F-20 Tigershark

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F-20 Tigershark
F-20 Tigershark
Description
Role	Fighter
Crew	One
Dimensions
Length	46 ft 6 in
Wingspan	26 ft 8 in
Height	13 ft 10 in
Wing area	186 ft²
Weights
Empty	11,220 lb
Loaded	15,060 lb
Maximum take-off	26,290 lb
Powerplant
Engines	One General Electric F404-GE-100
Thrust	17,000 lb
Performance
Maximum speed	Mach 2.1
Combat radius	345 mi
Ferry range	1,715 mi
Service ceiling	55,000 ft
Rate of climb	50,030 ft/min
Armament
Guns	2 20mm M39 cannon
Missiles	2 AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
Bombs	8,000 lb

F-20 Tigershark was a privately financed fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the USA, starting in 1975. It was a further evolution of Northrop's F-5 Freedom Fighter (in fact it was originally designated F-5G), although ultimately it shared little more than a strong family resemblance to that aircraft. The main change was the replacement of the F-5's two General Electric J85 engines with a single General Electric F404 turbofan, increasing its total thrust by 60%. Like the F-5, however, it was designed as a low-cost, high-performance fighter plane that was easy to maintain. It could reach speeds of Mach 2.1 and had a ferry range of 1,715 miles.

The F-20 made its first flight on August 30, 1982, and a total of three prototypes were created. It was intended for sale to foreign countries and militaries, but the market for the plane never developed, as President Ronald Reagan relaxed the restrictions on selling fighters such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon to other countries. After six years and no major buyers, Northrop cancelled the $1.2 billion project. Air forces that could afford the F-20 bought the F-16, while ones which could buy neither, purchased the cheaper F-5E/F Tiger II or the Russian MiG-21.

The last existing F-20 is on display at the California Science Center. The other two prototypes were lost due to crashes during world sales tours. The crashes were caused by pilot error, and were not linked to any malfunction of the planes.

Quotes

"The F-20 impressed everybody but the people it was supposed to."

External links

• California Science Center - F-20 Tigershark exhibit
• F-20 Tigershark information and chronology

sv:Northrop F-20 Tigershark