View Single Post
  #18  
Old 06-12-2019, 10:22 AM
RN7 RN7 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,284
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic View Post
The information you have is incorrect, it's first flight was in 1982 and while the F-20 project was officially cancelled in 1986, it was still considered a possibility for foreign sales into the late 80s.
There is a New York Times article dated 9th May, 1989 commenting on reprimands at Northrop for attempting to sell the F-20 to South Korea.
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/09/b...-northrop.html

Edit: Meant to say as well that the Iranian Army did operate the AH-1J in a modified form (officially it was the AH-1J International). In 1971 the Iranians purchased 202 of them to be operated by Imperial Iranian Army Aviation (and then later by the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation). While the Iranian Army did not operate the AH-1T, the -1J is of the same "Super Cobra" family. So technically they did not operate the Cobra, they operated the Super Cobra but that's really just semantics.

You are right I made another typo like I did with the Mi-27 (Mi-17!!). Sorry I was typing in a hurry

However only 3 F-20 Tigershark were ever made. Once Ronald Reagan got elected as US President in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and relaxed arms exports to Western Allies the F-20 was never really going to fly. There was interest in the F-20 from other countries but that interest faded once other US combat aircraft were available for export. The US was building the F-15, F-16, F-18 at the time and was willing to export them.

The F-20 was competitive against an F-16 powered with a PW F100 jet engine (the export model), but it lacked the range and weapons load of this version of the F-16. Against an F-16 powered by a GE F110 jet engine (the USAF model) the F-20 lost all of its aerodynamic competiveness.

Northrop was also the prime contractor for the B-2 Stealth Bomber which was being developed in the 1980's and didn't push the DOD to much about its lack of interest in the F-20.

The Iranians used the single-engine AH-1 prior to the Iranian Revolution, but not the twin-engine AH-1T as listed in RDF Sourcebook.
Reply With Quote