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Operator profile / Asia

Singapore: the upgrade specialists

A small air force that took the Tiger II further than most, and turned upgrading F-5s into an export business.

VariantsF-5E, F-5F, RF-5E; upgraded F-5S and F-5T
First aircraft1979[1][2]
UpgradeST Aerospace, with Elbit[1][3]
RetiredSeptember 2015[5]
A grey F-5S taxiing on a wet runway after tropical rain
Original illustration An F-5S on a rain-soaked runway, the upgraded Tiger II Singapore flew until 2015. Painted for this site; it sets the scene and is not evidence of real markings.

Into the supersonic age

Singapore first ordered the Tiger II in 1976. The first batch of 18 F-5Es and three F-5Fs was delivered by early 1979 to the newly formed 144 Squadron at Tengah, and more aircraft followed in the early 1980s.[1][2] A second F-5 squadron, 149 Squadron, formed in 1985.[2] Singapore later added seven F-5Es bought from Jordan.[1]

Building its own reconnaissance jets

Between 1990 and 1991, Singapore Aircraft Industries, later ST Aerospace, used Northrop jigs and tooling to convert eight of its own F-5Es into RF-5E Tigereye reconnaissance aircraft with a reshaped nose for camera and sensor equipment.[1][2] The company later held a Northrop licence for the conversion,[3] and Taiwan's RF-5E Tigergazers were also upgraded in Singapore.

F-5S and F-5T

Singapore then rebuilt the whole fleet. The upgrade replaced the APQ-159 radar with the FIAR Grifo-F, added a glass cockpit with two multi-function displays, a new head-up display and hands-on-throttle-and-stick controls.[2] Upgraded single-seaters became F-5Ss and two-seaters F-5Ts. After avionics problems were solved and flight testing began in 1994, the first upgraded squadron reached initial operational capability on 7 January 1998.[3][4] FlightGlobal described it as only the second full radar and avionics F-5E/F upgrade put into service.[3]

F-5S

An export business

The work turned ST Aerospace into an F-5 upgrade house. By 1998 it had won Turkey's F-5A/B upgrade, its sixth F-5 upgrade or conversion programme.[3]

Retirement

The F-5S/T retired in September 2015, and 144 Squadron was disbanded.[5] A retired F-5S is now on display at the RSAF Air Force Museum.[2]

The last squadron and the museum Tiger

In all, Singapore flew 51 F-5s, including the seven F-5Es bought second-hand from Jordan in 1994.[6] One by one the squadrons moved on, until 144 Squadron at Paya Lebar was the last. It celebrated 36 years of F-5 flying in August 2015 and was disbanded the next month, taking the last F-5S out of service.[7][8]

You can still see one. F-5S serial 800 began life as U.S. Air Force F-5E 77-0366, reached Singapore in 1979 and was upgraded from 1996. It now stands in the RSAF Museum wearing a special tail marking 36 years of defending Singapore's skies.[6][7] Find more on the museums map.

Last updated

Sources

  1. Scale Modelling Now | Singapore F-5E/F history (review background)
  2. MaPhotoSG | RSAF F-5S at the Air Force Museum
  3. FlightGlobal | Making a mark: ST Aero F-5 upgrade (1998)
  4. FlightGlobal | Singapore F-5 upgrade to go ahead
  5. AirHistory.net | RSAF F-5S 800
  6. Northrop F-5S Tiger II 800 at the RSAF Museum, AirHistory.net
  7. RSAF F-5S at the Air Force Museum, MaPhotoSG
  8. Republic of Singapore Air Force, MigFlug (2026)
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