Most of people who scoff after hearing this thing being called greatest, are only looking at a specs sheet and thinking all other American fighters had bigger numbers. And they had a point in that. However, from the point of view of efficiency, pond for pound, the F-5E is the greatest fighter a American company ever made. To give you a idea, the E model can take off with two and a half times its empty weight. The only other fighters that can do that is the F-15E and Rafale, that have more titanium and composite materiais in each of them than the empty weight of a F-5E, which have almost nothing of these. Another metric is the thrust needed to achieve high Mach speeds, again a fantastic performance. The ACEVAL and AIMVAL exercises showed that, with the right armament (AIM-9L), the rumble F-5E could achieve a 1:1 kill ratio against much more expensive fighters. That led to the much needed AIM-120 missile, since the AIM-7 kept the big fighters in a collision course with the nimble F-5 with the Sidewinder, resulting in a mutual kill. And when that didn't happened, the Tiger II still had good chances to score a kill on the resulting dogfight, because its instantaneous turn rate was comparable to its big brothers. Subsequent developments in short range IR missiles would make any advantage in flight performance over the F-5 or equivalent cheap fighter, irrelevant, hence the priority on getting a medium range missile with autonomous guidance system.

In the 80's I was a Crew Chief at RAF Alconbury working Transient Alert. Northrup was delivering some F-5E's to Saudi Arabia and Gen Yeager was part of the team. Got presented with an F-20 Tigershark lapel pin from Gen Yeager for all the support we gave them. Nice guy in all our dealings with him.

I generally like small light nimble aircraft, but this family of jets (F-5, F-20, T-38 Talon) is also extremely beautiful to me! Love them

Favorite plane in DCS, hands down- it's not the fastest or biggest nimblest or most advanced: but like an old Italian sports car, none of that matters. It's pure flying, and it does everything well.

The most challenging thing about fighting the F-5 is that it’s so small - super easy to lose sight of it. And once you lose sight, it doesn’t matter how much better of an airplane you are in, you lose.

The F-20 Tigershark should have been produced in large numbers to replace the F-5E Tiger II. One of the best looking lightweight fighters ever made.

The Ace Combat 4 music along with this in the beginning brings me back nostalgia for the F5E. I specifically remember flying the Northern Eye mission flying this thank you for the nostalgia hit.

I am grateful that you mentioned the Tigershark F-20 (the one that Chuck Yeager called "the greatest fighter never built"!). The F-5 was the "red-headed step child" that never got the reputation it deserved, and, likewise the F-20 (essentially the same airframe with a single engine turbofan), cheap, agile, and superior performance. Cheap and effective. I wonder how the F-5 and F-20 would stand up under Col. John Boyd's analysis using his ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) thesis. Probably would have rated pretty well. The F-15 Eagle AND the F-16 Fighting Falcon (called by its pilots the "Viper") were based upon his calculations and writings.

I've long beleived the F-20 is the greatest fighter Never Made. There's a book, "Warriors" by Barret Tillman that tells a great 'What If?' story about using F-20's in Saudia Arabia. Highly Recommend it! Good video! Love hearing about the F-5's/T-38's/F-20! Northrup got the short end of the stick with the TigerShark, but the Tiger II's made up for it in the long run! Keep it up! Do one on the Gripen soon!

I worked in NDI/JOAP in the USAF. We had very little work on the F5. Engines were dependable as well.

I was a weapons specialist at Nellis AFB and was assigned to the 64th Aggressor Squadron. In my day we had F-16's, but what you have to understand about any " Top Gun" schools is this. The pilots we had were in fact the absolute best the Air Force had to offer. The airframe they were in didn't really matter, they themselves were superior. I have seen HUD tapes of a pilot engaged with five F-15's who made two missile kills and three gun kills in less than a minute.

