I watched the DNC youtube of the photos in the background. Definitely Russian, however, their fleet does not look that impressive today. Most are decommissioned or in need of major repair.
The Navy Times article cites a sailor: "Barker, the former sailor who first spotted the errors, believes the seven aircraft streaking by are F-5 jets, a trainer used by the U.S. Navy. Asked to explain how he reached that conclusion, the former airplane spotter ticked off a list: “Twin engine, single rudder, with hard points on the wingtips, with that silhouette is going to make them F-5s.”
The F-5E Tiger II was ordered in a small quantity by the Navy as a trainer for experiments at NAS Paxtuxet River, MD in the early to mid 1960's. It was never used for regular pilot training because it could not land on a carrier. The closest description we have is the T-2C Buckeye. All trainers are painted orange/white no matter which model. Either he misidentified the planes or that was a very old photo.
