Despite ordering 25 F-16 Vipers and upgrading 23 F-16C/D Block 52+ which will be upgraded to the Viper standard, apparently the Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) has not had enough. The country in North Africa is still attracted to compete with Brazil, which is polishing its fleet of old F-5E/F Tiger II fighter jets to be the most sophisticated.
As is known, the title of the most advanced upgraded variant of the F-5 is currently held by the Brazilian Air Force with the F-5M.
Quoted from airrecognition.com (13/5/2022), the Moroccan Air Force is said to be in talks with Elbit Systems from Israel, where the Moroccan Air Force plans to install Delilah long-range air-to-surface missiles (cruise missiles) for the F-5 Tiger.
Not only that, the F-5, which is Morocco's second-tier fighter, will get a series of capability upgrades from Elbit, including advanced sensor systems and jamming systems, new data links and settings for air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons.
Morocco is already a senior in the use of the F-5, the desert country has been familiar with operating the F-5 since the 1970s. Morocco used 28 F-5A/B and 2 RF-5A reconnaissance variants in the Western Sahara War. Later in the 1980s, Morocco received 16 F-5Es and four F-5Fs, which were used to fight against the Polisario Front.
The threat that Morocco faces in the conflict is quite severe, namely that several SA-6 missile systems, and nine F-5 units have fallen during the conflict. In 1990, Morocco received another 12 F-5Es from the United States.
Upgrades to the F-5s are actually a necessity for Morocco, learning from the case of the loss of nine F-5As during combat operations against the Polisario, the main problem facing the Moroccan F-5 fleet in Western Sahara is their inadequate range over a wide battlefield. in the Sahara desert.
To counter this, in 1982, a Boeing 707-138B equipped with a wingtip beech hose unit was used for refueling. Two KC-130H tankers were also delivered, and all F-5Es modified with air refueling (air refueling) probes.
The upgrade was carried out on the F-5A/B fleet paired with standard “Tiger II” avionics, namely 8 F-5A and 2 F-5B. A contract was concluded with the French company SOGERMA in Bordeaux; which all aircraft were readmitted in 1998.
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| F-5E/F Tiger III |
Continuing from 2001 to 2004, it was the turn of the F-5E/F fleet to receive full repairs and upgrades from SOGERMA. The upgrade increases the Tiger II's ability to level "Tiger III".
The package on the Moroccan F-5E/F Tiger III includes an improved FIAR Grifo F/X Plus radar installation (similar to the AN/APG-69 radar), Elettronica ELT/555 active Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) pods, HOTAS (Throttle And Stick) Hands-On), EWPS/-100 (DM/A-106) RWR, New Cockpit Layout with head-up display, Weapons Delivery and Navigation System MFD/WDNS and Multifunction displays.
The F-5E/F Tiger III also gains the ability to deploy new weapon systems such as Beyond Visual Range missiles and laser-guided bombs. The Moroccan Air Force has also reportedly acquired the Litening AN/AAQ-28(V) targeting pod for the F-5 Tiger III. A total of 24 F-5Es have been upgraded to the standard F-5 Tiger III.
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