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Iran and the F-5

The first foreign F-5 operator and the first in line for the Tiger II. Cut off from America in 1979, Iran kept its Tigers flying and built its own fighters from them.

First F-5sFebruary 1965
F-5A/B104 + 23
F-5E/F166 (1974–76)
StatusStill flying
A camouflaged F-5E on a desert ramp with its canopy open and mountains behind
Original illustration A Tiger II on a dusty ramp below the Zagros mountains. Iran has kept its F-5s flying for more than fifty years. Painted for this site; it sets the scene and is not evidence of real markings.

The first export customer

Iran was the first country outside the United States to fly the F-5. The first eleven F-5As and two F-5Bs arrived in February 1965, and by 1972 the Imperial Iranian Air Force had 104 F-5As and 23 F-5Bs.[3]

First in line for the Tiger II

When the improved F-5E Tiger II went into production, the Shah got to the front of the queue. A 1973 State Department telegram laid out a delivery schedule that handed Iran nearly all of the early production run, with 32 F-5Es in the country by March 1974, and noted that this would push back the first F-5E squadron for South Vietnam.[2] The first jets to arrive in January 1974 were actually 28 two-seat F-5Fs for conversion training.[1]

Between 1974 and 1976 Iran received 166 F-5Es and F-5Fs.[1][3] Iranian Tigers were well equipped for the period, with an inertial navigation system and a weapons computer.[1]

Where the old F-5As went

As the Tigers arrived, Iran passed its older Freedom Fighters on to other American allies. Many went to South Vietnam, Turkey, Greece and Ethiopia.[1] Jordan got 38 F-5As in 1974 and 1975, some of them a gift from the Shah.[4]

Cut off after 1979

The 1979 revolution turned the Imperial Iranian Air Force into the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force and ended American support. The F-5s went on to fly through the eight-year war with Iraq that started in 1980.[3]

Saeqeh, Azarakhsh and Kowsar

Unable to buy new Western jets, Iran built its own fighters by reworking the one it knew best. The Azarakhsh, the twin-tailed Saeqeh and the Kowsar all come from the F-5, and together they number about fifteen aircraft.[5] Iranian media calls the Kowsar fully homemade, with three handed to the air force in June 2020.[5] Outside analysts are less impressed: Iranian aviation historian Babak Taghvaee described the first Kowsar shown in 2018 as a regular F-5F fitted with new avionics.[8]

Iran's F-5s today

The F-5 is still one of Iran's larger fighter fleets, with an estimated 50 to 60 on paper, including F-5F two-seaters.[5] In the opening days of the 2026 war, NBC News reported that an Iranian F-5 got past the air defenses at Camp Buehring in Kuwait and bombed the base. Iran said the jet was a Kowsar.[5][7] At least two F-5s were destroyed on the ground that March, at Tabriz and Ahvaz.[5] By August 2026 Tehran had not said how many were still flyable.[6]

Last updated

Sources

  1. Iran Air Force modernization, GlobalSecurity
  2. Telegram 238 to the Embassy in Iran (1973), Foreign Relations of the United States
  3. Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, MigFlug (2026)
  4. Flush with F-5 fighters in the 1970s, Trench Art
  5. Iran's Air Force in 2026, AeroCorner
  6. Iran bought 166 F-5E Tigers, 19FortyFive (2026)
  7. Iran claims Kowsar fighter conducted strike on U.S. base in Kuwait, The Defense Watch (2026)
  8. Is Iran's new jet fighter a total hoax?, Warrior Maven
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