The U.S. Navy is moving toward replacing its remaining F-5E/F Tiger II aggressor aircraft with surplus F/A-18E/F Super Hornet platforms, according to newly released language in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The provision requires the Department of the Navy to report on efforts to transfer Super Hornets to Navy Reserve units in order to assume the adversary training mission currently performed by F-5s.
The move represents the clearest legislative signal yet that the Navy intends to phase out its upgraded but aging F-5 fleet in favor of a more capable fourth-generation platform. It also underscores a broader Department of Defense trend toward increasing realism in “red air” adversary training, particularly as U.S. forces prepare for potential high-end conflict scenarios in the Indo-Pacific.
The NDAA language directs the Secretary of the Navy to deliver a report to congressional defense committees by March 2027 detailing the status of transferring F/A-18E/F aircraft to replace F-5s in adversary squadrons. The report must also evaluate risks to fleet readiness, mission execution, and aircrew and maintainer proficiency during the transition period.
Lawmakers are also requesting a detailed timeline for the shift, including procurement of support equipment, spare parts provisioning, pilot training pipelines, and maintenance infrastructure adjustments.
While the provision stops short of mandating immediate divestment of F-5s, it effectively formalizes what had previously been an informal and partially observable trend: the gradual replacement of legacy adversary aircraft with more capable tactical jets drawn from operational fleets.
For decades, the Navy’s Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) units have relied heavily on the F-5 as a cost-effective adversary platform. These squadrons provide “dissimilar air combat training” (DACT), simulating enemy aircraft to train fleet pilots in realistic combat engagements.
Today, the Navy maintains four VFC squadrons performing this role. One of them, VFC-12 “Fighting Omars,” has already transitioned to the F/A-18E/F at Naval Air Station Oceana. VFC-13 “Saints,” based at NAS Fallon, Nevada, operates surplus F-16C/D aircraft acquired from Air Force stocks, having previously flown F-5s.
The remaining F-5 operators include VFC-111 “Sundowners” at NAS Key West, Florida, and VFC-204 “River Rattlers” at NAS Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, Louisiana. VFC-204 is a relatively recent F-5 convert, having transitioned from legacy Hornets.
If the proposed plan proceeds, these two squadrons would likely represent the final phase of Navy F-5 operations, ending a lineage that stretches back to the earliest days of the Navy’s Topgun adversary program.
In recent years, the Navy has invested in extending the F-5’s service life through the Avionics Reconfiguration and Tactical/Modernization for Inventory Standardization (ARTEMIS) program. The effort, led by Tactical Air Support, Inc. (TacAir), modernized cockpit systems and mission capability to improve training realism.
The ARTEMIS upgrade includes modern safety and avionics systems such as Mk 16 ejection seats, Digital Air Data Computers, ADS-B transponders, and updated cockpit displays. More advanced elements derived from TacAir’s F-5 Advanced Tiger (F-5AT) configuration include a Nemesis radar, open-architecture mission computer, updated radar warning receiver suite, datalink integration, and helmet-mounted display compatibility.
The modernization effort also incorporates threat-replication software designed to emulate modern weapons engagement zones and sensor behaviors, giving pilots more realistic exposure to modern aerial threats despite flying a Cold War-era airframe.
The Navy’s F-5 inventory includes approximately 30 active airframes, supplemented by ex-Swiss Air Force aircraft converted into F-5N+/F-5F+ variants. These jets are divided between Navy and Marine Corps adversary units.
Despite these improvements, defense analysts note that the F-5 remains fundamentally constrained by its design limitations, particularly in radar performance, thrust, and sensor integration compared with modern fourth- and fifth-generation fighters.
The F-5E/F Tiger II is a lightweight, twin-engine fighter originally designed during the Cold War for high-agility dogfighting and export affordability. While its small size and maneuverability make it useful for simulating certain threat profiles, it cannot fully replicate the radar, sensor fusion, and kinematic performance of modern fourth-generation fighters.
