HOBBYMASTER AIR POWER SERIES

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-5åÕs 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. In January 1974 the IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) received 28 F-5Fs with the total eventually rising to 166 F-5F/Es. During the war with Iraq the F-5s flew air-to-ground sorties and air-to-air sorties with MiG and Sukhoi aircraft of the day as well as Mirage F-1 and Super Etandard. There were 10 F-5Es of the 41st TFW located at the 4th Tactical Air Base aka Vahdati. F-5E 3-7301 is the oldest F-5E in Iran and was put back in service after 15 years in storage.