The Paternian Air Force's first jet fighter, it was introduced in 1947, and was the successor to the F-2 Pummeler. It proved fast, agile, and powerfully-armed, with four 30mm M9 cannons. Outperforming the Pummeler by a significant margin as a fighter, it nearly replaced the Pummeler as an attack aircraft.

However, due to the aircraft's higher speed, long nose, and light bomb load, it proved less satisfactory in this role, and the Pummeler would remain as an attack aircraft to this day. The J-15-20 engine proved simple, reliable, fuel-efficient, and powerful. During the Sanctan Wars, the F-3 gave the outnumbered PAF a decisive performance advantage it needed over the numerically-superior prop-driven Sanctan adversaries.

By the 1980s, it was realized the type was becoming obsolete, and was soon replaced in Air Force service by the much faster F-4 Dart. The type soldiered on in reserve service for a long time, and participated in the Antarctic Wars, the Great World War 2, the Mexican Border War, and Operation Typhoon, with mixed results.

In the Antarctic Wars and the Mexican Border War, its durability and simplicity proved to be a capable fighter-bomber against less-modern forces in rugged conditions.

The type's effectiveness in the GWW2 was mixed. Its performance in the India campaign was disappointing, although expected. The inferior electronics, poor condition, lax maintenance, and relatively low performance left the few operational aircraft vulnerable to Awwami fighters, and were nothing but a minor speedbump to the superior numbers and performance of Awwam Royal Air Force fighters.

However, in Antarctica, the sheer simplicity and ruggedness allowed it to operate in the harsh eternal winter that is the South Pole. There, the type served exclusively as a fighter bomber quite effectively, and was the ideal aircraft for low-altitude and high-speed intruder strikes. Although other fighters such as the Cobra would bear the brunt of the fighting, the Hawk's contributions are often overlooked.

Its efficiency as a secondary fighter-bomber was so great that it would lend its name to the new A-8 seires as the Hawk II. Although designed to replace the Hawk (which it did), they would serve together during the Mexican Border War by FAMRP, reprising its role as a fighter-bomber for the last time.

It would be exported widely around the world, with over 70,000 made. It continues to see service in the Salish Air Force and the NFK Air Force as a fighter-bomber.

The type still serves in the PAF as an advanced trainer as the TF-3E Tutor Hawk. The Hawk would be known as the "Jet Pummeler" due to its simplicity, durability, and consequent longevity.