Credit:
Roundels
of the world
Six
pilots started training in Spain at the Escuela de Reactores
(JetSchool) on CASA/Northrop SF-5B. During 1977 six pilots followed an
eight months course in Brazil,
obtaining their graduation at Sant Cruz
AB in order to be qickly operational witg the new fighter.Four
pilots went to USA in March 1976 to follow a ferry-course; initial four
aircrafts arrived first at Antofgasta AB, three going on to
Santiago-Pudahuel AB on 26-07-76, the fourth remained at
Antofagasta-Cerro Moreno due to engine problems.
In the meantime
the US Congress had placed a veto to supply arms of repressive
nature to Chile starting from 01-10-76. Fast delivery of the
remaining aircrafts and AIM-9B
and AIM-9P Sidewinder enabled
to complete the order before the start of the embargo.
The
embargo had devastating consequences on the operation of the
Northrop fighter. An authorisation to buy spares
exclusively involving flight safety, such as ejection
seat cartridges, was received in 1986, but no other parts were allowed.
Unconfirmed
is the fact that Chilean Northrop F-5s operated deception flights from
Punta Arenas in order to cover Royal Air Force Canberras (based at the
same base)
reconnaissance aircrafts flights over Argentina.
All these rumours were refuted in
January
1990 by the Commander in Chief of the Air Force, who stated that the
aircrafts were to be rotated through a refurbishing programm by
the
local ENAER company.
Photo: P.
Steinemann
Northrop
F-5F 808 in aggressor colours in March1989, read markings were already
Northrop
F-5F 815 at Antofagasta in 1989
painted in 1988 for some exercises, kept at least till 2000 on
some
aircrafts.
Photo:
Archive
The Northrop F-5 Enthusiast
Increasing technical assistance from Israel led to arm the surviving F-5s with Shafrir II missiles and helped in local modification of early AIM-9B Sidewinder.
Northrop
F-5E 812 seen at Santiago/El Bosque AB during 1988
Political
changes, a civilian governement had been elected in Chile in March
1990, brought gradual improvement in the relations with the USA and
the cancellation of the embargo, enabling the acquisition of spare
parts, restarting normal operations and allowing consideration of an
upgrade of the remaining fleet. Also under consideration was the
acquisition
of 24 additional F-5E/F.
UPGRADING
The contract
for the upgrade by Israel
Aircraft Industry
(IAI) of the Tiger fleet, valued
at USD 300 millions and named "Proyecto Tiffany", was
signed during FIDAE exhibition in
March 1990. One F-5E and one F-5F were to be transferred to Israel to act as prototypes, the rest of
the fleet (12 single-, 3 two-seaters) was to be upgraded by ENAER at
Santiago
de Chile.
This
programm, called Tiger III by IAI, added an Elta EL/M-2032B radar,
necessitating the port M39 cannon to be deleted, AIM-9P and Python III AAMs.
Additionally an El-Op HUD, INS/GPS together with various new
navigation/ communication sets.The aircraft had a fully-integrated
electronic warfare suite with RWR, ECM jammer and chaff/flare
dispensers. No in depth structural changes were foreseen to extend
its service life.
Two prototype aircrafts were to be upgraded by
IAI in Israel between 1991 and 1992, while the remainder were to be
upgraded by ENAER's Santiago-El Bosque factory.
The
prototype F-5E Plus Tiger III (serial 805) was first flown at
Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion airport on 08 July 1992. It remained in Israel,
together with the F-5F prototype (though there
is
no evidence of the F-5F being in Israel) for
tests and was exhibited at Le Bourget air-show in June 1993 as
F-5Plus, before being returned to Chile in the same year.
ENAER modified aircrafts received a complete structural overhaul allowing increase its operational life by 20 years. Delivery to the Air Force started on 15-12-93 wihen the two
prototypes upgadred aircrafts were handed-over at El Bosque AB.
Prototype
Tiger III (serial 809, actually 805, with a Shafrir III load overflies
F-5E Tiger III in very
clean
configuration
without air-to-air refuelling probe.
the Israelian desert in IAI markings. Photo: Strike Nahuel/Revista FA
Chile
Photo: Archive The Northrop F-5 Enthusiast
IAI modified aircrafts were delivered to the Chilean AF in July and September 1993; delivery by ENAER modified aircrafts started in 1994.
Photo: Chile
Peformance
improvements was given to Northrop F-5s beginning with the
installation Air
combat was not neglected: Rafael Python 4, short
distance missile, as seen
Photo: José Ignacio Jara here under the wings.
Front view of Northrop F-5E Tiger IV 801 during an hazy day
A contract was signed in January 1997
with US Tiger Century company (Project Uranio) for wingtip
rails and 84 Rafael Derby BVR missiles in 2002; Tiger
III neeeded for the delivery of
13 F-5E and 3 F-5F air-refuelling kits. These were installed by ENAER, few modification were needed to operate the Python 4 but
adaptation of it was more complicated as it needed
new avionics, performed by ENAER
at its El Bosque plant; USA missiles AIM-9P were also used. Modifications by the Chilean company (as
sub-contractor) during
1997-98 and enabled air-air refuelling by the Lockheed KC-130R of the
Grupo de Aviacion n° 1.