Thanks for making and sharing this video. A few friendly suggestions: 1. Avoid showing a black screen for several seconds at a time. It's jarring to the viewer, even if done for dramatic effect. Several such instances in this video were so long that I wondered if there was a problem; several times I checked the progress bar to see if the video had ended. Better to let us look at an airplane photo for a few more seconds than nothing at all. 2. Normalize your audio sources, and set their levels in the final audio carefully. At around 6:30, the music is nearly louder than your voice, which can make it hard to understand you. 3. Refrain from using stock photos (e.g. the one of the "naming board" in this video). It adds nothing good; it just cheapens your video. 4. Avoid flashing through photos too quickly. It's jarring and annoying to the viewer. If you're going to show a photo, give the viewer a moment to digest it. 5. Omit the title-style captions of your own voice for effect. It's more distracting than helpful. Just let us look at another nice photo of the aircraft while you speak over it. Keep up the good work!

The US still fly them as adversary role jets. Countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Brazil did a whole bunch of upgrades to theirs. Some are retrofitted with the newest sensors, avionics and weapons systems which will keep them flying in their respective air forces for much longer. The F-20 Tigershark would have been a great replacement for many of the countries that bought the F-5 E but due to US not selecting Northrop's design it ended up losing out to General Dynamics F-16. Retired US General Chuck Yeager even said the F-20 was a great fighter aircraft to fly. Thank you for doing this vid on such an iconic plane.

Actually the Netherlands retired their F-5's a little over three decades ago in 1991, having gradually replaced them with the F-16 since 1979, which in turn has now been largely replaced with F-35's with the F-16's being completely phased out in the Netherlands in 2024.

Gotta agree, ever since I first played ace combat when I was ~8 (nice music choice btw), even before I knew my country used it, it was already my favorite fighter and it still is today. I used to live in a town where there is an airforce base on the city next to it, and it was common to military planes pass by, and I use to say that those jets were F5s on the school playground (little did I know that I was right)

The F-5 is still in use as an Aggressor aircraft in the US. Last I knew, VMFT-401 (US Marine Corps Aggressor squadron based at MCAS Yuma) still uses the the F-5N variant to this day.

Nam in 66-67 we had F5 Freedom fighters down south. Thing of beauty, and to see it attack ground positions was awesome

I mean, Chuck was on Northrop's payroll when he said that, soo... But, yeah, this would have been great!

Hearing the Ace Combat music in the background brought up so much nostalgia. I just had to boot up AC5 as soon as I finished watching this vid

A fun fact: the first ever F-5E produced (tail code USAF 71-1417) was acquired in the late 80's by the Brazilian Air Force, from USAF Agressor squadrons. It was modernized in the early 2000's and is still operating. And yes, the Brazilians intend to keep it in a museum after it got out of active service in a few years, after they get enough numbers of the Saab Gripen E. If you want to see what it looks like today, search for FAB 4856, its current tail number at the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).

I have some original photos of the N-156 prototype at Edwards AFB. My uncle took them when he was Yeager’s crew chief in the Air Force. He sent them to me not too far back. Got some of the F-107 too. Neat stuff!

Glad to hear someone else's love for this aircraft. Love this thing since I was a kid.

I wrote the words into the Wikipedia F-5 article quoted here that in the 1977 Nellis trials "For the first three weeks of the test, the F-14s and F-15s were hopelessly outclassed and demoralized" against the F-5. They were quoted from the Pierre Sprey book sized report on fighter effectiveness. Sprey believed that the F-5 was the most effective fighter in the U.S. inventory in the 1960's based on the fighter effectiveness criteria of surprise, numbers per budget, maneuverability, and weapons performance. He was probably right, but there is a prejudice against light fighters in the United States military. That nearly kept the later F-16 from being adopted. It really is a shame that the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard did not adopt the F-5 for mainstream use. It could compete with and usually outperform any U.S. fighters of the 60's and 70's, and for a fraction of the price. For the same budget, an F-5 air force would have run over any other plane in the world in that era. The F-20 was a terrific close derivative that similarly did not survive the political resistance against light fighters that provide the best air force for the budget. But, the lightweight Swedish Saab Gripen that is the philosophical son of the F-20 and which uses the same engine is today becoming highly recognized and valued.

This was my favorite fighter until the YF23, yes I'm a fan of Northrop

I am in no way going to badmouth the F-5, but to call it the greatest aircraft ever made is simply ludicrous. You don't even narrow it down to category or subcategory...amazing.

