Article Summary – The F-5E Tiger II Playbook for the Drone Age: Cheap, Capable, and Enough
-The F-5E Tiger II was never the flashiest jet, but it nailed the essentials: simplicity, low cost, and reliability that allies could sustain for decades.
-Built to be exported and easy to maintain, it proved that “good enough” airframes can deliver real combat value—from Vietnam trials to aggressor training—and stay relevant with modest upgrades.
-That logic maps cleanly to today’s push for attritable drones and budget fighters: field more platforms you can afford to risk.
-The warning holds, too: low-cost designs can’t replace high-end stealth, sensors, and payloads. The winning mix blends mass, survivability, and rapid upgrade paths.
Lessons From the F-5E Tiger II for the Drone Era
As the world enters a new era of warfare dominated by attritable drones, low-cost fighters, and modular aircraft to counter budget constraints and an expanding range of asymmetric threats, the Cold War-era’s F-5E Tiger II serves as a compelling case study.
Designed to be lean, effective, and exportable, the F-5E offers some important lessons on how to balance capability, cost, and longevity. It also shows exactly how that balance can break down.
So what does this compact jet from the 1970s tell us about today’s push for more for less?
The F-5’s Origins
The F-5 family began in the 1950s with a Northrop concept known as the N-156. It was a small, supersonic fighter built around the idea of creating a low-cost aircraft that was easy to maintain and required modest infrastructure support. The goal was never to outpace the biggest and fastest fighters that already exists, but to deliver a credible, affordable option for U.S. allies and lighter air forces.
Known as the “Freedom Fighter,” the F-5A was selected under the U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP) in 1963, and more than 2,600 F-5s were ultimately delivered or built under license in more than thirty countries.
Later, the “Tiger II’ variant (F-5E/F-5F) arrived in the early 1970s, with a first flight on August 11, 1972, offering greater fuel capacity, refined aerodynamics, and improved avionics. Nothrop built 792 F-5Es, 146 F-5Fs, and 12 reconnaissance RF-5Es.
Because of its simpler architecture and less intense maintenance demands, the F-5 was cheaper to procure and operated compared with the likes of the F-4 Phantom, which made it popular in export markets.
How It Was Used
While the U.S. did not use the F-5E extensively in frontline combat, its forerunner, the F-5A and other variants, was put to the test very quickly. In Vietnam, under the “Skoshi Tiger” program, a modified F-5A/B aircraft flew close air support, reconnaissance, and interdiction missions.
Collectively, the platform logged more than 3,500 sorties and roughly 4,000 combat hours, with relatively modest losses reported overall. And those trials ultimately helped prove the concept; that a lower-cost jet could operate in contested environments and perform well.
The F-5E later found its purpose as a training aircraft used for adversary and aggressor training.
In U.S. service, F-5s have flown to emulate enemy aircraft in air combat training, allowing pilots to hone their tactics and skills against smaller and more agile threats.
The Navy also utilizes F-5 variants, such as the F-5N, to simulate threat airframes during fleet exercises.
And that role of preparing forces for diverse threats remains one of the Tiger’s lasting legacies.
Global Reach
Beyond its role in training, a hallmark of the F-5E is its sheer persistence. The jet has flown in countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and many Latin American air forces.
Many remain in service today, too, either upgraded or relegated to secondary roles, reserve fleets, or training,
Because the F-5 was built around simplicity and maintainability, operators all over the world have been able to keep airframes flying far longer than originally anticipated, with periodic upgrades to avionics, sensors, and more, extending its utility. For example, Northrop Grumman continues to offer structural and avionics upgrade packages, as well as parts and support, to sustain F-5 fleets everywhere.
What Can We Learn?
So, what lessons can the F-5 teach us today? Well, as defense leaders increasingly turn toward attritable drones and lower-cost manned platforms, the F-5E offers a valuable look at how to create systems that truly last. Air forces all over the world are pushing to field more systems that aren’t cripplingly expensive to lose – and we’ve seen this dynamic play out on the battlefield in Ukraine over the last three and a half years.
The U.S. Department of Defense’s 2025 directive “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” reflects that shift, too, showing that even the United States is looking to make use of cheaper systems.
The shift in battlefield dynamics has seen cheap, mass-produced drones force adversaries to deploy expensive defenses against extremely low-cost threats.
The logic underlying the F-5E is similar to the “negative cost-exchange ratio” dynamic seen in Ukraine: instead of one high-end jet, a larger number of cheaper jets can be sustained and risked more freely. Perhaps more accurately, though, it’s clear that fielding a larger number of unmanned systems can have the same effect, too.
But while drones and cheaper, lighter systems are an essential element of modern aerial warfare, the Tiger’s history also warns of the limits of low-cost design.
The F-5E was never cutting-edge in radar, stealth, or payload and could be easily outmatched in high-intensity warfare. Its utility was derived from reliability, agility, and low costs, and not from its overall performance.
The F-5E shows that cheap, reliable platforms can have enormous strategic value when used smartly – but they only work when paired with stronger, high-end systems.
In the drone era, just like in the Tiger’s time, success will come not from betting everything on expendable systems alone, but from building a balanced mix of aerial assets that can last, scale, and adapt.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York who writes frequently for National Security Journal. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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