F-5E FCU (Japan)
| This page is about the fighter aircraft F-5E FCU (Japan). For other versions, see F-5 (Family). |
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Contents
Description
South Vietnam received over 150 F-5 fighters, some of which were F-5Es. After the fall of Saigon, many of these F-5s were evacuated to Thailand, however some still fell into Soviet and Vietnamese hands. These evacuated F-5s began a new life in Thailand, who operated about 70 of them in their own air force. All of these F-5s except the F-5Es were retired not long after. The F-5Es however were upgraded multiple times throughout their life and continue to see service with the Royal Thai Air Force to this day, and are not expected to retire until at least 2025-2030.
Introduced in Update "Alpha Strike", the ▄F-5E FCU is a squadron aircraft in the Japanese tech tree. It plays with all the major advantages of the other F-5Es in-game, being incredibly light and highly manoeuvrable resulting in some of the best energy retention on any jet aircraft at its battle rating range. The Thai F-5E however also solves one of the few downsides of the other F-5Es, the sub-par missiles. The F-5E FCU gets access to four all-aspect missiles instead of the usual two rear-aspect only missiles found on other F-5s in-game. In addition to this, it receives the usual great complement of ground ordnance that F-5s get, providing an incredible CAS option for Japan players in mixed battles. All in all, the F-5E FCU is a great all-rounder for almost every role it can find itself in for its battle rating, and is generally a forgiving vehicle to play and easy to learn even for less experienced pilots.
General info
Flight performance
Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.
| Characteristics | Max speed (km/h at 11,582 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 1,754 | 1,742 | 15240 | 26.2 | 27.3 | 130.4 | 116.4 | 850 |
| Upgraded | 1,832 | 1,778 | 24.9 | 26.0 | 171.6 | 150.0 | ||
Details
| Features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear | Drogue chute |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 1,458 | 482 | ___ | ___ | ___ | ~11 | ~5 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < ___ | < ___ | < ___ | - |
Engine performance
| Engine | Aircraft mass | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine name | Number | Basic mass | Wing loading (full fuel) | ||||
| General Electric J85-GE-21A | 2 | 4,945 kg | 402 kg/m2 | ||||
| Engine characteristics | Mass with fuel (no weapons load) | Max Gross Weight | |||||
| Weight (each) | Type | 11m fuel | 20m fuel | 30m fuel | 38m fuel | ||
| 303 kg | Afterburning axial-flow turbojet | 5,543 kg | 5,981 kg | 6,499 kg | 6,940 kg | 9,742 kg | |
| Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB) | Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP) | ||||||
| Condition | 100% | WEP | 11m fuel | 20m fuel | 30m fuel | 38m fuel | MGW |
| Stationary | 1,480 kgf | 2,220 kgf | 0.80 | 0.74 | 0.68 | 0.64 | 0.46 |
| Optimal | 1,575 kgf (1,458 km/h) |
3,011 kgf (1,458 km/h) |
1.09 | 1.01 | 0.93 | 0.87 | 0.62 |
Survivability and armour
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
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
| Ballistic Computer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCIP (Guns) | CCIP (Rockets) | CCIP (Bombs) | CCRP (Bombs) | EEGS |
 |
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Offensive armament
The F-5E FCU (Japan) is armed with:
- 2 x 20 mm M39A3 cannons, nose-mounted (280 rpg = 560 total)
- 10 x large calibre countermeasures
- 30 x countermeasures
Suspended armament
The F-5E FCU (Japan) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | .png) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 mm GAU-13/A cannons (353 rpg) | 1 | |||||||
| 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bombs | 1 | |||||||
| BLU-1 incendiary bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | ||||
| Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets | 4 | 4 | ||||||
| AGM-65B missiles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| AIM-9P4 Sidewinder missiles | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Python 3 missiles | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 150 gal drop tanks | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Default weapon presets | |
|---|---|
| |
Usage in battles
Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- A small target with good manoeuvrability makes it a difficult target to hit
- Flaps do not break with speed. Even if the pilot puts them on landing position, they automatically adjust to different speeds.
- Uses Python 3 IR missiles
- Can attack ground targets from a distance with the AGM-65B
- All IR missiles can be slaved by the radar
- Modern HUD with sight customization, good for simulator battles
- Although the radar is not very good, the aircraft has a ballistic computer for radar-locked aerial targets (EEGS)
Cons:
- AGM-65B does not have a thermal camera, which makes it weather dependent
- Despite having 4 hardpoints for missiles, it cannot carry 4 Pythons 3
- Radar only has standard pulse mode
- No IFF for Active Radar
- No radar missiles
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).
Devblog
The Royal Thai Air Force received the first F-5 series aircraft in the late 1960s during the Vietnam War, where the resulting aircraft were equipped purely as attack aircraft. The country began receiving more advanced F-5Es in the late 70s. In 1988, the modernization of part of the F-5E fleet began. They received a HUD, a new sight with a ballistic computer, countermeasures, an RWR and the ability to install Python 3 missiles. Even though the Royal Thai Air Force have begun using F-16 fighters, the F-5 series of aircraft remain in service to this day.
Media
- Skins
See also
- Related development
External links
| Northrop Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | P-61A-11 · P-61C-1 |
| Jet fighters | F-89B · F-89D |
| F-5A · F-5C · F-5E | |
| F-20A | |
| Export | ␗F-5A · ▄F-5E FCU |
| Japan jet aircraft | |
|---|---|
| IJNAS | |
| Experimental | Kikka |
| Reconnaissance | R2Y2 Kai V1 · R2Y2 Kai V2 · R2Y2 Kai V3 |
| IJAAS | |
| Fighters | Ki-200 |
| JASDF | |
| Fighters | F-86F-30 ▅ · F-86F-40 ▅ · F-86F-40 JASDF▅ |
| F-104J | |
| F-4EJ Phantom II · F-4EJ ADTW · F-4EJ Kai Phantom II | |
| F-15J · F-15J(M) | |
| F-16AJ | |
| F-1 | |
| Trainers | T-2 Early · T-2 |
| Foreign | |
| Thailand | ▄AV-8S · ▄F-5E FCU |
| Squadron aircraft | |
|---|---|
| USA | A-4E Early · F-117 |
| Germany | Me 262 A-1a/U1 · ◌Hunter F.58 |
| USSR | Su-22M3 |
| Britain | Firecrest · Sea Harrier FRS.1 |
| Japan | ▄F-5E FCU |
| China | JF-17 |
