Origin: USA
Year: 2006 (F-5A in 1959, F-5E in 1972)
Type: Fighter
Weight: 9,558 lb (4,349 kg) empty
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m)
Wingspan: 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Length: 47 ft 4¾ in (14.45 m)
Max speed: 1,060 mph (1,700 km/h)
Ceiling: 51,800 ft (15,800 m)
Engine: 2x General Electric J85-GE-21B turbojet
Range: 870 mi (1,405 km)
Armament: 2x 20 mm (0.787 in) M39A2 cannons, 7 hardpoints (2x wingtip, 4x under-wing, 1x under-fuselage) capable of carrying up to 7,000 lbs of ordnance (including missiles, rockets, bombs, and gunpods)
Crew: 1

Developed by Northrop as an affordable and easily manufactured and maintained jet fighter, the F-5 Freedom Fighter would be adopted by many of America's allies. After 800+ were manufactured, the aircraft won a competition held to provide a new fighter for American allies with an improved version known as the F-5E Tiger II. Though the aircraft saw some use by the United States military, it did and continues to see service with many other nations around the world. The type currently serves in the militaries of South Korea, Iran, Mexico, Botswana, Brazil, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, and Turkey. The aircraft also served with Greece, Netherlands, Norway, and Philippines but have since been retired. A large number of Freedom Fighters had also been supplied to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and many of which fled to Thailand at the end of the war; however, a number also fell into the hands of Communist Vietnam and were used against the Chinese during the Sino-Vietnamese War. Canada also flew the aircraft with a locally produced version, the Canadair CF-5. Iran also produces two aircraft based on the airframe, the Azarakhsh and the Sa'eqeh

An improved version of the Tiger II, known as the F-20 Tigershark, was also built but was commercially unsuccessful due to competition from the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Another aircraft, the YF-17, was built to compete for a bid for a new USAF light fighter. Though it lost to the F-16, the YF-17 would be developed into the McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.

The F-5N Tiger II is the designation given by the United States to former-Swiss F-5E Tiger II's that have been fitted with an improved radar system and fielded in the "aggressor" role. The purpose of aggressor squadrons is to provide American pilots with experience combating ComBloc aircraft and their pilots. The aircraft flown in this role are chosen due to similarities in performance against such aircraft. For example, the Tiger II is able to approximate such ex-Soviet aircraft as the MiG-21. In popular culture, the F-5N Tiger II also portrayed the fictional MiG-28 in the Tom Cruise/Val Kilmer film Top Gun.