This is an independent, growing collection of Northrop F-5 aircraft and their history. It is not affiliated with Northrop Grumman, any air force, or the museums and agencies linked here.
What you will find
The airframe section begins with museum-documented aircraft. Each record separates an aircraft identity from display markings and links to its source. The aircraft pages answer specific questions and show the records behind their facts. The variant comparison helps separate the early Freedom Fighter from the later Tiger II. The identification page shows how to check a photograph without relying on paint alone.
Tools and extras
Alongside the reference pages you can take the quiz, name the jet from a real photo, flip the trading cards, explore the family tree, see how big an F-5 is, or paint your own aggressor. Country profiles now cover ten air forces, from Norway to Thailand, and What's new lists every addition.
How the information is checked
We use named sources such as the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, NASA and NAVAIR for dates, design changes and program history. Source links appear next to the relevant claims and again at the end of each aircraft page. Figures are identified with their source and context, since equipment and performance vary by aircraft and configuration.
Images and accuracy
When a page points to a documented aircraft, it links to the museum or agency record rather than presenting artwork as a photograph.
The site uses two kinds of images, and every one is labeled. Documentary photos are real photographs, mostly U.S. government images in the public domain, credited with a link to their source. Original illustrations are artwork made for this site to set the mood. They are never used as evidence of a real aircraft's configuration or markings. See the full image credits.
Corrections
Aircraft histories can be complicated by local modifications and reused designations. When a record is unclear, this site states the limit instead of inventing certainty. We will expand the records as reliable evidence becomes available.