Till 1990 / From 1990 
Credit: Roundels of the world
Consideration to replace the Hawker Hunter in service as fighters was given in 1975; the choice was to be between the McDonnell F-4, the Northrop F-5 and the IAI Kfir.
By late 1976 a Letter of Offer for the supply pf 18 Northrop F-5E and 3 F-5F, plus 200 AIM-9P Siderwinder air-to-air missiles at a total price of USD 109.7m, later increased to
USD 113.0m was taken up by the Government of Sigapore. The two seaters were to be delivere by late 1978, 15 single-seaters at two-a-month starting from January 1979
and the final three (attrition aircrafts) in December 1979. The project was named Peace Orchid.
Northrop F-5E serial 800 on a test flight. Photo: Northrop
The first batch of 2 Northrop F-5E and 3 Northrop F-5F arrived at Tengah AB on 22-02-79 on board an Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, two other batches followed the same way, delivery
was completed by October 1979.
First 3 pilots were sent 1978 to Luke AFB (USA), with the 425th Squadron, for conversion training on the new fighteri; this included live-firing exercises.
The sale of additional 6 Northrop F-5E was notified to the US Congress in July 1980, contract valued at approximately USD 33.8m including spares. These aircrafts figured some
improvements, like an extended dorsal fin, wing leading edge and the "sharkmouth" nose; they were delivered mid-1981.
Purchase of three more Northrop F-5F followed in 1982, costing USD 16.3m. These were air-delivered in February 1983 via the Atlantic Sea (8 days, US pilots) and the Middle East
(8 days), a journey through 16 countries and 14'800 km long; Singaporean pilots took-over the aircrafts at RAF Leuchars (UK) and flew them home via France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus,
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia.
One Lockheed KC-130H was delivered in 1984, followed by four Lockheed C-130B locally converted in 1985/1986 to KC-130B air-refuellers in order to enable the in-flight transfer,
mainly to exercise in Australia, of the Northrop F-5s (and STAe A-4).
Another 6 Northrop F-5E were delivered in 1985. These participated in mid-November of this year to a Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB before being flown home via the same route,
five immediately after the exercise, one at the beginning of December.
Northrop F-5Fs serial 838 and 841 transiting Prestwick (UK) on 19-11-85. Northrop F-5F serial 861 seen at Prestwick (UK) on delivery on 06-12-87
Photos: Archive The F-5 Enthusiast
April
1987 saw the commission of of the Flight Simulation Center with an F-5
air combat simulator at Paya Lebar AB, one of the best in South East
Asia, extensively used by the Air Forces of Malaysia and
Indonesia. By April 2010 there were four simulators at Paya Lebar AB.
A batch of 5 additional Northrop F-5E
were received in 1989. These were built from stock parts, as the
production line had already closed down, again
air-delivered via the Atlantic route. This brought the
grand total
of 35/36 single- and 9 double-seaters.
Northrop F-5E serial 870 partially painted at Mojave photographed in November 1988.
Photo: Charles R. Stewart
Local
maintenance by ST Aerospace allowed the Tiger to be flown beyond the
original service life as actual usage was less severe than original
design and aprogramm to dramatically.
improve performances of the Tigers bought was already launched in
1989, prime contractor being Singapore Technologies Aerospace,
with the planned use of a Northrop F-5E and
1 Northrop F-5F. respectively renamed Northrop F-5S and Northrop
F-5T. It included replacement of the original Emerson APQ-159 radar by a
FIAR Grifo F. Additional changes were
integration of a Litton IN-93 Laser inertial-navigation system and
Elisra SPS-2000 Radar Warning Receiver. All this caused an important
delay.
Only
after menacing to use an alternative radar were the problems were
solved, but with a delay of at least two years. Some modification of
the structure was needed, including
deletion of one 20mm cannon. The programm took place from 1001 to 1994.
Primary role of these aircrafts was air defence, armament including Raytheon AIM-9P Sidewinder (which have supplanted the AIM-9J version), followed by strike.
For this last role
Hughes AGM-65A Maverick were acquired, plus Mk 82
500lbs bombs and LAU-60/A and -68/A rocket launchers.
Final acquisition were seven former Jordanian AF Northrop F-5Es, bought in 1994. These were probably directly modified to STAe/Northrop F-5S standard.
Training abroad
Indonesian Air Combat Instrumentation (ACMI) at Pekan Baru was used (Due to shortage of airspace on Singapore) for the deployment, lasting 3-4 weeks, of fighters (inclusive
Northrop F-5s), transport aircrafts and helicopters for air-to-ground and navigation training.
Photo: MinDef Singapore
R. Singapore AF Northrop F-5 accompanied by an Indonesian AF Douglas
TA-4 over the Pekan Baru range.
By 1990 Singapore had a supporting Northop F-5 unit at Clark AFB (Philippines), with crews also supplied in a rotational system.
New main air-defence fighter
Replacement
of the STAe/Northrop F-5S as the main Singaporean fighter came with the
progressive establishment, between August 1998 and 2004, of three General Dynamics
F-16
equipped Squadrons,
initially armed with the F-16A and F-16B version, later with General
Dynamics F-16C and F-16D Block 52+ versions, though the updated Northrop fighter still
remained a very important
pillar in Combat Air Patrols, sweep and escort missions and
interception of hostile aircrafts.
Final Aircrafts were originally delivered in a three-grey tone camouflage scheme. Beginning 1995 were repainted in a two-tone grey scheme (similar tot local F-16s), comlpeted by
late 1996 on aircrafts belonging to 149 Squadron. Various experimental colours were also applied on some aircrafts during the 1980s/early 90s, including a 3-rone blue, a natual
metal and and early SEA camouflage.
Northrop F-5E 801, 144 Squadron in the early SEA camouflage early 1983 seen
in line-up with standard grey ones at Williamstown (Australia) on 21-09-83.
SEA camouflage,149 Squadron, on Northrop 805 also at Williamstown (Australia)
in 1993, Two differently camouflaged and one orginal grey Northrop F-5E seen
note new air-to-air refuelling probe and camouflage difference with serial 801 above.
Photo: P Steinemann/archive F-5 Enthusast
Photo: MinDef Singapore
STAe/Northrop F-5S 834 with AIM-9P Sidewinder Photo: P. Steinemann Northrop F-5S in the latest colours armed with TV-guided AGM-6B (port) and
AGM-6D (starboard side) infrared guided air-to-ground Mavericks. Photo: Roy Choo
30 years in service - Withdrawal from use
According an USA source there were 49 aircrafts in service in 2004. Final Northrop F-5S/T were retired around August 2015, shortly after the 36th operation anniversary.
Some were transferred to Thailand for spare recovery (mentioned between 3 and 10 aircrafts). Photographs of two preserved two-seaters SiAI/Northrop F-5T confirm the delivery.
Photo: Kelvin LohNorthrop F-5T seen in September 2009 in Tiger colours, 30 years anniversary (2009) of use
Detail of the tiger striped/30 years Head painted on tail of the last single/double-seaters (serials 853 and 819) Tail painted on Northrop 800 at the Singapore AF museum
Photo: R. Thai AFSpecial Tiger tail Northrop F-5S at excercise Cope Tiger (Korat, Tailand) in March 2015