This is an aircraft I haven't been able to find much about, aside from basic info and word-of-mouth. Any help would be greatly appreciated...
Based on what I was able to find, the Tiger IV was made from F-5E BuNo 741568, itself being an adversary from, VFA-127 "Cylons", and was modified with upgraded avionics/cockpit. I've been unable to find any other info on the upgrades to the cockpit and avionics, but I was able to find info on the testbed airframe's service life.
In terms of the airframe itself: Based on what the airframe dossier says, 74-1568 originally served with the 527th TFTAS at RAF Alconbury from 1983, until it was transferred to VFA-127 "Cylons" in 1993. Then by 1999, it was transferred to VFC-13 "Saints" (likely due to VFA-127 being disestablished by then). However, the Tiger IV testbed was in use from the mid-90s until I think '98-'99, meaning #741568 was borrowed from VFA-127. It was then deposited in Corpus Christie, Texas for storage. It's been there since 2008, and I've found nothing more on its whereabouts.
In about 1995 Northrop Grumman leased a US Navy F-5E to test an avionics upgrade kit ("Tiger IV"). It was tested successfully but it was so expensive nobody bought it.
5 July 1995
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has completed the first phase of flight-testing of the F-5E Tiger IV avionics upgrade. The initial 12 flights concentrated on evaluating the air-to-air modes of the Westinghouse APG-66 pulse-Doppler radar, says F-5 demonstration project engineer Tom Cooke.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has completed the first phase of flight-testing of the F-5E Tiger IV avionics upgrade. The initial 12 flights concentrated on evaluating the air-to-air modes of the Westinghouse APG-66 pulse-Doppler radar, says F-5 demonstration project engineer Tom Cooke. The upgraded...
In about 1995 Northrop Grumman leased a US Navy F-5E to test an avionics upgrade kit ("Tiger IV"). It was tested successfully but it was so expensive nobody bought it.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has completed the first phase of flight-testing of the F-5E Tiger IV avionics upgrade. The initial 12 flights concentrated on evaluating the air-to-air modes of the Westinghouse APG-66 pulse-Doppler radar, says F-5 demonstration project engineer Tom Cooke. The upgraded...
Thank you! This was much-needed (I had only heard the APG-66 was the radar used, but wasn't 100% sure, so I wanted another source to prove it I'd guess). Is there any more info on the cockpit changes, or is the photo I provided likely the only one so far?
NORTHROP GRUMMAN BEGINS TEST OF F-5 UPGRADE PACKAGE
MICHAEL A. DORNHElM/LOS ANGELES
Northrop Grumman has started flight testing its upgraded cockpit for the F-5 fighter, which puts modern F-16-style,avionics in the smaller, older design.
The new cockpit is intended to make the F-5 a lead-in trainer for those countries that operate Lockheed F-16s, and to give the F-5 itself front-line fighter and ground attack capabilities (AW&$T Nov. 29, 1993, p. 56).
Northrop Grumman’s upgrade layout splits the instrument panel into a modern upper half and a traditional lower half, which can provide two levels of training. ”Students can progress from the lower panel to the upper one,” M. Roy Martin said. He is the Northrop Grumman Military Aircraft Div. West Coast chief test pilot and developed some of the cockpit concepts.
The split panel allows the aircraft to be flown for training or proficiency even if the modern equipment is inoperative.
A full upgrade package costs roughly $4.5 million, and a modular approach will allow customers to choose their own configuration. There are no solid customers yet, but potential near-term prospects include Brazil, Thailand and Jordan, Terry K. Matter, manager of F—5/T-38 business development, said. Nearly half of the countries operating F-5s also operate F-16s. New features on the F-5E test aircraft include:
A modified version of the F-16’s Westinghouse APG-66 multimode pulse-Doppler radar, called the APG-66M. The radar is the same version as used in the F-16C/D midlife upgrade. The antenna has been trimmed to about half the area and its mounting bulkhead moved back 20 in. to fit in the F-5’s shark-nose radome, but the rest of the components are identical in form to that used on the F—16. The radome base has been extended 20 in. to keep the aircraft aerodynamically unchanged. The F-5’s standard radar is the late-1960s vintage Emerson APG-159, which is analog, non-Doppler, and several generations older. -
The GEC-Marconi wide-angle head—up display (HUD) from the F-16. The standard F-5 has a gunsight, not a HUD. This editor is 6ft. tall, and long in the torso, and was not able to get the seat down for enough to properly see through the HUD while sitting up straight.A pair of Honeywell 5-in.-diagonal monochrome cathode ray tube displays for radar data, navigation, armament and other functions. They are the same CRTs and computers as used on the standard F-16C/D, though some display formats are adapted from Northrop’s canceled F-2O program.