One thing that a lot of people don't realize about the F-5 series. We still use its descendants to this day in the form of the F/A-18. Northrop basically beefed up the F-5, gave it a twin tail, a couple of refinements to its aerodynamics, and thus the YF-17 was born. Then the Navy wanted a variant and so McDonnel-Douglas made the necessary modifications for naval use. Even with the newest Super Hornets being much more expensive than its predecessors, it's still one of the most cost-efficient fighters in the world with only the Gripen being cheaper pound-for-pound and per flight hour.

Salad, with fresh baked butter milk biscuits. Thanks for the presentation! 👍

Your channel has great potential. Good luck!

Eating a meatball sub while watching. Nice video, this is truly one of the aircrafts of all time.

I was a crew chief on these 43 years ago for the 527th Aggressor Squadron at RAF Alconbury. I was also a crew chief on it's kid brother the T-38 Talon. I always thought Northrop got the shitty end of the stick from the USAF as far as fighters went. I knew a lot of crew chiefs on the F-4 and they were hated and despised by maintenance crews for being so difficult to maintain. F-5's and T-38's on the other hand were an absolute dream to work on.

I loved this video about the Tiger, thanks for putting this out there

I think Yeager was a paid Northrop spokesman at the time. Not calling him a liar. I'm saying he wasn't a neutral observer. When asked about the relatively weaker F-20 radar, Yeager said it's like two men with guns and flashlights in the dark. The first guy to switch on his flashlight/radar can lose, so size doesn't always matter. Err... The main problem with assessing the F-5 is the lack of combat history. Small airplane like that, would have limited range. Look, I like the F-5. It was my country's main fighter. One flew low over my school and I saw its shadow on the ground. Huge thrill. Fun fact: The aircraft "dropping" napalm (for safety, it was all pre rigged on the ground) in Apocalypse Now are Philippine air force F-5.

I like the AC aircraft selection music.

Chipotle steak bowl. 😂 Great video, love the F-5E in DCS. If I ever hit the lottery I'm getting a T-38 ASAP.

I always like the F20, an F5 with a large single engine.

NOT buying the Northrop F-20 Tiger Shark, and not acquiring the Northrop F-23 Black Widow were 2 of the biggest mistakes the USAF ever made.

The F-5 Tiger II is still a damn good plane, and less expensive to buy and maintain. The F-20 would of been a monster..

Imagine F-5s escorting A-4s in a strike package. They would still be worthy in today's combat scenarios.

Never herd of the B52 decoy, didn't know they implemented airborne decoys back in the 50's.

I follow a few guys who fly this bird and I've touched a few up close. Fantastic aircraft. It may be old school in our modern age but it's aged like a vintage Ferarri.

You can't fool me, you just made this video to get people into Ace Combat music, and I'm all for it.

NATO needs another F-5. Something cheap to buy, fly, and maintain; flexible, reliable, long legs, and can fly from austere bases (definitely a lot could be learned from the Gripen). Primary capability is air interceptor, secondary is ground OR sea attack, anything else is a bonus. Really designed for territorial defence rather than penetrating enemy air space. A plane that Canada could buy and fly a couple hundred of, always having a squadron at each of the 8 or 9 bases and forward operating locations along the coasts of the country (for Canada the secondary capability would be anti-shipping). One of the things we are learning from recent world events is that there is a value in quantity even if it isn't bleeding edge quality.

Tbf I’m eating breakfast on the morning of July 4th. Happy 4th to those who’ll be celebrating it. 🎆 🎇💥

Dinner: chips, salsa and scotch 'n soda. F5,Excellent aircraft.Still flying today!!!!

It's all about power-to-weight ratio in a dogfight

You should do more, it's way higher quality than those ChatGPT generated plane videos.

It is sad that the F5/20 was such a solid airframe and adaptability didn't get the fame the Falcon/Eagle has. This plane got the balance we were going for, on spot.

It looks like a razor blade with an engine.

