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                  FUERZA AEREA MEXICANA - MEXICAN AIR FORCE
        Roundel                      Fin flash    Credit:  Roundels of the world

BASES                                                                                           PROCUREMENT

   Initial interest in the Northrop fighter was shown
  1974 when a requirement for 3 Air Defence
  Squadrons was establised; these were to be
  equipped with 30 Northrop F-5E, 6 Northrop F-5F.
  The acquisition of supersonic fighters was not
  approved by the US Congress and, following this,
  the Mexican government contacted Israel for a
  possible acquisition of at least 24 IAI Kfir C-2 and
  France of GAMD Mirage F-1.
  The USA opposed to the sale of Kfirs as it is powe-
  red by an American engine, the General Electric
  J-79, placing a veto to the transfer.
  New negotiations in 1978 regarded the acquisition
  of 26 Northrop F-5E to equip one Group, but was
  suspended; it followed in 1981 a firm request for
  10 Northrop F-5E and 2 Northrop F-5F, to be bought
  under Foreign Military Sale (programm Peace Aztec).

The contract was signed in 1981 at a cost of USD 110m, including pilots and maintenance crew instruction, air-to-air missiles AIM-9B Sidewinder, rocket launchers LAU-3 and bombs Mk.82 and Mk.83, less than 20 Sidewinder AIM-9P were bought in1995.

Conversion training of two instructors and six pilots took place at Williams AFB (USA) with the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron. A new indipendent unit, the Escuadron de Défensa Aerea 401 (Air Defence Squadron) was formed at BAM N°1 Santa Lucia in 1982, the Tigers arriving there between 10-08-82 and 01-11-82 (see serial pages for details). The runway of the Air Base had been lengthened and facilities renovated to accomodate the new aircrafts. 

Five Northrop F-5Es and two Northrop F-5F had been delivered by September 16th 1982, when they participated to the yearly Independence Day air-parade over Mexico City.

The first F-5E loss was on 25-11-83, serial 4002, during an exercise with the Army, near Chihuahua. The second (and last) was during an eventful air-parade on Independence Day, 16-09-95; 3 Lockheed T-33As and Northrop F-5E serial 4003 collided and crashed in the suburbs of Mexico City.
       


The Squadron came after 1993 under the commad of the 7° Grupo Aéreo Jet de Pelea (GAJP) together with the 202 Escuadron equipped with Lockheed T-33A; in 1995 the 1a Ala de Combate was formed under the 7° GAJP. Unit designation changed with the Air Force reorganization to Escuadron Aéreo 401 in 1999, still assigned to the 1er Grupo Aéreo. Basing remained throughout the years at BAM N°1 Santa Lucia.

Patch 401 Escuadron                                                                          Badge 1er Grupo Aereo

On 23-08-02 the 20th annyversary of the Escuadron Aéreo 401 was celebrated with the painting of one single- and one double-seaters in special colours.

 Photo: unknown
The second Northrop F-5E, old serial 4002, rocket armed ready for an exercise, January 1995.

           
            Sidewinder armed Northrop F-5F 4502, January 1995                                               Photo: unknown

Operational use
Increasing traffic of drug carrying aircrafts over Mexico led to the assignement in May 1995 of 6 Northrop F-5E and 4 Lockheed T-33A to the interception of fast moving planes, though their success was limited as the aircrafts were not equipped with long distance radar or night vision equipment for night interceptions, when most illegal flights took place.

The Tigers have participated to several military exercises and have been detached to various bases in the country, the most frequent ones being BAM 2 Ixtepec, from where it operates interceptions of drug smuggler aircrafts coming from Central America, and BAM 8 Merida; BAM 11 Santa Gertrudis is used for exercises with the Army at the local shooting range.

Four F-5E were detached in 1994 to Ixtepec AB during the operations against Zapatista insurgents, though they were not actively used.

On 18-06-03 the Mexican presidency informed that the remaining nine F-5s had been overhauled by March 2002 at the BAM No.5 Zapopan and BAM No.1 Santa Lucia. Only two aircrafts are known to have been lost; what has happened to the tenth aircraft?

Another operation was the basing of 2 Northrop F-5E and 1 Northorp F-5F (AIM-9P Sidewinder armed), together with an AEW Embraer 145, at Cancun to protect the visit of US president Bush during the local March 31st, 2006 meeting.

       
        Northrop F-5E 4506 landing at BAM No. 5 Zapopan on 06-02-08      Photo: Victor Garciamontes

Ugrades - replacement
Upgrades have been proposed without success, like the one on the basis of the Northrop Tiger IV in the mid-90s. Known upgrades took place starting from 1995 with the installation of a GPS while a contract was signed in 2005 with Derco Company to install a longer range radar, the AN/APQ-159 V-5.

On 18-06-03 the Mexican presidency informed that the remaining nine F-5s had been overhauled by March 2002 at the BAM No.5 Zapopan and BAM No.1 Santa Lucia. Only two aircrafts are known to have been lost; what has happened to the tenth aircraft?

Press rumours of the acquisition of former Saudi (25) or Swiss Tigers were officially denied on 02-11-03, claiming that capacity of reaction was based on 7 F-5s and 10 T-33As.
A replacement in form of ex US Navy F-18s or USAF F-16s was also rumoured in 2003, without follow-up. At present no definitive plans are known to replace this faithful fighter.



 In the meantime the
 25th anniversary of
 Tiger operation was
 celebrated on 31-08-
 2007 at BAM Santa
 Lucia with special tail
 paintings on F-5E 4509
 and F-5F serial 4501.












 
 The tail of F-5E 4509.
 Photo: unknown

For some additional details regarding Mexican Tiger please see aztec.com (in Spanish).