F-5C

F-5C

F-5C

USA

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.3	10.7	10.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Jet fighter

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

Description

The F-5C Skoshi Tiger is a premium gift rank VII American jet fighter with a battle rating of 10.3 (AB) and 10.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Red Skies".

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 10 668 m1 444 km/h

Turn time27 s

Max altitude15 240 m

Engine2 х General Electric J85-GE-13

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight24 t

The F-5C is generally an all-round good fighter. Its not the fastest plane and not the most manoeuvrable.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 10,668 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	___	___	15240	__._	__._	__._	__._	850
Upgraded	1,460	1,443		26.9	27.0	159.1	133.6

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1458	444	926	560	555	~11	~5

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 680	< 750	< 700	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
General Electric J85-GE-13		2	4,051 kg		366 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)				Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		11m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	37m fuel
271 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		4,580 kg	4,992 kg	5,463 kg	5,814 kg	_,___ kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	11m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	37m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	960 kgf	1,426 kgf	0.62	0.57	0.52	0.49	_.__
Optimal	1,200 kgf (1,400 km/h)	2,459 kgf (1,400 km/h)	1.07	0.99	0.90	0.85	_.__

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural1 458 km/h

Gear444 km/h

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 147

RB6 698

SB6 208

Crew training10 000

Experts1 160 000

Aces2 800

Research Aces2 150 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 130 / 340 / 600 %

2 × 232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor New boosters Wings repair Engine	Fuselage repair Airframe G-suit Cover	Flares/Chaff Mk82 BLU-1 t_160_belt_pack M117 LAU-3/A Mk83 LAU-10/A t_160_new_gun Mk84 AGM-12B Bullpup

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F-5C is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm M39A2 cannons, nose-mounted (280 rpg = 560 total)

Suspended armament

The F-5C can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 18 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (4,500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 5 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (2,500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 5 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (3,750 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 3 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs (3,000 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 1 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bomb (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets + 2 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets + 6 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (1,500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets + 3 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (1,500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets + 3 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (2,250 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets + 1 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bomb (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 6 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (1,500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 1 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bomb (750 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 3 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (2,250 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 1 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bomb (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 4 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 2 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles + 3 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (1,500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 2 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles + 3 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (2,250 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 2 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 1 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bomb (750 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 2 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 1 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bomb (500 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles + 2 x AGM-12B Bullpup missiles + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 1 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bomb (1,000 lb total)

Usage in battles

In air RB, the F-5C can be played as both a support and offensive plane. In medium range engagements, it plays well as a support fighter, either baiting enemies to use up missiles with the large amount of flares/chaff or launching missiles at enemies who are chasing friendly aircraft to give a chance to let your teammate get in a better position. In close range engagements, with some effort you can stay on the tail of the enemy, if possible making the enemy pull as many manoeuvres as possible to slow them down so you can get a short burst from the respectable 20 mm cannons mounted in the nose. Due to the plane's characteristics, overshooting an enemy won't be the end of a dogfight, the F-5C is able bleed enough speed in a quick turn to get right back on the enemy if they don't take avantage of the overshoot or if they are going too slow to be able to make any quick counterattack.

In mixed ground battles (RB), the F-5C is able to function as a light strike aircraft, while also being able to maintain air supremacy. The F-5Cs versatile loadout of air to ground ordinance allows the player to choose what range they want to do air support, for example the 4x AGM-12B loadout is great for medium range engagements with the enemy ground units. Its largest downfall as a light strike aircraft is the lack of RWR, so SPAA are easily able to deal with a pilot that does not notice them fast enough.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good top speed
• Light and small
• Has countermeasures
• Guns are effective

Cons:

• Only gets AIM-9Es while the Chinese equivalent gets AIM-9Ps
• No radar

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the F-5C from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• F-5A (China)
• F-5E

External links

• [Devblog] Top Gun Day: Premium F-5C in Red Menace camo for pre-order!
• Official data sheet - more details about the performance