According to South Korean media reports, the South Korean Air Force issued a notice on January 11 that at 13:44 on the same day, an F-5E fighter of the South Korean Air Force crashed from the Suwon base in Gyeonggi Province, and the pilot died.
The F-5E fighter is a light fighter imported from the United States by South Korea in the 1970s and assembled by itself. Since 2000, 12 of South Korea's fighters have crashed.
"Tiger" flying all over the world
The F-5E is an important model in the F-5 fighter family. The F-5 is a light supersonic fighter developed by northrop in the United States in the 1950s, nicknamed the Tiger. Known for its low price and ease of maintenance, the fighter was originally planned to replace the F-86 Sabre fighter, but in fact the U.S. Air Force was only equipped with a small amount, mainly because its rudimentary avionics equipment and thin weapon systems were difficult to meet the needs of the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft is not equipped with radar, only 2 air guns and 2 short-range infrared guided air-to-air missiles, and can only conduct aerial operations within the line of sight. In contrast, the F-4 "Ghost" heavy air superiority fighter favored by the US Air Force at that time could carry 4 semi-active radar-guided medium-range air-to-air missiles and 4 short-range infrared guided air-to-air missiles, which far exceeded the former in firepower and could conduct over-the-horizon air combat.
However, heavy fighter jets are not needed for many countries. At that time, light fighter jets represented by the Soviet MiG-21 and the French Mirage III were quite popular in the international market and also brought huge profits to their manufacturers. In order to seize the market, the United States decided to introduce the F-5 fighter to the international market, and specially designed and built the F-5E fighter to provide its ally as a military aid fighter.
The crash sounded alarm bells
South Korea has purchased 126 F-5E fighter jets and 20 F-5F combat trainers. In 1980, South Korea's Korean Air Force Aircraft Factory signed a contract with Northrop to produce 233 of these fighter jets and engines for its air force in South Korea. With the installation of this light fighter, the ROK Air Force became an important air force in Northeast Asia.
Still, the F-5E fighter has obvious flaws. The aircraft is old in design, equipped only with short-range air-to-air missiles, and cannot adapt to the modern battlefield dominated by medium-range air combat. After 2000, the F-5E fighter gradually withdrew from the front line and switched to air-to-ground close support missions. Even so, the plane's outlook is bleak, and the repeated crashes have sounded alarm bells. To this end, South Korea introduced the FA-50 light multi-role fighter instead of the F-5E/F fighter.
In 2010, the South Korean Air Force said it would phase out all F-5E/F fighters around 2020 and replace them with FA-50 fighters. However, the FA-50 fighter's radar, missiles and other key components are imported from the United States and Europe, resulting in the mass production process of the aircraft is not smooth. Today, the F-5E/F fighter is an elderly Tiger that has to serve in the ROK Air Force for an extended period of time.
Source: China National Defense Daily
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