staff@slashgear.com (Daniel Meagher)
2024-04-13 13:15:47
www.slashgear.com
Development of the F-20 Tigershark began in 1975. Northrop invested its own research funding into designing and building the aircraft, intending to sell it on international markets once released. According to Northrop’s promotional ads of the time, now conserved in the California Science Center, it was, “1 ½-times as reliable as its closest competitor… requires less support equipment and only half the maintenance personnel.” Indeed, its major selling point was the low cost of assembly and maintenance, but its other specs are just as attractive.
With a 28-foot wingspan, the F-20 Tigershark was narrow enough to fall into the “light aircraft” category. This light aerodynamic build helped it reach a maximum climbing speed of 53,000 ft/min, and it needed only 1,475 feet of tarmac to take off. Once in the sky, this supersonic jet could hit Mach 2. Had its production not been scrapped, it may have made it onto the list of the most impressive supersonic bombers of all time.
The greatest advancement of the F-20 Tigershark was its GE F404 engine. This beast of an engine used the latest afterburning engineering to generate 40-60% more thrust compared to the Tigershark’s predecessor, the F-5E Tiger II. And that’s considering the combined thrust of both the Tiger II’s twin engines, while the Tigershark used just the one. Needless to say, this thing was fast.