Northrop F-5
Enthusiast Page
Original illustration
History

Skoshi Tiger: the F-5 goes to war

In 1965 the U.S. Air Force borrowed twelve F-5s and sent them into combat in Vietnam to find out what the little fighter could really do.

Aircraft12 F-5C
Combat testOct 1965 to Mar 1966
Sorties2,664

Why test it in a war?

The F-5 was built for allies, not for the U.S. Air Force. To see how it would really perform, the Air Force borrowed 12 combat-ready F-5As from the military aid stocks in 1965: five F-5A-15s and seven F-5A-20s.[2] The project was called Skoshi Tiger.[2] The jets were modified and redesignated F-5C; one change was a probe for air-to-air refuelling.[1][6]

U.S. Air Force security policeman guarding Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter serial 64-13332 at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, 1965
Documentary photo U.S. Air Force F-5A Freedom Fighter, serial 64-13332, under guard at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, in 1965. U.S. government photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Timeline

  1. 22 July 1965 The 4503rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (Provisional) forms at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, with 12 F-5Cs.[1]
  2. October 1965 The squadron deploys to Bien Hoa, South Vietnam, and begins combat missions.[1][2]
  3. December 1965 By the end of the year, about 1,500 sorties flown and one aircraft lost to ground fire.[5]
  4. 9 March 1966 The evaluation ends.[1]
  5. April 1966 The squadron stays in combat as the 10th Fighter Commando Squadron.[2][3]
  6. 1967 The surviving jets are handed to the South Vietnamese Air Force; one photo record dates the transfer to 17 April 1967.[6]

The trial in numbers

In five months the squadron flew 2,664 sorties and 3,116 combat flying hours, from Bien Hoa over South Vietnam and from Da Nang over the Laotian panhandle.[1] Missions covered close support, interdiction, air-to-air and reconnaissance.[7]

The verdict

The Air Force judged the F-5 capable enough to keep it in Vietnam as part of the 1966 build-up, and even delayed handing it to the South Vietnamese.[2] Still, it was the only time the U.S. Air Force flew the F-5 in combat.[3] Its successor, the more powerful F-5E Tiger II, followed in the 1970s.

See it today

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force paints its YF-5A prototype, 59-4989, as a Skoshi Tiger of the 4503rd.[4] For the aircraft itself, see the F-5A page.

Last updated

Sources

  1. Skoshi Tiger (Dec 1965), Vietnam Air Losses
  2. F-5C/D Skoshi Tiger, GlobalSecurity.org
  3. Airpower Classics: F-5, Air & Space Forces Magazine (Dec 2012)
  4. Northrop YF-5A Freedom Fighter, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
  5. Bien Hoa Air Base, MigFlug
  6. Northrop F-5A 64-13317 photo record, AirTeamImages
  7. F-5A Freedom Fighter, GlobalSecurity.org
F-5 design storyF-5 timeline ›Family tree