The Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter (later variants known as the Tiger II) is a low-cost light fighter developed from the T-38 Talon. It was extremely popular with export customers due to this and thus saw service with a large of operators. These include the ROKAF in South Korea, the ROCAF in the Taiwan, the RVNAF in South Vietnam (and later Vietnam's VPAF) and Iran (which produced its own variants).
F-5s were also operated by the USAF initially as fighters before being used aggressor aircraft. The US Navy and USMC also operated F-5s as aggressor aircraft.
In Fiction
- An F-5E Tiger II is flown by Shin Kazama at some point in all three versions of Area 88.
- F-5Es appear in the 1986 manga series Reds in Blue by Toshio Kasahara.
