The Northrop F-5 was a family of light supersonic jets introduced in the 1960s, with later variants entering the skies in the early 1970s. There were two main models of the aircraft: the F-5A/B Freedom Fighter, the original version of the plane that first flew on July 30th, 1959, and the updated F-5E/F Tiger II, which first took to the skies on August 11th, 1972.