Today, we label such elegant aircraft light fighters. (In the USAF inventory, the F-16 is the classic example.) In the 1950s, an era in which fighters were brutishly large, fast and heavy, the idea was radical.
To develop and demonstrate its vision, Northrop built and flew two prototypes. The first was the N-156F prototype for a supersonic light fighter. The second was the N-156T prototype for a supersonic trainer. These soon evolved into the F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer. Eventually, the basic design gave rise to the unsuccessful YF-17 and F-20 Tigershark and then to the very successful F-5E/F Tiger II and F/A-18.
The Air Force also used T-38s to maintain the proficiency of pilots. NASA did the same with astronauts. After the OPEC oil embargo, the Air Force Thunderbirds used Talons in air shows from 1974
through 1983.
The Air Force had no interest in small jets for its own inventory, but the Pentagon realized most countries could not afford the expensive jet fighters America used. It also realized that giving older, cast-off jets to small allies was no defense against the deadly MiG-15s and newer jets the Soviet Union awarded to client states.
The single-seat F-5A fighter dominated initial production. The F-5A had two Pontiac M39 revolver cannons with five chambers and a single barrel. As one shot was fired through the barrel, a spent cartridge was ejected from another chamber, while a new round loaded into another chamber, allowing each M39 to fire 1,500 rounds per minute. Although the gun was large for the small fighter, it was well worth the space it took up. The F-5A could also carry two wingtip AIM-9 heat-seeking missiles. The F-5A had no radar, so target acquisition had to be visual. This absence of radar was limiting, but it mirrored Soviet technology at
the time.
Northrop built 635 F-5As before production ended in 1972. Northrop also built 200 two-seat F-5Bs that carried bombs but had no cannons. Bravos were used primarily for the operational training of new F-A pilots in squadrons, but they were as good as F-5As at delivering bombs. Northrop also produced 86 RF-5A reconnaissance aircraft. Canada and Spain built another 310 F-5s.
During the late 1960s, the Soviets began to provide advanced MiG-21s to client states. The F-5A was no longer enough for U.S. allies. The Air Force held the International Fighter Aircraft Competition for a higher-performance export fighter, and Northrop responded with a heavily upgraded version of the F-5 that could fly at Mach 1.6. The single-seat version was the F-5E, and the dual-seat version was the F-5F. Northrop also designed the RF-5E for reconnaissance. Northrop won the competition in 1970 and began producing fighters in 1972.
Drawing on the Skoshi Tiger experience, Northrop gave the E/F models a new name, Tiger II. Compared to the A/B models, E/F models were more powerful, had a larger fuselage, could carry more fuel, had better avionics, and had a radar system that could see out 10 miles initially, and later 20 miles. Like the F-5A, the F-5E carried two M39 cannons, but the F-5E used the upgraded M39A2 model. Unlike the F-5B, which could not carry a cannon, the F-5F had a single cannon in its nose. Northrop built 1,144 Tiger IIs, and another 467 were built in Switzerland, Korea, and Taiwan.
In 1974, the USAF staged the Air Combat Fighter (ACF) competition explored the idea of adding lightweight fighters to complement the very expensive F-15. The two competitors were the General Dynamics YF-16 Fighting Falcon and the Northrop YF-17 Cobra.
The YF-17 Cobra was in many ways a scaled-up F-5. The fighter again had two engines, but these were far more powerful YJ101-GE-100 turbofans with 14,400 pounds of thrust each. Fuselage size was increased, but the forward fuselage and the wing were based on the F-5 design. The wing was moved up from the bottom of the fuselage to make armament easier to install. The YF-17 had two canted vertical tails instead of the single vertical tail of the F-5. It had an impressive top speed of Mach 1.95. Unfortunately, although the YF-17 was an extremely good aircraft, the General Dynamics YF-16 won the competition.
Later, when the Navy needed a larger aircraft, to replace the aging and difficult-to-maintain F-14, Northrop and Grumman produced the larger F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F-5 family, which began as a small light fighter, had become almost as large as the F-14 it replaced.
