In 1984 the Royal Netherlands Air Force purchased forty five F-20 Tigershark fighters from the American Northrop corporation as well as a license to produce the fighters domestically in the Netherlands. Initially the Dutch had shown little interest in the type as they already operated the generally comparable, if not slightly superior F-16 fighting Falcon. However Northrop offering a license to produce the fighter locally at a steep discount was attractive to the government and military alike. At the time the Netherlands was looking to expand its air forces, seeking to match foreign developments in the airforces of their neighbors in Europe such as the Prussians and Soviets, while also the Javanese acquisition of new Mig-23 fighters were seen as threatening Dutch possessions in the Indonesian archipelago.
Local production would begin in 1987, and the F-20, dubbed D.V by Fokker aviation, began equipping units in 1988. In 1990 the F-15, dubbed D.VI, also began joining Dutch fighter squadrons as a longer ranged heavier companion to the lightweight D.V. In total twelve squadrons would be equipped with the type, one being a training squadron and the other being an acrobatic unit. The Dutch fighters differed somewhat from the original F-20 design with domestically built Fokker avionics and some changes to the airframe design. The fighters would see significant action in Indonesia during the second New Guinea war in 1993, first gulf war in 1991, and in several peacekeeping actions in Africa and the Balkans.
In total the Dutch would produce almost four hundred D.V fighters, more than Northrops entire production. Although several nations expressed interest in purchasing either new build fighters or else used airframes Fokkers licensing agreement prohibited the sale of aircraft to any nation but the Netherlands, however this rule was worked around in 1996 with the sale of thirty five planes to the duke of Luxembourg directly rather than the government. A fact which caused a stir in the US for a time, and angered Northrop but little could be done.
The Dutch would become the only major nation to adopt the F-20, with the sales of aircraft to Luxembourg being the only other sale of any note. Production of the fighter continues today alongside the D.VI though it seems likely that the Netherlands will replace the two American designed craft with the proposed D.IX sometime latter in the 2020s.