I love those planes.
The F/A-50 (T-50, TA-50) in Korea is most certainly not a variant of the F-5. It more resembles the Korean variant of the F-16. It is used as a trainer to train Korean pilots for their F-15’s and F-16’s. They even tried or are trying to market it to the US as a trainer.
On the Wiki page I don’t think the words “F-5 Tiger” even appear once.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAI_T-50_Golden_Eagle
Was at an airshow in Lakeland a couple of years ago. A member of the Top Gun Aggressor squadron was there with his F5. Loved the plane. He said it’s one of the few fighters left where the flight controls actually move the control surfaces rather than being inputs to a computer.
At this point, those birds must have serious G-load limitations.
They really should reengine the things. Maybe go for a single F404 like on the Hornet and Gripen.
But calling it a Tiger III is just way too boring. Need to come up with something new and snazzy, identifies it as a different breed while still paying homage to it’s F-5 lineage.
Wait! I got it! How about “TIGERSHARK”?