Blog 21: 03/01/2023: Historical blog: McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II
Hi all! So, my Los Angeles trip videos are being edited but until then here’s a historical blog post for you! The classic, noteworthy and infamous F-4 Phantom II!
F-4 Phantom from Holloman Air Force Base over the White Sands Missile Range
Source: (Holloman.af.mil)
F-4B of fighter squadron VF-111, the Sundowners, dropping bombs over Vietnam, 1971.
Source: (U.S. Navy - U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation. Photo No. 1996.253.7279.006, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14680148)
The American-made, tandem-seat, long-range, supersonic (maximum speed of Mach 2.2) all-weather interceptor designed for both the US Air Force and US Navy for McDonnell-Douglas, now Boeing. Capable of carrying more than 18,000 lbs. of varying ordnance, the F-4’s career spanned from the 1960s to the mid-1990s, certainly long and distinguished. The latter, twilight years of the Phantom II’s career was spent in two primary missions: reconnaissance and SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense), also known as Wild Weasel missions; not what designers intended but certainly worthy of the F-4’s capabilities. The highlight of the F-4’s career came during the Vietnam War and quickly became the iconic American combat aircraft of the Cold War.
F-4B of VF-74
US Navy circa 1961, heading to USS Forrestal
Source: (U.S. Navy - U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.253.7267.002, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14680083)
The F-4, with 5,195 aircraft built in its 40-year production run of 1958 to 1981, was the most heavily produced American supersonic fighter in military history. 132 had been made in Japan, under contract by Mitsubishi for the Japan Self-Defense Force.
F-4Gs configured for Wild Weasel / SEAD duty
Flying over Bahrain during Operation Desert Shield
Source: (By MSgt. Bill Thompson, USAF - U.S. Defense. Imagery photo VIRIN: DF-ST-92-06834, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15756978)
Early variants of the F-4 Phantom II were armed only with missiles making them extremely vulnerable to enemy MiGs and ground-based anti-air units. After a lesson of trial-and-error, an M61 Vulcan cannon was essentially installed on all future variants of the F-4 though in the meantime, surviving conventional F-4As and Bs were equipped with externally-mounted relatively inaccurate gun pods.
Initially mounted with an impressive Westinghouse AN/APQ-72 high-apogee radar system, cockpit workarounds had to be necessitated to make the rear-cockpit less claustrophobic due to the bulbous nose, as can be seen in the US Navy F-4 photo above. It would be just one of many of the upgrades and modifications the F-4 would undergo throughout its impressive 40+ year career.
F-4D variants of the 435th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), flying over Vietnam, 1969
Source: (By USAF - National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Photo 110224-F-XN622-006, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13949830)
While to begin with, the F-4 was only made for the navy, the US Air Force received its Phantoms as a result of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s attempt to create a unified fighter for the US Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force. If we were to catalogue the records the F-4 has broken, we’d be here all day; they’re that impressive. The Blue Angels, the US Navy’s famous demonstration team, also used the F-4 from the 1969 to 1974.
The final American variant, the F-4J, was finally succeeded by the Grumman F-14A Tomcat in 1974. Over 630 F-4s of various types are still in service worldwide, notably with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Numerous NATO member-states have used the F-4 in various forms, including Turkey, Japan, Spain, Germany (pre- and post-unification), Israel, and Greece in their Hellenic Air Force, who finally retired the type in 2017 in a ceremony. As of 2023, several countries, such as the aforementioned Islamic Republic of Iranian Air Force, still use the F-4 alongside the F-14 in a combat role; others include Greece (in reserves), Egypt, South Korea, Turkey, and South Korea.
The F-4 will be immortalized in legends and history forevermore, with a combat history to match it from Vietnam to the Gulf War and beyond.
Turkish Air Force F-4E equipped with Popeye III missiles.
Source: (SAC Helen Farrer RAF Mobile News Team/MOD, OGL v1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34694990)
