While the Northrop F-5 Tiger II has been one of the most successful light fighters, its heyday is behind it. The Northrop F-5 proved to be an excellent aircraft for air forces around the world that wanted a basic and affordable fighter jet capability. While it was never useful to the US military as a light fighter, it has been important as an advanced trainer (T-38 Talon) and as an aggressor aircraft.

The US Navy may rely on the T-45 Goshawk as its primary jet trainer, but it heavily uses the Northrop F-5 as an aggressor trainer (including the Marine Corps). But with China taking delivery of increasingly modern and capable fighter jets and with older Super Hornets becoming available, the Navy is now seeking to transition away from the F-5. The Super Hornet, including older Blocks, is a mature frontline fighter jet with many years of real-life combat experience. Here is what to know about the Navy’s planned transition away from the aggressor F-5 Tiger II to the aggressor Super Hornet.

The Popular Northrop F-5 Light Fighter

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In the 1986 movie, Top Gun, the aggressor black-painted aircraft that the F-14 Tomcats train against are Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs. This is an accurate depiction, as the US military does use F-5s as aggressors. Simple Flying has previously covered the venerable Northrop F-5. It was one of the most successful light fighter jets of the Cold War. It has been one of Northrop’s most successful fighter jets.

That said, Northrop was blindsided by the US government in the 1970s when it “suped up” the F-5 light fighter to the F-20 Tigershark at its own expense, with the promise of extensive export opportunities. At the time, the US had an effective export ban on the F-16 to many air forces in the world that it didn’t consider trustworthy allies. After Northrop developed the aircraft, prospective customers largely purchased the larger F-16 instead, and Northrop never sold a single jet.

Except for the F-20 Tigershark debacle, the F-5 was one of the most popular light fighters and was the US answer to the Soviet MiG-21 Fishbed. The T-38 Talon has been the mainstay of the US Air Force’s advanced trainer, although it is expected to be replaced by the incoming T-7A Red Hawk.

Northrop F-5 No Longer Adequate For The Navy

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However, after being used as aggressor aircraft for decades, it seems the Navy no longer thinks that even upgraded F-5s are sufficient for top-tier adversary training. The shift is part of a broader shift in the US toward higher-end platforms. The United States has long put an enormous emphasis on realistic combat training for its fighter pilots. As part of lessons learned from Vietnam, the US covertly acquired Soviet-built MiG-21s, MiG-23s, and MiG-17s as part of Operation Constant Peg in an effort to provide its pilots with training against real Soviet fighter jets (flown by US pilots).

The first draft of the House Armed Services Committee’s Fiscal 2027 NDAA reads, “This section would require the Secretary of the Navy to provide an annual report for five consecutive years on the Secretary’s plan, and execution of that plan, for transitioning Navy Reserve F-5 tactical fighter aircraft flying units to the F/A18E/F tactical fighter aircraft.” This is being taken as the first confirmation that more Navy adversary units will adopt the F/A-18E/F.

The US is seeing it as necessary to train against more capable aircraft as it faces growing and more capable 4.5th- and 5th-generation fighter jets from China. The Air Force has responded to the growing threats by using its own F-35A as dedicated red air adversaries during high-end training. It has stood up an F-35 adversary squadron. This has also allowed the Air Force to reduce its dependence on the obsolete aircraft flown by contractors (discussed below).

The Navy’s F-5 Aggressors

Credit: US Navy

The War Zone also reported that the Navy has 28 single-seat F-5Ns and a pair of two-seat F-5Fs, which are being upgraded to the ARTEMIS standard. It is also converting 22 ex-Swiss Air Force F-5E/Fs to serve as aggressors. The old Swiss Tigers are being shared between the Navy and the Marines. But even these upgraded F-5s are seen as struggling to offer the high-end adversary training the Navy needs, although they do provide quantity.

TWZ notes, “even with these enhancements, the F-5s are dated aircraft and are increasingly unsuitable for meeting the Navy’s demand for more advanced red air capabilities.” They were purchased in the 2000s, with the final example arriving in the US in 2009. Many of the aggressor aircraft used by the US military (mostly via contractors) are foreign-built fighter jets.