"Greatest ever" is a very big claim. Yeager retired from the service, but accepted one last job in civilian life, as a chief test-pilot, and the project he worked on, was the F-20 TigerShark. He wrote about it in his autobiography, and said a number of very complimentary things about it, along with the original F-5. High praise, from someone who's opinion I would listen to. People tell me the Hawker Hurricane is under-appreciated, because it had many times more kills than the much talked about Spitfire. This is true, and the Hurry did most of the work in defending Britain, but it could only do that, because the Spitfires protected the Hurry from the 109s. At the start of the Battle, there were only about 70 ~ 80 Spitfires in true operational condition. The outcome of the war, hung on those 70 or so Spitfires.... The P-51D had the performance to fight 109s & 190s, and the range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin. The counter-point to that, if Britain had fallen in 1940 ~ '41, then the whole escort thing becomes irrelevant. There never would have been an American daytime bombing operation. The B-29 dropped the two atomic weapons, and only that caused the Japanese surrender. Well ~ that's debatable. That view was presented at the time, and it has been repeated ever since, but I have heard the Japanese were about to surrender anyway... The point I'm trying to make, this is a complicated question, and exactly what represents "The Greatest" rather depends on the criteria you choose, which depends on the personal objectives you bring to the discussion .... My personal view (I am an Australian, not a Brit) would be the Mk 1 Spitfire, because the existence of the free world, hung on about a hundred young men in Spitfires. "Never in the field of human conflict, have so many, owed so much, to so few." The fact that the Spitfire is a simply stunningly beautiful object ~ that doesn't hurt either.

"Indigenous upgrades" are always interesting, esp w widely used aircraft like the F-5, F-4 and F-16. Most are done w license and assist from the original mfr, but you should look into what Iran did w the F-5s left behind after the fall of the Shah.

I always loved this small but effectice, and efficient, little plane. Bigger does not always have to mean better - and it could top 1,000 mph ffs! And if you look at the boeing/SAAB 'successor', it looks remarkably like (I know, higher wing, but you know what I mean, generally) the F-5. As for which is 'the best' - as a Brit, I will always cite the English Electric Lightning, purely for noise, power (5-6 miles high in 30 seconds, and this was the mid-1950s, not even a decade since piston power was the only real option), and brutal looks. BUT, in the all-round stakes, I love the little F-5.

I can only agree with you. I fly a sim version of the F-5e3 in DCS and it's more or less my go-to aircraft all the time, despite having a good collection of more modern airframes like the F/A-18C, the F-16, F-15C, AV-8B Harrier, Mirage 2000 as well as the F-14A and B, not to mention the Soviet MiG's and SU's. It's a legend having trained generations of pilots over many decades of service.

I always liked this aircraft because it’s good at everything basically.

also the f18/FA18 was the macdac derive from the F20

There's a F-16 derivative with F-5E lineages and YF-17 aerodynamic characteristics called "Fighter Ching Kuo 1/ Indigenous Defense Fighter". This plane was design and made Republic of China back in 1989 with the implementation of Northrop's YF-17 technologies and with the aid of General Dynamics engineers. The Indigenous Defense Fighter is not the perfect lightweight multirole fighter due to it's anemic engines and could not export to other countries due to US restrictions but it does have a good APG-67 radar, great energy retention and has outstanding maneuverability, more importantly the flyaway cost is low and it was simple to maintain.

Love the F-5E…and the F-20 Tigershark was one of the greatest planes that never went into production. I believe THAT was a disgrace.

The US Armed forces missed out on 2 great aircraft: the F20 Tigershark and the F21 SuperTomcat.

Small complaint. the whole point of the Top Gun/Red Flag training is NOT to prove or disprove the aircraft in 1on1 combat but to PROVE THE TACTICS being trained. the bulk of the training is against Near Peer TACTICS. THe F5s were first flown to envelope to show the pilots training that the instructoras were as good if not better than them. the F5 is a small maneuverable and agile dog-fighter. these sorties are what they were designed to excel in. BUT these are not how the Soviets and Chinese flew. That is the rest of the program. the F5 was a supperior dogfighter. 1st half) show the limitations of your craft and the tactics known (Yes the trainees are expected to lose, this enforces knowing the craft and your own skills better. 2nd half) Now show what your training AND Craft can do against Soviet Tactics. (The trainees are expected to succeed. this reinforces skills, teamwork, and calculations over bravado). The USAF/Navy want's smark calculating fighter pilots (Iceman, NOT Maverik).

