Northrop F-5 NF-5A

In the mid-1960s the Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht, RNLAF) recognised that its Republic F-84F fighter-bombers and Lockheed T-33 trainers needed replacing. An order for 105 aircraft was signed in early 1967: 75 single-seaters to replace the F-84 and 30 two-seaters to replace the T-33. There was a plan to use some of the single-seaters for photo-reconnaissance in place of the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, but it never materialised.

European production of the F-5 had originally been planned with Fokker and SABCA, for the Dutch and Belgian air forces, but Belgian hesitancy led the Netherlands government to order the aircraft under a production sharing agreement with Canada. The contract went to Canadair, which was already licence-building the single-seat CF-5A and two-seat CF-5D for the Canadian Forces; the versions modified for the RNLAF were designated NF-5A and NF-5B. In Canadair's numbering they formed the CL-226 series. As part of the agreement between the two governments, Fokker built the centre fuselages in the Netherlands for all but the first 31 aircraft.

The NF-5A differed from the Canadian CF-5A mainly in having manoeuvring flaps, a radar altimeter and a roller map display for low-level navigation. The Dutch-language Wikipedia adds that the Dutch aircraft had somewhat more power than the Canadian ones. Over the years they were fitted with chaff and flare dispensers and a radar warning system.

The first NF-5 was rolled out on 5 March 1969. The RNLAF received its first aircraft, the two-seat NF-5B K-4001, on 7 October 1969; the single-seaters carried the registrations K-3001 to K-3075. The last NF-5 delivered was in fact a single-seater, NF-5A K-3075, handed over on 20 March 1972. In total the RNLAF received 75 NF-5As and 30 NF-5Bs.

The first NF-5s were assigned to 313 Squadron at Twenthe air base, which acted as the conversion unit training pilots on the new type. The aircraft equipped four squadrons: 313 and 315 at Twenthe, 314 at Eindhoven and 316 at Gilze-Rijen. 314 Squadron began converting from the F-84F in June 1970 and was fully equipped by November that year. In 1988 314 Squadron moved to Gilze-Rijen and 316 Squadron to Eindhoven. There was also an NF-5 test group at Twenthe and a maintenance training unit, the Field Technic Training Unit NF-5, active at Twenthe from 1971 to 1984.

On 1 October 1980 an NF-5A crashed into a residential area of Venlo: the pilot had left his planned route to greet his parents and, while manoeuvring over the family home, struck a house on the Stalbergweg. He was killed; the occupant of the house, which burned out completely, narrowly escaped.

From 1986 the squadrons began converting to the licence-built General Dynamics F-16: 315 Squadron in 1986, 314 in 1990 and 316 in 1991. The last NF-5 was stood down in March 1991.

The well-maintained NF-5s were stored at Gilze-Rijen and Woensdrecht. From there sixty aircraft of the NF-5 family went to Turkey, eleven to Greece and seven to Venezuela; others were kept for spares support or ended up in museums and technical schools.

Greece received ten NF-5As donated by the Netherlands in 1991, together with NF-5B two-seaters, for 349 "Kronos" Squadron. One source dates their withdrawal to 2001, others to 2002. NF-5A 3061 is preserved on display at Kariotisa, near Edessa, commemorating an F-4 pilot from the village who was killed in a flying accident.

In 1991 Venezuela acquired a single NF-5A together with four NF-5Bs to replace aircraft lost in previous years; the Venezuelan F-5s served with Grupo de Caza 12.

Turkey, which bought more than 200 F-5A/Bs and NF-5A/Bs from various countries, used many of its NF-5s with the Turkish Stars aerobatic team. The F-5/2000 modernisation programme, run by Israel Aerospace Industries and Turkish Aerospace, turned the NF-5A/B and F-5A/B into lead-in trainers for the F-16C/D: a structural upgrade plus new avionics with a datalink, head-up display, multifunction displays, HOTAS controls, a radar warning receiver, GPS+INS and an ASELSAN communications and navigation system. As of 2021, 19 NF-5A/B 2000 aircraft were still in service as trainers and with the 133rd Aerobatic Squadron Turkish Stars.

In the Netherlands, NF-5A K-3003 is on display at Gilze-Rijen air base, K-3020 at the Nationaal Militair Museum on the former Soesterberg air base and K-3068 at Eindhoven air base.