The Carter administration did not want to sell top-of-the-line fighters to allies because these aircraft could fall into Soviet hands. Northrop developed the F-20 to fit the export need for a highly capable fighter that would not use sensitive technology. Northrop used its own money to create the new aircraft. It was larger than the F-5E/F and used a single General Electric F404-GE-100 turbofan with 17,000 lbf instead of its traditional twin GE J-85s. Northrop initially called the aircraft the F-5G, but it changed its designation to F-20 Tigershark to indicate that this was really a new aircraft.
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This is a roster I made from s SFF2 Plus mugen game just to take it look more interesting. I have changed some of the characters voices, and tried to add some of the characters from the previous games. I also tried to edit the songs for each stage into the original Sonic music games. The MIDI's songs are ok, but I wanted to put the original MP3 songs in there instead. So far, it's still a great game. I'm really hoping makes another SFF mugen game that will put more of the characters from the archies in the next game, like Silver, Fiona, Mina, Cream, Jet, Wave, Vector, Dr. Finitevus, and Dr. Eggman . I have been looking at his art work of his OCs and has been saying they will appear in the freedom fighters mugen game, but idk when and which one. I recommend giving this game a try if you're into the Sonic Archies Comics.
The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and the extensively updated F-5E and F-5F Tiger II variants. The design team wrapped a small, highly aerodynamic fighter around two compact and high-thrust General Electric J85 engines, focusing on performance and a low cost of maintenance. Smaller and simpler than contemporaries such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the F-5 cost less to procure and operate, making it a popular export aircraft. Though primarily designed for a day air superiority role, the aircraft is also a capable ground-attack platform. The F-5A entered service in the early 1960s. During the Cold War, over 800 were produced through 1972 for US allies. Though at the time the United States Air Force (USAF) did not have a need for a light fighter, it did procure approximately 1,200 Northrop T-38 Talon trainer aircraft, which was based on Northrop's N-156 fighter design.
After winning the International Fighter Aircraft Competition, a program aimed at providing effective low-cost fighters to American allies, in 1972 Northrop introduced the second-generation F-5E Tiger II. This upgrade included more powerful engines, larger fuel capacity, greater wing area and improved leading edge extensions for better turn rates, optional air-to-air refueling, and improved avionics including air-to-air radar. Primarily used by American allies, it remains in US service to support training exercises. It has served in a wide array of roles, being able to perform both air and ground attack duties; the type was used extensively in the Vietnam War.[2] A total of 1,400 Tiger IIs were built before production ended in 1987. More than 3,800 F-5s and the closely related T-38 advanced trainer aircraft were produced in Hawthorne, California.[3] The F-5N/F variants are in service with the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps as adversary trainers.[4] Over 400 aircraft were in service as of 2021.[5][N 1]
The F-5 was also developed into a dedicated reconnaissance aircraft, the RF-5 Tigereye. The F-5 also served as a starting point for a series of design studies which resulted in the Northrop YF-17 and the F/A-18 naval fighter aircraft. The Northrop F-20 Tigershark was an advanced variant to succeed the F-5E which was ultimately canceled when export customers did not emerge.
The design effort was led by Northrop vice president of engineering and aircraft designer Edgar Schmued,[6] who previously at North American Aviation had been the chief designer of the successful North American P-51 Mustang and F-86 Sabre fighters. Schmued recruited a strong engineering team to Northrop.[7]
In December 1953, NATO issued NBMR-1, calling for a lightweight tactical fighter capable of carrying conventional and nuclear weapons and operating from rough airfields. In late 1954, a Northrop team toured Europe and Asia to examine both the NBMR-1 and the needs of SEATO members. From this tour, Schmued gave his team the goal of reversing the trend in fighter development towards greater size and weight in order to deliver an aircraft with high performance, enhanced maneuverability, and high reliability, while still delivering a cost advantage over contemporary fighters.[8][9] Recognizing that expensive jet aircraft could not viably be replaced every few years, he also demanded "engineered growth potential" allowing service longevity in excess of 10 years.[10]
The design began to firm up in 1955 with the introduction of the General Electric J85 turbojet engine. Originally developed for McDonnell's ADM-20 Quail decoy for use on the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress,[11] the J85 had a thrust-to-weight ratio of 6.25 to 7.5 depending on the version, giving it a notable advantage over contemporaries such as the 4.7 ratio of the J79 engine used in the F-4 Phantom.[12]
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