At the time, Navair reported, “In a unique reverse Foreign Military Sales program, the U.S. Navy bought 44 former Swiss Air Force F-5Es over a six-year period for $50 million. The Swiss Air Force originally bought 110 F-5Es under an FMS program from the U.S. Air Force in 1970’s.” Today, the Swiss Air Force continues to operate around 15 legacy F-5 Tiger IIs and 25 aging Legacy Hornets. These are to be replaced by 30 F-35As.

The Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornets

Credit: US Navy

The legacy Hornet was upgraded to the Super Hornet as a “good enough” carrier-based fighter jet to replace some Legacy Hornets and the large F-14 Tomcat. The Navy has around 327 Super Hornets in service and has placed what is expected to be the final order for the type. The final Super Hornets are expected to be delivered in 2027. They are complemented by a fleet of 70+ F-35Cs, which is expected to eventually grow to 273 F-35Cs.

The F-35Cs are expected to progressively partially replace some older Super Hornets, with a full replacement expected to come with the future F/A-XX (currently in development). Separately, the Navy is expected to announce a winner for its F/A-XX program in the second half of 2026. Lockheed Martin is reportedly eliminated, leaving only Northrop Grumman and Boeing. Surplus and retiring Super Hornets offer a major leap in aggressor capabilities over upgraded F-5s.

The Super Hornet comes with the mature AN/APG-79 AESA radar and the advanced ATFLIR targeting pods. It has a radar warning receiver, making it a very capable adversary in training scenarios, and is considered a good match for replicating China’s advanced 4th-generation jets (including the domestic Chinese J-16 derivative of the Su-27 Flanker family). Super Hornets are also capable of carrying advanced infrared search and track (ISRT) systems. They are able to “run down” their fleeing targets better than legacy F-5s, especially when flying clean.

Remaining Navy & Marine F-5-Equipped Aggressor Squadrons

Credit: Department of Defense

According to reporting by The War Zone, the Navy has four Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) squadrons responsible for adversary work. These include the VFC-12 “Fighting Omars, which has already transitioned to the Super Hornet. The VFC-13 “Saints” has surplus, but significantly upgraded F-16C/Ds (it transitioned from F-5s). The remaining two aggressor squadrons, the VFC-111 “Sundowners” and the VFC-204 “River Rattlers,” both of which operate F-5s.

It remains unclear what will become of the Marine Corps’ F-5s. These are currently flown by the VMFT-401 “Snipers” and the VMFT-402 “Grim Reapers” and are upgraded with the Red Net system that provides them with situational awareness. The Marines are currently working on plans to replace them under the latest Marine Aviation Plan released in February.

In the longer term, the Navy and other service branches are considering Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) in some aggressor roles. It can be noted that Anduril’s Fury autonomous aircraft has its roots as an aggressor aircraft. A derivative of the aircraft is now being rapidly developed for the Air Force as part of Increment 1 of the CCA program. It has been given the designation YFQ-44.

Not End Of Northrop F-5s With Navy

Credit: Tactical Air Support (TacAir)

Even if these aggressor F-5s are retired from the US Navy’s service, that will not be the end of the Northrop F-5 with the Navy, not for now. The Navy operates a fleet of ten T-38 Talon trainers, a variant of the F-5. That said, the main Navy advanced trainer is the T-45 Goshawk (based on the BAE Hawk), of which the Navy has almost 200 examples in service. The Navy is currently looking for a replacement and is considering the USAF’s T-7A Red Hawk and other options.

Even if the Navy divests its Northrop F-5 aggressor aircraft, this doesn’t mean that it will be the end of the Navy’s training with F-5 aggressor aircraft. Much of the US’s training (including aggressors) is contracted out to private contractors that operate fleets of old fighter jets (sometimes more than 150 tactical jets). These include ATAC, Draken International, Top Aces, Tactical Air, and Ravn Aerospace.

These five contractors operate a range of fighter jets from Su-27s to F-16s, with the combined jet fleets numbering over 400 jets. They contract their services to the US Air Force, Marines, Navy, and to allies. Of these contractors, only Tactical Air Support operates Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs, specifically F-5E/Fs or F-5ATs. It has a fleet of around 26 F-5s, of which some are ex-Royal Jordanian F-5E/Fs and ex-Canadian CF-5Ds. It has plans to grow its fleet to around 44 F-5ATs.