F-5E-3 Tiger II

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Ah, yes. the MiG-28, with its classified 4G negative dive. You definitely should try doing that — the wings will even stay on and everything (until you hit the ground).

More sensibly, the F-5 is based on the same basic airframe as the venerable T-38 Talon jet trainer, and remains in use to this day as a stand-in for lighter “red force” aircraft like the MiG-21 in dissimilar air combat training. Its numerous export (and later re-imported) versions have received layers upon layers of alterations and modernisations, with some variants being able to carry AMRAAMs, AGM-65s, and even laser targeting pods. Seeing where it ended up, it is not difficult to imagine the F-5 as a kind what-could-have-been alternative to the F-16: a small and light but very extensible airframe that you can bolt almost anything to. But all those extra features are for export and for much later periods — no such luxuries for pesky DCS pilots to enjoy.

Instead, the F-5E-3 featured here comes with very simple avionics and with a single pair of Sidewinders as its only air-to-air weapon (well… aside from a pretty competent pair of 20mm cannons that is). In fact, the F-5E-3 is almost completely devoid of “systems” to manipulate or to care about, and is therefore a superbly simple aircraft to fly and operate. It is small, while not incredibly fast, it can still go past Mach 1 and even carry a few stores with it while doing so. It is a light-weight, agile day-time multirole aircraft with a couple of simple pilot aids, but where most of the flying, navigating, and fighting has to be done by the pilot on their own.

Features

Aside from the obligatory MiG-28 skin, the F-5E-3 only comes with the bare minimum:

• A single UHF radio and a TACAN receiver as its only “advanced” navigational instrument.
• A somewhat temperamental RWR that likes to not show what is actually out there.
• Automated flaps and yaw/pitch stability enhancers, but no flight automation — only trim and a light hand to stay straight and level.
• A drag chute and an arrestor hook for (very) short landings. It is technically not carrier-capable, buuuuuut…
• An almost entirely pointless radar (ok, it helps with gunnery and lets you find targets BVR, but that is about all it is good for).

Flying the F-5E-3

Cockpit overview

Shooting something

Getting bombs on (or at least near…ish) a target.

Add-ons and files

• Tippis' Checklist (see also kneeboard mods).
• Chuck's F-5E-3 guide.

Related DCS modules

• Aggressors Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM) campaign.
• Aggressors Air Combat Maneuver (ACM) campaign.

More information

• Northrop F-5 on wikpedia.
• F-5E/F Tiger II on globalsecurity.org
• Bunyap's F-5 test flight video series.