Delivery of the first 22 Swiss F-5 Tigers purchased by the U.S. has began

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) purchased 22 decommissioned F-5 Tiger II fighters from Switzerland, the first of which was delivered on Monday, March 18.

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The Swiss Federal Armament Office (Armasuisse) sold the decommissioned F-5 Tiger fighters to the U.S. military in 2020. The first of these fighters was transported aboard a U.S. Marine Corps Lockheed KC-130J from Emmen Air Base.

The scope of the sale consists of 16 F-5Es (single-seat), 6 F-5Fs (two-seat), ground and spare parts, storage of the aircraft in Switzerland and preparation work for transport to the USA by the Swiss company RUAG. The amount of the sale is approximately US$ 32.4 million.

A large part of the Swiss F-5 fleet has already been sold

Most of the F-5 Tigers acquired in the 1970s and 1980s had already been sold previously. A few years ago, the US Navy acquired 44 F-5 Tigers from Switzerland, which were used as aggressors for training purposes in «red-air» missions.

Tigers still roar in the Alps

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The Swiss Armed Forces still have 25 F-5 Tiger fighters in their inventory, 18 of which are currently in service. They serve as eventual reliefs to the F/A-18 Hornet fleet and are used for target designation, training, target towing and test flights. About half of the F-5 Tigers are used by the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team for flight demonstrations.

Adversarial training on the rise

Fighter Training Squadron 401 (VMFT-401) is the adversary training squadron (red air) of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, which flies a dozen F-5N Tiger II fighters.

Known as the Snipers, it is the only adversary squadron in the Marine Corps, tasked with acting as the «enemy force» in simulated air combat, primarily for training F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet pilots. It is based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, where it flies alongside US Navy F-5 aggressors.

The F-5s acquired from Switzerland will serve to bolster the USMC’s adversary training capabilities, with the creation of a second aggressor squadron (the VMFT-402) at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina.