during The Northrop F-5 Tiger II was one of the most successful light fighters.The best days are behind him. The Northrop F-5 has proven to be an excellent aircraft for air forces around the world seeking basic, affordable fighter capabilities. This fighter was never useful to the U.S. military as a light fighter, but was important as an advanced trainer (T-38 Talon) and attack aircraft.
that us navy Although you may rely on the T-45 Goshawk as your primary jet trainer, the Northrop F-5 is also heavily used as an attack trainer (including by the Marine Corps). But as China introduces increasingly modern and capable fighter jets and the older Super Hornets become available, the Navy is now looking to transition away from the F-5. Super Hornet, including older Blocks, is a mature front-line fighter with many years of real combat experience. Here’s what you need to know about the Navy’s plans to transition from the attack aircraft, the F-5 Tiger II, to the attack aircraft, the Super Hornet.
Popular Northrop F-5 light fighter
In the 1986 movie top gunThe black attack aircraft on which the F-14 Tomcat trains is a Northrop F-5E Tiger II. This is an accurate description because the US military uses the F-5 as an attacker. Simple Flying has previously covered the venerable Northrop F-5. It was one of the most successful light fighters of the Cold War. It was one of Northrop’s most successful fighter planes.
That said, Northrop was blindsided by the U.S. government in the 1970s. “Breached” the F-5 light fighter with the F-20 Tigershark. At their own expense, with the promise of extensive export opportunities. At the time, the United States was not considered a reliable ally, effectively banning F-16 exports to many air forces around the world. After Northrop developed the aircraft, potential customers bought the larger F-16 instead, and Northrop never sold a single jet.
Aside from the fiasco of the F-20 Tigershark, the F-5 was one of the most popular light fighters and was America’s answer to the Soviet Union’s MiG-21 Fishbed. The T-38 Talon was the main aircraft of the US Air Force advanced trainer aircraft, but is expected to be replaced by the T-7A Red Hawk in the future.
It is largely unknown why the U.S. Navy still chooses the F/A-18 Super Hornet over the F-35C for certain missions.
More Super Hornets/Hornets remain in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps than all other Navy fighter aircraft combined, demonstrating its continued versatility.
Northrop F-5 is no longer suitable for the Navy
But after decades of use as attack aircraft, the Navy no longer seems to believe that even the upgraded F-5 is sufficient for top-level adversary training. These changes are part of a broader shift toward advanced platforms in the United States. The United States has long placed tremendous emphasis on realistic combat training for fighter pilots. As part of the lessons learned in Vietnam, The United States secretly acquired Soviet-built MiG-21s, MiG-23s, and MiG-17s as part of Operation Constant Peg. It was part of an effort to provide pilots with training on real Soviet fighter planes (flown by American pilots).
The House Armed Services Committee’s draft fiscal year 2027 NDAA states:This section requires the Secretary of the Navy to provide an annual report for five consecutive years on the Secretary’s plan to convert Navy Reserve F-5 tactical fighter squadrons to F/A18E/F tactical fighters and the implementation of that plan..” This is being taken as the first confirmation that more Navy adversaries will adopt the F/A-18E/F.
As the United States faces China’s increasingly capable 4.5- and 5th-generation fighters, it sees the need to train against more powerful aircraft. The Air Force responded to the growing threat by using its F-35As exclusively against enemy forces during advanced training. It stood up an enemy formation of F-35s. This allowed the Air Force to reduce its reliance on older aircraft flown by contractors (discussed below).
Navy F-5 attack aircraft
War Zone also reported that the Navy has 28 single-seat F-5Ns and a pair of two-seat F-5Fs that are being upgraded to ARTEMIS standards. 22 is also converting. Former Swiss Air Force F-5E/F serves as attacker. The older Swiss Tigers are shared between the Navy and Marine Corps. But even these upgraded F-5s appear to be struggling to provide the advanced adversarial training the Navy needs.
TWZ is “Despite these improvements, the F-5 is an outdated aircraft and has become increasingly inadequate to meet the Navy’s needs for more advanced red air capabilities.” These aircraft were purchased in the 2000s, with the final examples arriving in the United States in 2009. Many of the attack aircraft used by the U.S. military (primarily through contractors) are foreign-made fighters.
At that time, Naver said, “Through a unique offshore military sales program, the U.S. Navy purchased 44 former Swiss Air Force F-5Es for $50 million over six years. The Swiss Air Force originally purchased 110 F-5Es under the U.S. Air Force’s FMS program in the 1970s..” Currently, the Swiss Air Force continues to operate approximately 15 legacy F-5 Tiger IIs and 25 aging legacy Hornets. These are scheduled to be replaced by 30 F-35As.
Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet
The existing Hornet has been upgraded to: Super Hornet, a “good enough” carrier-based fighter Replaces some Legacy Hornets and larger F-14 Tomcats. The Navy has about 327 Super Hornets and has fielded what is expected to be the final order of the type. The final Super Hornet is expected to be delivered in 2027. It is complemented by more than 70 F-35Cs, which are expected to eventually grow to 273 F-35Cs.
The F-35C is expected to gradually partially replace some older Super Hornets, with full replacement expected to occur alongside the future F/A-XX (currently in development). Separately, the Navy is expected to announce the winner of the F/A-XX program in the second half of 2026. It is reported that Lockheed Martin is eliminated and only Northrop Grumman and Boeing remain. Surplus and retired Super Hornets have significantly improved attack capabilities compared to the upgraded F-5.
The Super Hornet comes with a mature AN/APG-79 AESA radar and an advanced ATFLIR targeting pod. Equipped with radar warning receivers, it is a highly capable adversary in training scenarios and is considered suitable for replicating China’s advanced fourth-generation jets (including Chinese-made J-16 variants of the Su-27 Flanker family). The Super Hornet can also be equipped with an advanced infrared search and track (ISRT) system. They can “take down” fleeing targets better than the legacy F-5, especially when flying cleanly.
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Remaining Navy and Marine Corps F-5 equipped Aggressor squadrons
The Navy has four fighter composite squadrons (VFC) squadrons responsible for enemy operations, The War Zone reports. These include VFC-12 “Fighting Omars”, which have already converted to Super Hornets. VFC-13 “Saints” have surplus but significantly upgraded F-16C/Ds (converted from F-5s). The remaining two attack squadrons, VFC-111 “Sundowners” and VFC-204 “River Rattlers”, both operate F-5s.
It is still unclear what will happen to the Marine Corps’ F-5. These are currently flown by the VMFT-401 “Sniper” and VMFT-402 “Grim Reaper” and have been upgraded with the Red Net system to provide situational awareness. The Marine Corps is currently studying plans to replace it, according to the latest Marine Aviation Plan released in February.
|
US Navy 4 attack squadrons |
Number of fighters flown (per TWZ) |
|---|---|
|
VFC-111 “Sun Downers” |
Northrop F-5 |
|
VFC-13 “Fighting Saint” |
Lockheed Martin F-16C/D (converted from F-5) |
|
VFC-12 “Fight with Omar” |
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet |
|
VFC-204 “River Rattler” |
Northrop F-5 (converted from legacy Hornet) |
|
NAWDC / Top Gun |
F-16A/B/C/D and F/A-18E/F |
In the longer term, the Navy and other services are considering Coordinated Combat Aircraft (CCA) in some aggressor roles. Anduril’s Fury autonomous aircraft shows its roots in attack aircraft. Variants of the aircraft are currently being rapidly developed for the Air Force as part of Increment 1 of the CCA program. It was given the designation YFQ-44.
Northrop F-5 is not finished with the Navy
Even if these Attacker F-5s are retired from the U.S. Navy, this will not be the end of the Northrop F-5 with the Navy for now. The Navy operates 10 T-38 Talon trainer aircraft, a variant of the F-5. That said, the Navy’s primary advanced trainer aircraft is the T-45 Goshawk (based on the BAE Hawk), of which the Navy operates nearly 200. The Navy is currently looking for a replacement and is considering the U.S. Air Force’s T-7A Red Hawk and other options.
Just because the Navy is selling the Northrop F-5 attack aircraft does not mean the Navy’s F-5 attack aircraft training will end. Much of America’s training (including strikers) is contracted out to private contractors who operate older fighter jets (sometimes more than 150 tactical jets). these These include ATAC, Draken International, Top Aces, Tactical Air and Ravn Aerospace..
These five contractors operate a variety of fighter aircraft, from the Su-27 to the F-16, with a total fleet of more than 400 jets. They contract for services with the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and their allies. Of these contractors, only Tactical Air Support operates the Northrop F-5 Tiger II, specifically the F-5E/F or F-5AT. It has about 26 F-5s, some of which are ex-Jordanian F-5E/Fs and ex-Canadian CF-5Ds. The number of F-5ATs is planned to increase to approximately 44.
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