Northrop F-5 variant
Northrop F-5 SF-5A
Single-seat F-5A version built under licence by CASA in Spain for the Spanish Air Force. It formed part of the 70-aircraft contract signed after the type was chosen on 11 January 1965, 62 of them assembled at the Getafe factory. Its Spanish designation was C.9, later A.9.
History
The Spanish choice
On 11 January 1965 Spain announced its choice of the F-5 to replace its T-33 and F-86 Sabre aircraft. The evaluation phase claimed a serious accident: an F-5B crashed near Torrejón Air Base, killing both occupants, a Northrop pilot and a pilot of the Ejército del Aire.
The contract covered 70 units. Eight were manufactured by Northrop, two arrived disassembled for assembly in Spain and six more as components and structures ready for construction; the remaining 62 were built under licence by CASA at the Getafe factory. The first aircraft of the Spanish-built batch took off from Getafe Air Base on 22 May 1968, flown by a Northrop test pilot. The first delivery to the Ejército del Aire came on 19 June 1969 and consisted of two F-5Bs for Escuadrón 202 at Morón de la Frontera; the single-seat F-5A and RF-5A aircraft were delivered later. The last of the 70 airframes was received on 11 April 1972.
The Sahara
As tension with Morocco grew during the later phase of the Francoist government, the Spanish CASA/Northrop F-5As saw action in the conflict in the Spanish Sahara, deployed at Gando Air Base and flying upwards of 500 combat missions. The deployment became permanent from 1974 and was formalised in 1976: two F-5Bs and all F-5As with even registrations were assigned to Ala 46, in Escuadrón 464 at Gando, until their replacement in 1982 by the newly acquired Dassault-Breguet F1EE. The F-5s then returned to Morón de la Frontera.
Fatigue, reorganisation and longevity
In 1989 an F-5B crashed due to structural failure of a wing. The entire fleet was grounded while crews searched for signs of material fatigue and, as a direct result, many F-5s were retired. The surviving single-seaters, F-5A and RF-5A, were transferred in 1995 to Ala 23 at Talavera la Real together with some retired airframes used for spare parts. The two-seaters were sent to the CASA Getafe factory for maintenance and renovation.
A new modernisation programme began in 2008 to extend operational life until 2025 and to add glass cockpits and zero-zero ejection seats. By the early 2020s Spain kept a fleet of about 20 F-5s planned to operate until at least 2028, with no replacement yet found; it is estimated that with proper maintenance these aircraft have several years of service left. CASA also built the SRF-5A reconnaissance version and the SF-5B two-seater under licence.