Photo: ENAER
The modification line at ENAER, el Bosque factory.
Collaboration with the Swiss RUAG company, specialised in maintainance of Northop F-5s and its engines, started with discussions at the FIDAE exposition at Santiago de Chile in 2004; RUAG took care since 2005 of the revision, repair and modification of the General Electric J-85 turbines. The first two engines to be overhauld arrived one year later in Switzerland; three Air Force members came to Swizerland to practice a three months longue maintenance course. By 2010 RUAG had maintained twelve and tested one in flight on a Swiss Tiger.
Additional work by RUAG was the repair of wings and maintenance of hydraulic components in Switzerland. Swiss specialists were engaged for the control and fatigue assessment of the airframes at Antofagasta AB.
Change of requirement
necissated an improved defence of Austral territories, particularly
from Puerto Montt and the Tigers were transferred to the 12° Grupo de
Aviacion at the local
air base. (See below)
During 2014 a new paint scheme for the Tiger III Plus was shown; serials 806 and 807 were seen.
Additional modifications took place in 2015, when Kellstrom Defense and Enaer signed an agreement for the change of wings, leaving them practically new, work carried out in Chile since 2016 at Enaer, whle its subsidiary DTS continued the avionics maintenance contract project, operational life extended beyond 2030 while the possinility of a new modification of its system/structure wass being taken into consideration.
Jorge Tima Carrasco
Drawing celebrating 40years of Northrop F-5 use, 60'000 hours flown
Photo: Juan Carlo Velasco/TallyHo
Northrop F-5E at the Los Cerrillos museum on 06-07-18. Of note noBADGES / UNITS
Tiger heads on tail Tiger head on tail
of On serial 806 F-5E Tiger III
early
years/March
1984 F-5E Tiger III under refuelling probe
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5a Brigada Aerea - Grupo
de Aviacion N° 7
On
both air intakes / Low visibility badge
early
years/March
1984
The Grupo was based in 1976 at Antofagasta BA Cerro Moreno, equipped with Hawker Hunters, when it was re-equipped with Northrop F-5E and F-5F and its Hunters transferred to the Grupo 8 and 9. It had mainly interception/air combat duties, only 10% training was dedicated to ground attack duties.
Unusual is the report of the sighting of an UFO by two Northrop F-5Fs during 1978 by their pilots.
Within a short time the impact of the US embargo was felt and operativity was reduced to very low levels; additionally one F-5E crashed on 15-10-81, another on 16-02-83. It seems Grupo 7 was divided in two during the crise: few at Santiago AB (received 8 Sidewinder) , the rest in Antofgasta AB (received 22 Sidewinder)
First upgraded F-5 Tiger III was received on 06-07-94 directly from ENAER factory to Antofagasta/Cerro Moreno AB.
Photo: archive The Northrop F-5 Enthusiast
Northrop F-5E Tiger III 808 seen in February 1996
In October 1997 the B.707 Aquila tanker aircraft from the was transferred to Cerro Moreno AB in order to train the Tigers crews in day and night air-to-air refueling.
A perfect formation with 9 Northrop F-5E Tiger III and 1 Northrop F-5F Tiger III was shown in 2009 over Santiago de Chile during the "Grande Parada Aerea"
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Patch Undercockpit badge on single-seaters
Acquisition
of more former Dutch General Dynamics F-16 enabled the re-equipment of Grupo 7 and the transfer of the Northrop F-5 Tiger IIIs to IV Brigada Aéea, Grupo
12 "Tigres Australes" based at the extreme South of Chile, Punta
Arena/Chabunco AB, by early 2010. On 20-03-10 eight aircrafts
(including 2 two-seaters) were transferred from Santiago de
Chile to the new base, in-flight refuelled twice by a Boeing
B.707 tanker and supported by one Lockheed C-130; 2 additional
followed on 23-03-10. Total flying time was approximately 4 hours 15 minutes. The unit had a total of 10 single- and 2
double-seaters by mid-2011; another double seater was
undergoing in depth maintenance at ENAER plant and was to be
delivered by 10-11-12.
Northrop F-5F Tiger being refuelled during its transfer to Punta Arena AB while
Unusual red Sidewinders armed aircraft seen landing at Santiago International
another one waits for its turn. Note Grupo N° 12 badge behind cockpit. Photo: Chilean AF
on
17-09-2019.
Photo Antonio Segovia/TallyHo
In
September 1988 the availability had improved and, during the visit of
US carrier Independence to Chilean waters on 19/20 September, the
F-5s achieved a remarkable degree of success in mock fogfights
against US Navy A-7 Corsairs, F-14A Tomacts of VF-103 and A/F-18
Hornets of VF-131.