Only halfway through this but I sure hope you mention how beautiful the thing is! I'd like to know who pencilled the outlines...

Good story. I personally loved the F5.

I was watching this earlier. I love your editing style, the music you use, and how quickly the video went by while still feeling like a 30 minute documentary about the history and legacy of the Tiger II. I was having buffalo wings earlier with blue cheese, since you asked if we were eating dinner. Ha! Perfect time to find a video like yours. Subscribed, and hope to see more of this style content in the future! (I also shared this with a group of friends of mine on Discord. Don't be alarmed if your view count shoots up by a couple thousand!) 😉

The F-5 the 1950 was also used as a chase plane for the X-15 being dropped from a B-52 bomber if you will check the F-5 was able to climb and keep up with the X-15 at a lower level of flight ✈️ about 2 miles under the X-15 s flight ranges. Please check the facts 🙏 I had the pleasure of coming back from Vietnam as back seat tag along 1971 as a close family friend being US Army service member and an Air Force brat.

The F-5 was also the basis of the Hornet, and thus the Super Hornet. Probably one of the most successful aircraft designs of all time.

The concept of a small, capable, easy to maintain, multirole fighter never really goes away. In WWII it was the FW-190, in the Cold War it was the F-5 family, today, arguably, it is the Saab Gripen. Sadly, it's a category of aircraft that the USAF doesn't seem very interested in. $100 million+ aircraft can be very cutting edge and advanced; but how many of them can you realistically afford? Particularly when one consideres that for the past thirty years the conflicts the US has been involved with could have used aircraft costing a quarter as much just as well. Im not saying the top end fighters shouldnt be made, im simply saying that there is a need that is not only unfilled, but officially unrecognized, for a less expensive lightweight tactical fighter.

Since you seem to have a great deal of love and affection for the F-5 there's some additional information I figure you'd love to know about. It would really help to strengthen your claim about the jet, I feel certain it'll either make you want to create an extended version of this video or a part 2. 1. The Soviet Union were given several F-5a's or c's I think they were the C or "Skoshi Tiger." after the Vietnam war, they were completely BLOWN away by it, the pilots tasked with flying them developed a deep amount of love and respect for it. They were mainly tasked with flying it against the MIG 21 so they could compare them. They were NOT prepared for the results. The 21 ALWAYS got it's ass handed to it by the Tiger, the F-5 was either equal or superior in all but 1 category that being maximum speed. Hud footage of some of these engagements can be found on KZfaq. Now imagine if it was the DRASTICALLY more capable E model. 2. Secret Projects Forum, I don't have time to write out all the ways that make this a "one stop shop website" I will try to summarize it thusly, this is the website where most of the authors of all the decent military aviation, well any book about various military stuff, the respected aviation and other photographers, the people who had a hand in the design of just about any military vehicle you can imagine and the ones with operational experience hang out, share pictures and discuss things. I'm going to leave a link to a particular topic I just know you're going to love. www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/big-wing-f-5s-and-f-5g-f-20-alternative-designs.4513/

A rich story for sure I was on the flight line when Morooco dropped Mig-15 as a strong but troublesome pile of political junk. The U.S. Airforce delivered the first f-5 to be deployed by the Morrocan air force. The lead Moroccan pilot on his second flight ran the plane out of fuel and crashed it. The training went forward with a twin-seat version crash killing both pilots including the U.S. airforce pilot instructor an air force captain. The Morrocan airforces tried to kill the King by shooting him down in his 707 leaving Gibraltar the attempt failed. The king had one-fourth of his aircrew and officers shot on the Morrocan base, This began the service of the F-5 and it served very well for many years. Infamous as it was.

I clicked on this video thinking it was gonna be a wreck. Well boy was I wrong, very well documented with a lot of accurate proof to back up everything said. Very well done! You've earned another subscriber and wanting more of this content.

