- One seat
- Tiger II wing and forward-fuselage shape
- Check against the later F-5N
A single-seat Tiger II could be an F-5E or a later F-5N. Use operator and date.
Work through the identification stepsThe F-5E Tiger II kept the F-5's compact twin-engine layout while changing the aircraft where it mattered most. A larger wing, stronger engines, more fuel and integrated radar/fire control set it apart from the earlier F-5A.
At a glance
| Family | Tiger II |
|---|---|
| Crew | One |
| Related two-seat version | F-5F |
| First F-5E flight | August 1972 in NASA's development history |
| Listed maximum speed | Mach 1.64 at 36,000 feet in the NASA account. Performance depends on configuration and conditions. |
What changed from the F-5A
NASA's development history lists J85-21 engines with about 20 percent higher thrust, roughly 9 percent more wing area, maneuvering flaps, larger leading-edge extensions, a larger fuselage with more internal fuel, and an Emerson AN/APQ-153 radar within an integrated fire-control system. [1] These are the clearest reasons to treat the Tiger II as a new generation within the F-5 family.
That compact, agile airframe also found a training role. NASA notes that the U.S. military used the F-5E as an aggressor aircraft to sharpen fighter-pilot skills. [2]
F-5A and F-5E side by side
| F-5A Freedom Fighter | F-5E Tiger II | |
|---|---|---|
| Wingspan | 25 ft 10 in | 26 ft 8 in |
| Length | 47 ft 2 in | 48 ft 2 in |
| Height | 13 ft 6 in | 13 ft 5 in |
| Loaded weight | 20,576 lb | 24,675 lb |
| Engines | Two J85s, 4,080 lb thrust each with afterburner | Two J85-GE-21s, 5,000 lb thrust each with afterburner |
F-5A figures: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. F-5E dimensions and weight: Pima Air & Space Museum; engines: Hill Air Force Base fact sheet (archived). The Tiger II is about a foot longer and wider and roughly 4,000 lb heavier when loaded.
The most-built F-5
About 1,400 Tiger IIs were built before production ended in 1987, more than the whole first-generation Freedom Fighter family.[3] Three customers also built or assembled their own. Taiwan built more than 300 F-5s at home, Korea built the KF-5E and KF-5F under licence, and most Swiss Tigers were assembled at Emmen. Each story is told on the Taiwan, South Korea and Switzerland profiles. Northrop even tried a supercharged successor, the F-20 Tigershark, but never sold one.
Playing the enemy
Its small size and agility made the F-5E a stand-in for Soviet fighters in U.S. training. The aircraft in the photo above, 72-1388, flew with the U.S. Air Force's 26th Aggressor Squadron, as its photo caption records. The U.S. Navy still flies the type in that role as the F-5N. The full story is in The F-5 as an adversary, and the movie connection in the real "MiG-28".
Still flying
More than fifty years after its first flight, the F-5E remains in front-line or training service in several countries, including Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland and Thailand. See which ones on the operators map's "Still flying in 2026" view.
How to recognize one
A single cockpit and the Tiger II wing-root shape are useful first clues. Look for the larger leading-edge extensions and compare against a documented early F-5A image. Because upgrades and paint schemes vary, confirm with a serial number or official caption before naming the variant.
NASA's F-5E image collection documents an F-5E used in sonic-boom research. That aircraft has a modified nose. It is useful for its recorded identity, but its nose is not representative of a standard F-5E.
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