Photo: Chilean AF
Another
joint operation, this time with 6 USAF F-16Cs from Hill AFB, took
place over the desert of Northern Chile in July 1996. The F-5 Tiger
III operated in conjunction with Mirage 5M Elkans, controlled by an AEW Phalcon aircraft and included air-to-air, air-to-ground
operations, dissimilar air-combat and base defence missions.
An
important step was the transfer to Pascua (Easter) Island on
12-01-98; 3 F-5E and 1 F-5F Tiger III flew non-stop the 4'000 kilometers distance
between Antofagasta and the island in 5 hours and 32 minutes, each
aircraft refuelled 4 times by a Chilean B.707 Aguila tanker. Support was
also given by 1 air-rescue Lockheed C-130 and 1 meteorogical scout Gulfstream III, San Felipe Island airport was considered as an emergency landing airport. Return to
Antofagasta was on 14-01-98.This exercise was named "Pajaro de Guerra/Manu TamaL"
Photo: Chilean AF
Air-to-air refuelling, most probably en-route to Pascua Island
The Grupo de Aviacion N°10, based at Santiago International airport, had earlier received on 31-07-96 a
Boeing 707 serial 903, modified to KC-707 (called "Aguila")
tanker by IAI at Tel Aviv for airefuelling duties.
The photo shows 4 Tiger III being refuelled during their transfer to Nellis AFB.
Photo: Chilean AF
F-5E
Tiger III landing at Nellis AFB. Photo: Archive The
Northrop F-5 Enthusiast
An accident,
fortunately without serious consequences, happened on 16-08-01 to an
Northrop F-5F on landing at Antofagasta, while on 26-08-06 another
F-5F slid-off the
Antofgasta runway on take-off.
An important step was reached on 30-07-07 when the Grupo N° 7 reached a total of 50'000 flying hours on a routine training flight of an F-5E Tiger III.
The Grupo also took part to pilot exchange with the Brazilian AF, hosting one pilot each of 1° GAv and 1°/14° GAv, who completed their tour at the end of the year 2007.
Willka
2007 was a binational Chile/USA exercise taking place at Iquique -Condores AB between 15-10-07 and
19-10-07
with the participation of
6 F-16C Block 30 of USAF's
Reserve 457 Squadron, 3 F-5E and 1 F-5F of the Grupo de
Aviacion N°7, 4 F-16C Block 50 of the Grupo de
Aviacion
N° 3 and 4 F-16A Block 20 MLU of the Grupo de Aviacion N° 8.
Chilean Tiger III participated to Cruzex
IV at Natal AB (Brazil) between 01-11-08 and 14-01-08. They were part of the"Ckue Force" engaged against only 6 Brazilian
AF Embraer F-5EM equipped "Red Force".
The transfer of 6 Tiger III started on 01-11-08 with the support of 1 B.737 and 1 B.707 tanker for air-refuelling. Unfortunately an unforeseen landing had to be done at Asuncion (Paraguay) due to a technical problem on one of the Tigers.
SALITRE
Joint S. American countries excercise was regularly attended by Chilean
Tigers as well as US and other South American countries fighters,
The
excercise centered around enhancing multilateral inter-operability
between nations sp as to ease assembly of future peace-keeping multi-
national coalitions.
Salitre I took place at Antofagasta AB between 26th and 10-10-04. Present were
Chilean 4 Northrop F-5E Tiger III and F-16As, Argentinian AF A-4Rs,
SAF F-16Cs, Brazilian AMX plus various
air-refuelling and rescue planes.
Salitre II, between 19th and 30th October 2009 Northrop F-5E Tiger III were sent from Antofagasta AB to Iquique AB where they operated together
with Chilean
Genera-Dynamics F-16, Brazilian AMX and Argentinian A-4R while the USAF
sent its Lockheed-Martin F-16s to Antofagasta AB. Also
present were various tankers, transpot aircrafts and helicopters.
At the Salitre III (2014 edition)
Chilean Tiger III were present (together with General Dynamics F-16) at
Antofagasta/Cerro Moreno AB between
October 6th and 17th together
with Brazilian, Argentinian A-4s and Uruguayan
fighters/fighter-bombers as well as transports/tankers/helicopters.
Photo: Chile AF
Line-up of aircrafts
participating to Salitre III, of note latest camouflage on extreme left
aircraft
Northrop F-5E Tiger III also participated at Salitre IV
(2022 edition), togethr with Chilean F-16C, A-36 (Casa 101), A-39 Super
Tucano and transports, AEW aircrcrafts to the
excercise from Anfagasta
AB form 10-10-22 till 21-10-22; they were supported by 1 Lockheed KC-130 of the Grupo de Aviaçon 10.
Northrop F-5E IIIs participated to the excercise Tormenta 23 from 6th till 10th November together with the Chilean Army and Navy units. Also present wer General Dynamics F-16,
Boeing KC-135s/E-3D, Super Tucanosas well as several helicopters.