<p>For a quarter of a century, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II has risen from land and sea to take command of the air, to carry out the strike mission, to fight MiGs, and to join the Thunderbolt, Mustang and Sabre among the immortals of American fighter aviation. With its trademark bent wings, drooped tail and twin-engined configuration, the Phantom was the first aircraft which could detect, intercept and destroy any target within its radar range without assistance from surface-based radar. Built as an interceptor, it became a MiG-killer, but it also excelled at ground attack, 'fast FAC', reconnaissance, and other duties.
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<p>The F-4A (US Navy F4H-1F) was a developmental variant, the first (BuNo. 142259) making its maiden flight at St Louis on 27 May 1958 with Robert C. Little at the controls. It was followed by the US Navy's operational F-4B (F4H-1), powered by two 17,000-lb (75.62-kN) afterburning thrust General Electric J79-GE-8 engines. The F-4B model attained an altitude record of 98,556 ft (30,040 m) on 6 December 1959, a speed record of 1,606.51 mph (2,585.36 km/h) on 22 November 1961, and a low-altitude speed record of 902 mph (1,452 km/h) on 20 August 1962, the last-named not being beaten for 16 years.
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<p>The EF-4B designation went to one airframe used for ECM training, and two modified development airframes bore the NF-4B designation. The QF-4B is a drone conversion. The RF-4B reconnaissance derivative served only with the US Marine Corps.
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<p>The F-4C (F-110A) was the US Air Force's first Phantom, the first example (62-12199) being flown on 27 May 1963. The F-4C became operational with the 12th and 15th Tactical Fighter Wings at MacDill AFB, Florida, in January 1964. Some 583 were built, 40 being transferred to Spain. The service test YRF-4C (YRF-110A) led to the RF-4C (RF-110A), 499 of which were constructed for the photo-reconnaissance role. The F-4D Phantom fighter-bomber introduced a capability to deliver precision-guided munitions (PGM ), or 'smart' bombs. Some 825 were built, including 32 delivered new to Iran and 36 transferred to South Korea.
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<p>Once in action in Vietnam in 1965, the Phantom seemed to need a gun to augment its missile armament in close-quarter battles with MiGs. The SUU-16/A 20-mm external gun pod was an interim measure. The F-4E, first flown on 7 August 1965, introduced more powerful J79-GE-17 engines but its principal change was the internally-mounted M61A1 20-mm cannon. Although superior pilot training would later prove more important than the cannon in establishing a 2.5-to-1 kill advantage over North Vietnamese MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 fighters, the F-4E became the definitive Phantom, and 1,397 rolled off the line. Examples were supplied to Australia (on loan), Greece, Iran, Israel, Turkey, South Korea and West Germany, and 140 F-4EJs were license-built by Mitsubishi in Japan. The RF-4E was an export reconnaissance derivative, supplied to Greece, Iran, Israel, Japan and West Germany.
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<p>By the mid-1960s, the Phantom was just about the best-known fighter in the world. On 2 January 1967 in Operation Bolo, F-4Cs of the 8th TFW under Colonel Robin Olds shot down seven North Vietnamese MiGs. Increasingly, F-4Ds took over from the Republic F-105 the job of bringing ordnance to bear on Vietnamese ground targets. Visitors to St Louis, where McDonnell took over Douglas in 1967, wanted not merely to see the heavy, complex fighter put together by Herman Barkey's design team, but to buy it.
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<p>The F-4F was a specialized air superiority version for the West German Luftwaffe, and 175 were delivered. The F-4G designation had been used initially for 12 aircraft taken from the US Navy F-4B production line. They had the two-way ASW-21 datalink system for automated carrier landings, and all later reverted to F-4B standard. In the 1970s, the F-4G appellation was used again for the US Air Force's 'Advanced Wild Weasel' electronic warfare aircraft, 116 of which were converted from F-4E standard. Originally seen as a counter to enemy SAM missile sites and associated radars, the F-4G now carries out a wide portfolio of electronic missions. Aircraft are stationed as far afield as the 3rd TFW Clark Field, Philippines, and 52nd TFW, Spangdahlem AB, West Germany.
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<p>The F-4J was an improved production fighter for the US Navy with 17,900-lb (79.62-kN) afterburning thrust J79-GE-10 engines, enlarged wing and improved avionics. The F-4K was developed for the UK's Royal Navy and the F-4M for the Royal Air Force, although both are now operated by the latter service which, with expanded commitments following the 1982 Falklands War, has also inherited 15 ex-US Navy F-4Js. The F-4N is an upgraded 'rebuild' of the F-4B, and has in turn been converted to the QF-4N drone. The F-4S is an upgraded F-4J with wing maneuver slats and was the final Phantom variant to serve aboard an aircraft carrier, with VF-151 and -161 aboard the USS Midway.
