Morocco's first real fighter
After a short spell with Soviet jets in the early 1960s, Morocco turned west and made the F-5A Freedom Fighter its main frontline fighter.[4] It made Morocco one of the few Arab air forces flying American fighters in the 1970s.[1] The first F-5A squadron was broken up after the coup attempt of 16 August 1972, when some of its pilots were involved in trying to shoot down the airliner carrying King Hassan II home from France.[4]
A squadron sent to Egypt
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a squadron of Moroccan F-5As joined the Egyptian Air Force's 69 Squadron at Tanta on 19 October, working alongside Egyptian MiG-17s.[1][3]
Half a century over Western Sahara
When Spain left Western Sahara in the mid-1970s, the territory became contested between Morocco, which counts it as its southern provinces, and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence.[1] Morocco's F-5s flew strike missions against Polisario through the war that followed, and range was their biggest problem over such a huge desert.[3]
The losses were heavy. Sources disagree on the count: one Wikipedia page gives nine F-5As, another says 15 F-5s were confirmed lost, both citing the same Helion history, and Morocco has never published official figures.[1][2] A UN-monitored ceasefire took effect on 6 September 1991.[1]
Tiger IIs paid for by Saudi Arabia
To replace the losses, Morocco ordered 16 F-5Es and four F-5Fs in October 1979.[3] The Saudi-financed jets arrived from 1981 to 1983, and 12 more F-5Es followed from 1990.[1]
Tiger III
From 2001 to 2004, 24 of the Tigers were rebuilt with Italian radar and new cockpits, a standard known as the F-5E Tiger III.[1] The French firm SOGERMA did the refurbishment work.[3] Chile gave its own upgraded Tigers the same Tiger III name.
Morocco's F-5s today
About 22 F-5E/F Tiger IIIs still make up one of Morocco's three frontline fighter types, alongside F-16s and upgraded Mirage F1s.[1] Morocco has 25 new F-16 Block 72s on order, but none had been publicly delivered by October 2026, so the Tigers are still flying.[1]
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