F-4 Phantom II

The F-4 Phantom II is one of the more popular planes among military aviation enthusiasts and with over 5,000 produced, there are plenty of former pilots and crewmen who have fond memories of the “lead sled.”

As with the F-100 Super Sabre, the Phantom began has a side project by its creator, McConnell Aircraft Corporation with the intention of pitching the plane to the U.S. government.  After some investigating, it was deemed the U.S. Navy was the most likely branch to need an updated plane.

Recognizing that the biggest gap in the USN fleet was an attack fighter, MAC looked to its F3H Demon, a naval fighter the company produced just two years prior.  After making some modifications to the plane, including the engine types that could produce up to Mach 1.9 speeds, the USN was approached by the company.  While agreeing with MAC about the need for that attack fighter, the USN returned to the company with a series of changes they wanted to see in the design.

Although pleased with the updated design, the USN realized that planes in the queue at companies like MAC and in their own fleet met most of the branch’s needs.  Therefore, another round of design requests were made.  By this point, the Navy had narrowed down their need to a fleet defense interceptor and requested for the new design to include space for a second pilot who would handle the radar.

Although in competition with the XF8U-3 Crusader III (produced by Chance Vought), the now designated F-4 was ultimately chosen by the USN.  Among the possible code names were Mithras and Satan, but the company settled on Phantom II (after FH-1 Phantom).  Until the code and name were unified by the Tri-service designation system, the US Air Force used the name F-110A Spectre.

It would be Fighter Squadron 121 (VF-121), known as the Peacemakers, who would be the first to fly the Phantom II and VF-74 (the Bedevilers) became the first squadron to be deployed, spending time on the U.S.S. Forrestal.  It should be noted that these early Phantoms were not in combat in Vietnam but would find themselves in the thick of battle by 1964.

The Phantoms would remain a key part of aerial combat during the Vietnam War and would be used from those early years through the final days of combat in the 1970s.  Unlike the USN, the US Marine Corps and the US Air Force would engage their F-4 fleets in 1962 and 1965, respectively.  At least five variants of the F-4 were produced and used during the war across all three branches.

During its production, nearly two dozen variants of the Phantom were produced, including those designed specifically for foreign militaries.  Along with the three American branches, the Phantom II was used by the air forces of Australia, Egypt, Germany, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and the U.K.  Even NASA flew the F-4s in the 1960s and the 1980s!

The final plane to be built was in 1981 and within a few years, the Phantoms were slowly phased out of service.  Most would be retired in the 1990s, but many were still in use well into the 21^st century.  The USAF was the last among the American branches to fly these planes, retiring them in 2016 as missile drones.  Others like Japan and Egypt flew until them until 2020.  Three Air Forces still fly F-4s – Greece, the Iranian Islamic Republic, and Turkey.