The Northrop F-5 tactical fighter was designed as an extremely maneuverable, supersonic
fighter with a high rate of reliability at a low operating cost. The F-5 first flew on July 30,
1959 with the first customer delivery in 1964. The last of more than 2,600 F-5’s was
produced in 1989 and about two-thirds of these are still in service with 26 countries more
than 4 decades later. The F-5 was manufactured by Northrop Grumman and under license
in Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland.
The Swiss Air Force purchased 98 Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs as well as 12 dual-seat F-5Fs
acquired in two contracts. The F-5E Tiger IIs were assigned serials J-3001 through J-3098
and the 12 dual-seat F-5Fs were given serials J-3201 through J-3212. The Swiss Air
Force had retired their De Havilland Venoms placing a large strain on their Hawker Hunters
and the F-5s were meant to alleviate this problem.
Founded on August 22, 1964 the Swiss Air Force aerobatic team, the “Patrouille Suisse”
flew the Hawker Hunter for the next 30 years until they began flying the faster and more
maneuverable Northrop F-5E in their 1995 season. The team uses 6 F-5Es painted in the
Swiss national colors of white and red. Their team mascot is a stuffed furry toy called “Eric
Flathead”.
Length: 7.75 inch
Width: 4.5 inch