality. Inexpensive but still delivering as an air superiority fighter with some impressive performance.

Was originally seen as a direct competitor to the Soviet MiG-21. The F-5 being a much more agile, responsive and flexible combat aircraft than other U.S. warplanes of the period.

"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"

"its small size and performance similarities to the Soviet MiG-21."

[experience from the Vietnam war showed that the lumbering American F-4 Phantom WAS NOT necessarily a match for the MiG-21 in aerial combat.]

A low-cost aircraft, the F-5 could have been built and fielded in prodigious numbers, the USAF as a consequence being able to "flood" the airspace above a war zone with an aircraft designed primarily as a FIGHTER - - engaging and destroying at will enemy intruders.

Was a popular item for EXPORT! But for some reason, not favored by the USAF! NOT sure why?

coolbert.