Although it has been an enemy of the state of Israel, the kingdom of Jordan has generally assumed a pro-Western stance and its military has been assisted largely by the United States and Saudi Arabia. During the 1970s, the Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Malakiya al Urduniya (Royal Jordanian Air Force) was equipped with a number of F-104 Starfighters. However, requests for A-4 Skyhawks and F-16s were turned down. Jordan turned instead to Saudi Arabia for the financing of a batch of Mirage F1CJs. However, in late 1974, the RJAF received 30 A and 6 B models from the Imperial Iranian Air Force when they disposed of their Freedom Fighters in favor of Tiger IIs.
The first of these arrived in late 1974, when 20 F-5As and two F-5Bs were delivered. They went to Mafraq Air Base, replacing the Hawker Hunters of Nos 1 and 6 Squadrons. Ten more F-5As and two more F-5Bs followed in March of 1975, enabling the formation of No 2 Squadron. Along with the F-104 Starfighter, the Freedom Fighter became the primary combat aircraft of the RJAF.
As more modern radar-equipped F-5Es and F-5Fs started to arrive from the USA beginning in 1975, the earlier Freedom Fighters were stored or offered for sale. Thirteen of these RJAF F-5As and six F-5Bs were transferred to Greece in November of 1983. Four more aircraft were offered for sale in 1989. The remaining F-5A/Bs serve with No 6 Squadron based at Mafraq, but its current operational status is uncertain.
The F-5 is no longer in service with the Royal Jordanian Air Force , having been replaced by the F-16 Fighting Falcon
Sources:
-
F-5: Warplane for the World, Robbie Shaw, Motorbooks, 1990
-
Northrop F-5/F-20, Jerry Scutts, Ian Allan Ltd, 1986.
-
Northrop F-5, Jon Lake and Robert Hewson, World Airpower Journal, Vol
25, 1996.
- E-mail from Vahe Demirjian on F-5 no longer being in service with Royal Jordanian AF