In particular, the aircraft struggles to represent high-end platforms such as Chinese J-16 or Russian Su-35 derivatives in beyond-visual-range engagements. Its limited radar and electronic warfare systems also reduce its effectiveness in simulating modern networked air combat environments.
However, the F-5 has remained valuable for generating “mass” in training exercises. Its low operating cost allows the Navy to field multiple adversary aircraft simultaneously, enabling fleet pilots to train against numerically dense threat formations—an increasingly important factor in Pacific theater scenarios.
The Navy’s apparent shift toward the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as an adversary platform reflects a broader demand for higher-fidelity training environments.
With its AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, advanced electronic warfare systems, and sensor suite, the Super Hornet is capable of closely replicating the performance of modern fourth-generation adversary aircraft. When configured appropriately, it can simulate threats such as the J-16-class “Flanker” derivatives with considerable realism.
The aircraft’s aerodynamic performance also contributes to its suitability in the adversary role. In a clean or lightly loaded configuration, the Super Hornet demonstrates strong energy maneuverability and slow-speed handling characteristics, making it a credible surrogate for high-performance enemy fighters in close-in engagements.
Its ability to carry infrared search and track (IRST) systems further enhances its realism in simulating modern sensor fusion and passive detection environments.
However, this shift raises logistical and operational questions. The Super Hornet is the Navy’s primary carrier-based strike fighter, with more than 500 aircraft currently in inventory supporting carrier air wings and global operations. Diverting airframes to adversary squadrons could create tension between training requirements and operational readiness.
As of recent budget disclosures, the Navy maintains roughly 575 Super Hornet variants in service, including both single-seat F/A-18Es and two-seat F/A-18Fs. These aircraft form the backbone of carrier strike aviation and have seen extensive operational use in the Middle East and other theaters.
The potential use of these aircraft in adversary squadrons reflects a broader shift in U.S. military training philosophy: prioritizing realism and high-end threat replication over cost efficiency alone.
At the same time, the Navy is facing a constrained tactical aviation inventory, making any redistribution of aircraft a complex trade-off. Maintenance cycles, deployment schedules, and readiness requirements all factor into how many Super Hornets could realistically be assigned to adversary units without degrading fleet performance.
To mitigate shortfalls in adversary capacity, the Navy and other services have increasingly relied on contractor-operated “red air” providers such as Tactical Air Support, Inc. These companies operate upgraded F-5AT aircraft and other platforms to supplement military adversary training.
While these contractor fleets provide essential capacity, they are generally limited in representing advanced peer threats. This has driven demand for more sophisticated solutions, including operational fighters repurposed into adversary roles and, increasingly, experimentation with unmanned systems.
Looking ahead, the Navy is expected to incorporate a mix of manned and unmanned systems into its adversary training architecture. Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) concepts, already being explored by the Air Force, may eventually play a role in generating distributed threat environments alongside manned Super Hornets and F-16s.
Such systems could provide scalable adversary mass at lower cost while simulating advanced networked warfare scenarios more effectively than legacy platforms.
The Navy, however, is moving more cautiously than other services in adopting CCA-like concepts for training purposes, preferring incremental integration rather than rapid transformation.
The U.S. Marine Corps continues to operate its own adversary F-5 units, including VMFT-401 “Snipers” at MCAS Yuma and VMFT-402 “Grim Reapers” at MCAS Beaufort. These aircraft are being upgraded with modern datalink systems and cockpit enhancements under a program known as Red Net.
The Marine Corps’ Aviation Plan indicates F-5 retirement is unlikely before 2040, with future replacement expected under a broader “Adversary Next” family-of-systems approach.
The potential replacement of F-5 adversary aircraft with Super Hornets marks more than a fleet modernization decision—it reflects a structural shift in how the Navy prepares for high-end conflict.
As potential adversaries field increasingly capable fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, legacy adversary platforms are becoming less adequate for realistic training. The Super Hornet, despite being a frontline combat aircraft, is emerging as a bridge solution: expensive but necessary, capable of replicating modern threats with greater fidelity than Cold War-era trainers ever could.
