In 1961 João Goulart became president of Brazil, instituting a program of broad reforms against elite privilege and what was perceived as United States economic imperialism. However, Goulart's regime soon began to be perceived as taking on a distinct Marxist flavor, and fears of imminent nationalization of important industries and the threatened expropriation of foreign-owned public utilities aroused significant opposition among the propertied classes. In addition, his cuts of military funding and his interference in matters of military discipline had aroused the opposition of many military officers. Finally and perhaps most important, Goulart's support of Fidel Castro in Cuba had irritated Washington, and the United States eagerly wanted a change of government in Brazil.
Alarmed that Brazil might become a hostile, unaligned power like Egypt or Indonesia, the United States reduced foreign aid to Brazil. Encouraged by the United States government, in late March and early April of 1964 the military seized control of the government of Brazil and Goulart fled to Uruguay. The army chief of staff, Marshal Humberto Castelo Branco became president. The military was to hold power from 1964 until March of 1985.
Since the programs of the Goulart government had left the Brazilian military in an impoverished state with a lot of obsolete, worn-out equipment, the new government went shopping for new arms. Very early on, the Brazilian government had shown an interest in acquiring the F-5 for the Fôrça Aérea Brasileira (FAB), although arms embargoes had always prevented any deal from being struck. In 1967, the US relented and reluctantly sanctioned a sale of F-5s to Brazil once it became clear that Brazil was going to order the Mirage IIIB instead. However, the deal ultimately fell through and nothing was delivered.
In October of 1974, Brazil once again attempted to arrange the purchase of F-5s. This time the deal went through, and the order was for 36 F-5Es and six F-5Bs. It turned out that Brazil was the first customer for the F-5E. For some reason, the two-seaters acquired by Brazil were the B version rather than the F version.
The FAB's 36 F-5Es were used to equip 1 and 2 Esquadrao of the 1o Grupo de Aviacao de Caca (1st Fighter Group) based at Santa Cruz. The FAB F-5Es have an additional dorsal fin fillet to provide improved directional stability and carry a prominent VHF blade antenna just aft of the cockpit. The FAB Tigers do not carry a local designation, and wear their model designations on the fin.
In 1985, civilian rule returned to Brazil after more than two decades of military rule. During the late 1980s, Brazil considered several options for increasing its combat aircraft fleet. Former Belgian/Dutch F-104 Starfighters, Mirage IIIs, Chinese Chengdu F-7s, and ex-Chilean air force F-5Es were all considered. Brazil finally opted for 17 refurbished F-5Es and three F-5Fs that had originally been operated by the 405th TFTS at Williams AFB and the 57th TTW at Nellis AFB. The program was known as Peace Amazon II. The first of these arrived in October 1989. These ex-USAF F-5Es are dedicated air defense aircraft, and entered service with the 14o Grupo de Aviacao de Defensa (1o Escuadrao) at Canaos AB.
Brazil's F-5 fleet has been upgraded throughout its service life. Most of the original batch of FAB Tiger IIs now have bolt-on midair refuelling probes which enable them to be refuelled by Boeing KC-135 and Lockheed KC-130 tankers. The US supplied unspecified upgrade kits during the 1980s.
In 1996, the FAB will award a contract for the upgrading of 51 F-5E/Fs. A new avionics fit will be provided, plus a new multi-mode radar. Contenders are likely to be the FIAR Grifo or Tecnasa SMA SCP-01 radar and an OMI/Alenia HUD with a HUD/WAC and MIL-STD 1553B databus. A teaming of Northrop and EMBRAER would seem to the the most likely contenders to win the contract.
In 2001, Elbit Systems and Embraer started work on a $230 million Brazilian F-5 modernization program, performed over an eight-year period, upgrading 46 F-5E/F aircraft, re-designated as F-5EM and F-5FM. The modernization centered on several areas: new electronic warfare systems, the Grifo F radar, an air-to-air refueling system, a GPS-based navigation, support for new weapons, targeting and self-defense systems, Hands-on throttle and stick, HOTAS, LCD displays,helmet-mounted displays (HMDs), Radar Warning Receiver, encrypted communications, cockpit compatibility for night vision goggles, On-Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS) and various new onboard computer upgrades. One important capability is the secure communication with R-99 airborne early warning platforms and ground stations Externally, the new aircraft features a larger nose cone that accommodates the larger radar equipment. The first F-5EM was handed over on Sep 21, 2005. On 7 July 2003, four Rafael Litening III targeting pods were ordered to be used on F-5M together with three Rafael Sky Shield jamming pods ordered in 5 July 2006,
In 2009, FAB bought eight single-seat and three twin-seat F-5F used aircraft from Jordan in a US$21 million deal. These aircraft were built between 1975 and 1980. On 14 April 2011, a contract of $153 million was signed with Embraer and Elbit to modernize the additional F-5s bought from Jordan, and to supply one more flight simulator as a continuation of the contract signed in 2000. These F-5s will receive the same configuration as those from the initial 46 F-5s currently completing the upgrade process. The first delivery of this second batch of upgraded jet fighters was scheduled for 2013 with expected use to 2030. Ethiopia. There are plans for the FAB to withdraw their F-5s from service gradually between 2017 and 2030.
Sources:
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Northrop F-5/F-20, Jerry Scutts, Ian Allan Ltd, 1986.
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F-5: Warplane for the World, Robbie Shaw, Motorbooks, 1990
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Northrop F-5, Jon Lake and Robert Hewson, World Airpower Journal, No.
25, 1996.
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E-mail from Steve Haskin on transfers of F-5s to FAB under Peace Amazon II.
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Library of Congress Country Study--Brazil.
- Northrop F-5, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5#Operational_history