The music reminds me of the menu music from Ace Combat (4 or 5) on the PS2 about 20 years ago.

Oh! You better make a vid about the F20 tigershark. You didnt have enough time to elaborate the myriad of reasons for both its existence and failure.

I saw lots of the trainer T5 in the AF .

Keep up the good work.

Oh yeah, we’re getting out of Sudentor with this one.

F-5's are still in use by the USAF. Eglin AFB has a handful of them.

Have always loved the "Skoshi Tiger" and all it's variants... and have to agree someone needs their ass kicked for the F-20 fall through...that was a major suck Thanks, Dane

Wah.. Terbaik 👍👍 Tigers.. Hari²mau..

Great musical choice for the Soundtrack.. sound familiar to anyone? Its the music from the Ace Combat games❤ youre a scholar and gentleman, sir! *Salute* EDIT: Can someone get a list of Ace Combat tracks featured in this video going please, with bookmarks? Thanks!

I love the F-20. Best bang for buck there is. Over a lifetime cost, it was half the price of an F-16. You should read an article by the Atlantic titled "The Airplane That Doesn’t Cost Enough" written By Gregg Easterbrook. It goes into detail of why the airplane was not adopted by USAF. Mainly, because the DOD helped design the F-15 and F-16, yet the F-20 was made entirely by Northrop and it could beat both of those fighters on paper. DOD refused allowing it to dogfight either the Eagles or Vipers. The head of USAF at the time Charles A. Gabriel said of the F-20 "what [Northrop] is doing out there is the best I’ve ever seen”.

eggs, sausages and baked beans with fried bread

Red lobster surf and turf lobster, NY steak, fries, soup and a coke im ok with long form videos since im eating my dinner video was short still liked it 😎 👍

I knew you had it in you to create something like this. This video went well with a Spicy Pepperoni Pizza.

Please make a video for Tigershark. This is a great video you made very educational

Ace Combat 5! God the music in that game takes me back. Time to dust off the PS2 slim and give her another go.

Nice bro.

Hey, liked your doco. While best is subjective can still I don't disagree. It is a small fighter with snap and staying power, no small thing it turns out. All the best

Greatest? I dont know. I will say it is one of the prettiest planes ever built. It just looks like a thoughbred colt.

For something that is over 60 years old, it still looks modern. Boeing T7 Redhawk looks like a trainer. It's good-looking. Looks like an F-17 and F-35 made a baby. Considering the age of the T38, the T7 is much needed for modern aircraft training. The T38 is "too small". Still see the T-7 could turn into an actual low-cost fighter variant, which would make Boeing happy.

Hm... hello fellow ace combat 5 enjoyer :P

Not my favorite plane, but definitely a great aircraft, and extremely underrated. This needed to be said.

pretty sure the dutch don't use F5's anymore

Well done 👍🏼

Thanks for the video. Love the F5. You could cut back on the music. It's drowning you out.

My father taught the school in Millington, on the J79, when I was in the 3rd grade. He retired a Blue Angel, in 74, as the F4 went to the side. However, the A4 Skyhawk, used the same engine, I believe. He served on the USS Ranger, during Vietnam war. I was 4th MAW. East Coast. A4s, Harriers, and Hues.

It also became the X29!

Hooray! Made may day. Finally, a Native English narrator who knows how to pronounce "Messerschmitt"! I dunno why, maybe you have noticed: Many English Native speakers pronounce it like "meshersmitt". I'm still looking out for an explanation why so many people not knowing one another do so in unison. Great entertaining video as well. Go for it!

Somewhere online, there are some comments by Soviet pilots that are very favourable on the F5. I believe some were captured in Vietnam and Russian pilots tested them.

what a great vid, subbed!

drinking coffee in the mornin

It depends on how you measure it. It could not carry any load at high temps (temperature restricted). They were easy to work on.

Excellent 👌👌☺️

Good job on your video. F-5 one of my favourites. Almost got one from ( the C.A.F. Mountainview detatchment ) They cut the main spar so it can't be flown. But then some twat in Alberta tried to repair it and crashed into a bunch of houses putting the kibosh on that plan. So no cool lawn ornament. Cheers