F-5 Freedom Fighter, Tiger, F-20 Tigershark, X-29 concepts and proposals ...

[sotoolslinger]

I'm just sayin

[elmayerle]

Not that outlandish!  When IAI approached Northrop about sub-contracting on the Lavi, Northrop came back with a proposal for a Lavi/F-20 hybrid that would be less expensive to develop.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Wowsers!  That is one sweet kit bash you created Ron. 

[dy031101]

Um......

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/tacair-f-5-aggressors-to-get-the-garmin-g3000-flight-deck/

So the cockpit set is already in use.

Source

[KiwiZac]

What about Finland?
Garyw_ Finnish F-5E by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Unfortunate but thought-provoking DCS World screenshot shared by Gary Williams @Garyw_ on Twitter, cropped for clarity by me:
Garyw_ Finnish F-5E crop by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[GTX_Admin]

 

[ysi_maniac]

Combining F-16 and F-20

[The Big Gimper]

I like the F-20 forward fuselage with the F-16 backend and wings.

[GTX_Admin]

Something different:

[Old Wombat]

Freedom Fighters, Dragonflies & a lonely Bird-dog!

[GTX_Admin]

Not as specialised as the Original Northop design for a light carrier fighter (below) that eventually led to the F-5 but one can imagine.

[GTX_Admin]

[ysi_maniac]

USAF: A pair of simple radarless fighters to attack in Vietnam War

[dy031101]

ROCAF decommissioned F-5E used as an airfield decoy.

The camouflage is based on that of the F-CK-1.  The colours have faded a bit, but perhaps it might have looked great if the Tiger 2000 project was accepted into service.

[GTX_Admin]

[GTX_Admin]

Tank killing F-5 anyone?

[perttime]

What about Finland?
Garyw_ Finnish F-5E by Zac Yates, on Flickr
...

Cool idea!
In Real Life, it might have been politically difficult. Also, it would have been an alternative to the Draken which was probably the better interceptor. And the Finnish Air Force was limited to air-to-air duties, at the time.
Change the politics and anything is possible 

[ChernayaAkula]

Tank killing F-5 anyone?

KCA uses the same ammo as the GAU-8, right? Gives me an idea for the gun pod on my SAAB mini-A-10. Was set to get an ADEN pod from a Hawk, but that seems puny in comparison.

[GTX_Admin]

I believe they are the same round.

[apophenia]

I believe they are the same round.

Yep. NATO STANAG 4624 30x173mm for both KDA and GAU-8/A.

[GTX_Admin]

This looks to be the gun pod in question:



And I believe it is a development of the HIPEG Mk.4 20 mm Gun Pod which you can find in these:

[GTX_Admin]

[M.A.D]

Something different:

Wow, makes you wonder GTX....🤔

Here's a Real-World fact:
Northrop N-156D - a carrier-based derivative of the F-5 Freedom Fighter, with larger wings, more fuel, greater payload, strengthened arrestor gear, which was offered in 1965 to the RAN as the N-285B.

MAD

[elmayerle]

N-285B was a very evolved N-156.  I've seen the brochure on it.

Now to suggest an interesting blend, the twin-vertical F-5 variants that Iran has played with crossed with the F-20 (possibly with the larger wing of the navalized F-5 on page 1 of this thread).