Tigershark

F-20 Tigershark

Country of Origin: United States

Manufacturer: Northrop

Crew:1 pilot

Length: 47 ft 4 in (14.4 m)

Wingspan: 27 ft 11.9 in (8.53 m)

Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.20 m)

Weight: 13,150 lbs (5,964 kg) empty, 15,480 lb (7,021 kg) combat loaded

Powerplant: 1x General Electric F-404-GE-100 afterburning turbofan jet engine with 17,000 pounds of thrust

Maximum Speed: Mach 2.1

Service Ceiling: 55,000 ft (16,800 m)

Range: 1,490 nmi (1715 mi, 2759 km)

Armament: 2x M39 20mm autocannons, 2x AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, 4x AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles

Kit Maker and Scale: Monogram, 1:48


Quite possibly the greatest combat aircraft that never was, the Northrop F-20 Tigershark.
Sleek, lean and mean, purpose built to dogfight, in the 1980s it was vying for contracts against the F-16 Falcon, a contest it would ultimatley lose, mostly due to politicking. The Tigershark could climb faster than the Falcon, and its fire control system could lock on to and engage targets faster than that of the Falcon, plus the Tigershark carried AIM-7 Sparrow capability from Day 1, while the Falcon would not gain the same until well into its third production block.

As British aircraft designer Sydney Camm once said: "All aircraft have four dimensions. Length, Span, Height, and Politics". Unfortunately for the Tigershark, it only got the first three right.
In the end though, two components of the Tigershark would live on; its F-404 turbofan would go on to power the F/A-18 Hornet, and its radar and fire control system would find its way to Taiwan where it would be integrated into the ADC Ching-Kuo.


My Tigershark is built as a "what if" machine, showing what it might have been had it gone into production and military service. I would say by this point in time it would be at least an F-20C variant, and would have gained AMRAAM capability some time in the mid-late 1990s.

More pics:

Top:
i.imgur.com/oPRAhjk.jpg

Head On:
i.imgur.com/EnjaBEW.jpg

7 o'clock:
i.imgur.com/LmH7SHV.jpg

Missiles:
i.imgur.com/ZZovUze.jpg

Astern:
i.imgur.com/HFpSrBy.jpg