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<p>Phantoms serve widely with the Reserve and Air National Guard and are likely to remain in front-line service with some air forces into the 21st century.
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<hi style=hdr1>Combat</hi>
<p>The first action for the F-4 Phantom came just after the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, when US Marine squadron VMFA-531 was rushed to NAS Key West, Florida, for 'hot pad alert'. Colonel Robert Foxworth recalls, "We came within a half-mile of a formation of Castro's MiG-17s and spent 20 minutes clawing for position, but neither of us quite got a shot at the other." In August 1964, F-4Bs were catapulted from the USS Constellation in the Gulf of Tonkin air strikes. On 17 June 1965, the first air-to-air victory was achieved when Commander Louis Page and Lieutenant John C. Smith Jr of VF-21 from USS Midway flying an F-4B (BuNo. 151488), callsign 'Sundown 101', used an AIM-7 Sparrow missile to shoot down a MiG-17 near Hanoi. On 10 July 1965, two MiG-17s fell to US Air Force F-4Cs of the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron operating from Ubon, Thailand.
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<p>Not everything about the Phantom was perfect. Early F-4Cs sprang wing tank leaks that required resealing after each flight. Eighty-five of them developed cracked ribs on outer wing panels. The F-4C and RF-4C were at times grounded due to dripping potting compound. Teething problems with missile armament continued well past the first decade of the Phantom's service life. Captain Richard S. (Steve) Ritchie, first US Air Force ace and one of only five men to attain ace status in Vietnam, railed furiously about the poor location of the Phantom's only radio, beneath the pilot's ejection seat. Ritchie also reported to General William W. Momyer, commander of the 7th Air Force, that the Phantom could be effective only if its two men operated as a 'hard' crew, staying together for a full combat tour and complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses.
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<p>Phantoms fought over North Vietnam in the 1965-68 Rolling Thunder campaign and again in the 1972 Linebacker campaign. On 10 May 1972, Lieutenant Randall Cunningham and Lieutenant (j.g.) William P. Driscoll, flying an F-4J (155800), callsign 'Showtime 100', shot down three MiGs to become the first aces of the war. The last MiG kill of the war came on 12 January 1973 when Lieutenant Victor T. Kovaleski and Lieutenant (j.g.) James A. Wise, flying from the Midway in an F-4B (153045), callsign 'Rock River 102', used a Sidewinder to shoot down a MiG-17. Thus, the F-4B model and the Midway scored the first and last kills of the war, eight years apart.
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<p>Combat success of the F-4 Phantom with foreign air arms is outside the scope of this work, but it must be said that in the 1973 Yom Kippur conflict Israel lost not a single Phantom in air-to-air combat.
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<p>As a 'mud mover', in the fighter-bomber role where it replaced the F-105 in Southeast Asia, the Phantom performed well but had its detractors. The fighter-bomber mission exposes plane and crew to intense defenses, and throughout much of its career the F-4 produced telltale smoke exhaust which told the enemy when it was coming. Some fliers felt that the F-4 lacked the capacity to absorb punishment found in other aircraft types and was especially vulnerable in the 'belly' while pulling away from target. Early F-4Cs ran into difficulty with crew ejection because departure of the backseater generated a vacuum which held the frontseat pilot's canopy fast. In recent years, revision of internal systems has tended to 'clutter' the once-roomy cockpit, making the two-man crew less comfortable and more isolated from each other. The criticisms were often uttered along with praise. None detracts from the simple truth that the F-4 Phantom was among the finest fighters of its era.
<item><hi format=bold>Powerplant:</hi> two 17,900-lb (79.62-kN) afterburning thrust General Electric J79-GE-17 turbojet engines
<item><hi format=bold>Performance:</hi> maximum speed clean 1,432 mph (2,305 km/h) or Mach 2.17; initial climb rate clean 49,800 ft (15,179 m) per minute; service ceiling 62,250 ft (18,974 m); operating radius 422 miles (679 km); ferry range 1,611 miles (2,593 km)
<item><hi format=bold>Weights:</hi> empty 30,328 lb (13,757 kg); maximum take-off 61,975 lb (28,112 kg)
<item><hi format=bold>Dimensions:</hi> span 38 ft 4 in (11.68 m); length 63 ft 0 in (19.20 m); height 16 ft 5 in (5.00 m); wing area 530 sq ft (49.24 m<su>2</su>)
<item><hi format=bold>Armament:</hi> one M61A1 20-mm nose cannon with 640 rounds; four AIM-7E or -7F Sparrow semi-active radar homing missiles, provision for AIM-9 Sidewinder infra-red heat-seeking missiles and various types of underwing rockets, bombs and other ordnance
