F-20 Tigershark

F-20 Tigershark
F-20 Tigershark
Description
Role
Crew
Dimensions
Length
Wingspan
Height
Wing area
Weights
Empty
Loaded
Maximum take-off
Powerplant
Engines
Power
Performance
Maximum speed
Combat range
Ferry range
Service ceiling
Rate of climb
Armament
Guns
Bombs

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 F404 engine, 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 and had a range of 1880 nautical 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.

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.

External links

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

Referenced By