Litton mission computer from the F-16.
Honeywell H-423 ring laser gyro inertial navigation system (INS) used in some F-16 models.
AlliedSignal air data computer.
Esprit Technology armament control panel and Base 10 Systems weapons management unit.
Mason Electric handson throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls modified from the McDonnell Douglas F/A—18.
Fairchild Defense data transfer unit from the F-16 to load preprogrammed mission plans.
Teledyne HUD video camera and Teac video tape recorder.
Martin~Baker Mk.-10LF zero/zero ejection seat from the F/A—I 8, similar to that used by some F-5s.
These manufacturers are part of Northrop’s F-5 upgrade supplier team and have provided equipment and expertise to the program. Since much of the equipment is common with the F-16, there will be fewer new maintenance requirements for air forces that already operate the F-16. But other equipment could be installed upon customer request. ”If a country wants another radar, say to match their MiG upgrade, we can do it, so long as it’s digital, multimode, and Doppler,” Aziz Soltani, F-5/T-38 systems engineering team leader, said. ”But it would cost money to integrate it.”
The F-5’s left M-39 20—mm. nose cannon is removed to make space for the new avionics. A ram-air cooling tube takes the place of the cannon. The aircraft’s existing cooling and pair of 15-kva. alternators are adequate for the digital equipment. In the test aircraft, the left gun bay houses the radar signal generator, the radar signal processor, the multifunction display driver, the mission computer and the video tape recorder. The left nose bay forward of that contains the radar transmitter and the air data computer. The right gun has also been removed on the test aircraft, andits bay contains the HUD electronics, the aircraft battery, the VOR/ILS receiver and the flight test data system. The right nose bay has the indentification friend-or-foe (IFF) electronics and three transformer/rectifiers for the DC electrical system. The avionics bay above the left engine inlet houses the INS, and the right inlet bay contains the TACAN receiver. Elements of the armament electronics are in small bays on the bottom of the fuselage forward of the speed brake. Some of this equipment will be relocated in operational aircraft to make space for the right gun.
The new APG-66M radar has longer range, higher resolution, look-down capability, is digital instead of analog, and has other improvements over the APQ-159. The range is about doubled for fighter-size targets and it can track 10 targets at once, Martin said.
During a ground demonstration at Los Angeles International airport, the radar locked onto airliners up to 40 naut. mi. away, compared to the 20 naut. mi. maximum displayed range of the APO-159. The range against fighters is expected to be 25-30 naut. mi., Martin said. The radar displayed the target’s Mach number, calibrated airspeed, altitude, closing rate, heading and aspect angle. A variety of radar modes are operated by the HOTAS controls.
The radar allows the HUD to have continuously- computed impact point and release point bombing modes, as well as the air-to-air modes, improving the F-5’s attack capability.
”THE BOMBING MODES make the aircraft more lethal, and the greater radar range and information make it more survivable,” Martin said. The standard F-5 instruments that are retained independent of the new equipment keep the F-5’s inherent safety, he said.
The F-5E test aircraft made its first flight on Apr. 20 from LAX to Edwards AFB, Calif., where the 31-flight test program is to be conducted. Northrop Grumman plans to start demonstrating the F-5 upgrade around October, when the annual meeting of worldwide F-5 operators is held at San Antonio. Two pilots from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB will fly the aircraft to ”monitor that Northrop Grumman is doing what they say they are doing," Martin said. There will be no gun firing in the tests, but the new avionics are designed to withstand the gun bay environment.
Northrop is developing upgrades of its F-5 fighter that make the cockpit mimic a Lockheed F-16 and improve
avionics capabilities.
The upgrades are aimed at foreign air forces that operate the F-l o and would turn the F- 5 into a lead-in trainer for the F-16. Alternative configurations include an air defense fighter and an air-to—ground attack aircraft. The F-16s radar, the Westinghouse APG-66, can be installed in the Northrop upgrade.
Other companies have been developing upgrades, and Northrop is a relative latecomer to improving its own aircraft. Northrop’s stillborn F-20 program represented a more radical change, but market studies since then have shown that many countriesare looking at the F-5 as a lead-in trainer for the F-16, Vincent J. Battaglia, Northrop F-5/T-38 program manager, said. "We took a fresh look and decided to make it more like an F-16 than an F-20,” he said.
One competitor, Bristol Aerospace in Canada, made an F-5 upgrade that mimicked the CF-18 cockpit as a lead-in trainer for Canadian CF-I8s.
Northrop has defined four levels of upgrades and made them modular, tied together with a Mil-Std»1553B data bus and Northrop's Operational Flight Program mission software from the F-20. The upgrades apply to all models of the F-5 and give the same cockpit, with a repeater in back for the two-seat models.
NORTHROP WILL DEVELOP the full system with a standard set of equipment, and the modular approach will lower development cost for customers that choose from the standard set, Battaglia said. Though Korea and Taiwan have over 200 F—5s each, most other countries have much smaller fleets that limit development expenditures.
All versions of the upgrade have the Operational Flight Program and some level of Mil-Std-1553 wiring. Components being offered include:
One or two multifunction displays (MFDs). Bendix 5 X 5-in. cathode ray tubes from Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter, the same size as the F- 16s 5 X 5-in. displays, will be available first. A Bendix 4 X 4-in. color liquid crystal display (LCD) will be available at a later date to match similar equipment planned for the F-16. The LCD is 2-in. deep, compared with IO in. for the CRT.
The GEC wideangle head-up display (HUD) from the F-lo. The standard F-5 has a gunsight, not a HUD.
Westinghouse APO-66 radar. The F-5’s forward bulkhead can be moved back 18 in. from fuselage station 92 to 110 to fit an antenna slightly smaller than the standard F-Ié. The radome is lengthened accordingly, maintaining the some external lines. One of the two M—39 20mm. nose cannons is removed to fit radar components.
Honeywell ring laser gyro inertial navigation system (INS).
AIliedSignal mission computer and air data computer.
Mason Electric hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls.
Fairchild data transfer equipment.
Esprit Technology armament control panel and Base Ten Electronics weapons management system.
Teac video tape recorder and Teledyne video camera.
Other changes being considered include a new Martin-Baker Mk. 10—LF ejection seat to replace the current Northrop built seat, which is having spares availability problems; a Litton on-board oxygen generating system, and a new Hamilton Standard environmental control system.
With a full "level four” system, there still is 2.2 cu. ft. of room for growth as well as spare electricity and cooling capacity. Other possible systems include countermeasures, a laser target designator or a forward-looking infrared camera.
A full ”level four” package with two MFDs, a HUD, the APG-66 radar on the cut-back bulkhead, mission computer, INS, new air data computer, HOTAS, digital weapons delivery system, mission data transfer system and new radios would cost about $4.6 million, a Northrop official said.
A simpler "level one” system without the radar would be about $1 .5 - 2 million. The radar itself is about $1 million.
Structural life improvements depend upon the individual aircraft. A major fuselage upgrade with new longerons and horizontal stabilizer costs roughly $1 million, and a new wing is $0.85 - 1million.
A USED F-5E in reasonable shape costs $4—5 million. After performing a major structural inspection and adding a level four upgrade, ”for $8-1O million you would have a fine aircraft with several thousand hours of life left,” Battaglia said. He expects to make the first sale in the second half of I994. Turkey is to decide on its F-5 upgrades next April.
Parts of the upgrade have already been flown. The APG-66 and an INS were installed on a U. S. Navy F-5E aggressor aircraft at Fallon NAS, Nev., and tested in 1991.
”The tests were very successful and demonstrated 29-30-mi. radar range against Navy fighters," Battaglia said.
Upgrades for the T88 trainer are several years behind the F-5. One concept is to add equipment that inexpensively emulates costly devices such as a radar.
"Parts of the upgrade have already been flown. The APG-66 and an INS were installed on a U. S. Navy F-5E aggressor aircraft at Fallon NAS, Nev., and tested in 1991"
Also note the references to "level four" upgrade. I think that's where the "Tiger IV" comes from.
"Parts of the upgrade have already been flown. The APG-66 and an INS were installed on a U. S. Navy F-5E aggressor aircraft at Fallon NAS, Nev., and tested in 1991"
Also note the references to "level four" upgrade. I think that's where the "Tiger IV" comes from.
So with the demonstrator/testbed first flying with the APG-66 in 1991, that would mean it hadn't been with the Cylons yet, and was still an AF-operated aircraft. This is certainly interesting... (assuming it was the same airframe)
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