[History] F-5 “Freedom Fighters” in the ROCAF (2025)

As a supersonic fighter born in the late 1950s, the Northrop F-5 seriesjet fighters were a popular choice for many countries, as well as being afamous star in USAF’s Exercise Red Flag, where it performed well evenagainst 3rd generation fighters such as the F-14 Tomcat. Although the US Air Force only used a limited number of F-5C “Skoshi Tigers” in the VietnamWar, both the F-5A “Freedom Fighter” and F-5E “Tiger II” have been involved in manywars and conflicts around the world, including service in the ROCAF.

“Freedom Fighters” and “Tigers” in Taiwan

In an effort to replace the outdated F-86F Sabre fighter jets, the ROCAFplaced an order for 60 F-5A and B fighters to the United States, thefirst tranche of a total requirement for 115 aircraft. The 115 aircraft were aided through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS)and the Military Aid Program (MAP), while some sources claim that thetotal amount of F-5A was 72 with an additional batch of 11 F-5Bs.

The first batch of Freedom Fighters was delivered in 1964, whichequipped three squadrons of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing. Subsequently, atotal of four squadrons were equipped with the F-5A/B fighters and themilitary aid program was codenamed “Yu Shan” (“玉山”, one of the mainmountain ranges in Taiwan). Followed by the requirement for updatingweaponry and equipment for the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, 48 of theROCAF’s Freedom Fighters were to be leased to the Vietnamese ally andsent to Southeast Asia as quickly as possible.

During thisperiod, air defense missions over the Taiwan Strait were mainly carriedout by the US Air Force. The US Air Force drew two F-4C fightersquadrons from Kadena Air Force Base, and a total of 48 Phantom IIfighters were stationed at Ching-Chuan-Kang Air Force Base in Taichung.In return for ROC’s aiding military equipment to the Republic ofVietnam, the ROCAF received 28 F-5E “Tiger II"s from Northrop in 1975, and itis believed that some of the F-5As transferred to South Vietnam were later returned to the ROCAF, even including an F-5C used by the USAF in Vietnamfor evaluation. The F-4 Phantom II fighter squadrons andthe supporting T-38 trainers were returned to Kadena Air Force Base.

The Domestic “Tiger” jets: Peace Tiger Program

On February 9, 1973, the ROC authorities and the US government reached anagreement for the co-production of 100 F-5E “Tiger II” fighter jets. Thisprogram was given the codename “Hu An” (“虎安”, Peace Tiger) and was to be undertaken jointly by Northrop and Aerospace Industrial DevelopmentCorporation of Taiwan (AIDC) (then a research institute of the ROCAF).

The first AIDC-built F-5E was rolled out on October 30, 1974, one day before the late President Chiang Kai-shek’s 88th birthday, and wasthus christened “Chung Chen”, an alias of President Chiang. Productionof all 100 aircraft was completed by November 1977.

Later, 208 more aircraft were added to the production run in fivebatches, from “Peace Tiger No. 2” through “Peace Tiger No. 6”. The complexity of the production work by AIDC also evolved in severalphases. The whole “Peace Tiger” program was completed on December 9,1986, when the final aircraft was rolled off the production line.

Peace Tiger No. 6 stands out among these programs, for it was the only batch approved after the US authorities led by PresidentCarter established diplomatic relations with Communist China in 1979.The succeeding Reagan administration denied Taiwan’s request to purchase the more advanced F-16 and F-20 in early 1982, for fear of angeringmainland China.

More than denying future military aid, the US government signed the 817 Communiqué with China on August 17, 1982, pledging to gradually reduce military sales and aid to Taiwan. However, in an effort to assure the security of the Taiwan Strait and curb the offensive attempts of mainland China, the Reagan administration submitted the proposed sale of 60 F-5E/F to the Republic of China to Congress after two days. As a result, the US $240-million sale was made of the licence production of 30 F-5E and 30 F-5F and was later named as Peace Tiger 6.

At its peak in 1990, the ROC Air Force had a total of 5 Tactical Fighter Wings (the 401 Wing in Taoyuan, the 455 Wing in Chiayi, the 443 Wing in Tainan, the 828 Wing in Hualien, and the 737 Wing in Taitung), a total of 15 squadrons were equipped with F-5E/F fighters. A portion of F-5E/Fs (such as some aircraft of the 443 Wing stationed in Tainan) were able to use AGM-65 “Mavericks” air-to-surface missiles and 500 and 2,000 lb “Paving Stone” laser-guided bombs in the later stages of their service.

End of the Era of the “Freedom Fighter”

After nearly 30 years of active service, the F-5A fighter was officially decommissioned from the Republic of China Air Force on June 30, 1987, while the F-5B fighter was decommissioned on June 30, 1996. However, most of these fighters had already been converted into unmanned drones or disassembled to provide spare parts for the succeeding fighter jets.

Since the heat of the first Strait Crisis had passed, the “Tigers”didn’t have the chance to be involved in combat actions; but two ofthese jets defected to mainland China in the 1980s and they were among the very last cross-strait defects. These jets were also involved in 50 crashes with 52 deaths. After three crashesbetween October 2020 (5261; engine flameout)and March 2021 (5286 and 5287; mid-air collision), ROCAF decided todecommission their fleet of remaining F-5s in Taitung by 2025,replacing them with the new T-BE5A Brave Eagle.