F-4 Phantoms: The Strategic Secret Weapon U.S. Readers Should Know About – Part 2

The F-4 Phantom was the world’s best fighter in the late 1960s and 1970s. It demonstrated overwhelming performance in all abilities, including flight performance in air-to-air and air-to-ground, among contemporary fighters. It was so powerful that it could be compared to the 5th generation stealth fighters F-22 and F-35, currently regarded as the world’s most superior fighters. This is demonstrated in the fact that the F-4 Phantom was the one that made it possible to surpass the North Korean Air Force’s power, which had been one step ahead of South Korea’s with Soviet-made MiG fighters.

Initially intended for the U.S. Navy, the F-4 Phantom was also utilized by the U.S. Air Force, US Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy. It was among the few aircraft that the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force all operated. In the U.S., it was nicknamed “Rhino,” “Double-Ugly,” and “Duff.” In 1959, the F-4 Phantom set a new record by climbing to an altitude of 30km at Mach 2.5. It also set numerous other records, including flying 100km at an average speed of 2237km and crossing the U.S. continent in 2 hours and 47 minutes.

It can carry a maximum of 7022 liters of fuel and fly for over 3 hours. It is equipped with a radar that can detect distant enemy aircraft, as well as a forward-looking infrared system, high-performance bomb-dropping equipment, AIM-7 medium-range air-to-air missiles, AIM-9 short-range air-to-air missiles, and ground-attack bombs, making it capable of both air combat and ground bombing. It met every need for superior fighting power and agility that a fighter should have, making it the greatest fighter of its day.

The radar installed at the time was superior to that of competing models. The AN/APQ-72 radar installed was the finest radar available at the time. Thanks to this radar, it was possible to perform reconnaissance tasks effectively. There was even an RF-4 separately built for reconnaissance tasks.

During the Cold War, the F-4’s performance was unrivaled, as the Soviet Union could only produce a multi-role fighter comparable to the F-4 as late as the mid-to-late 1970s, an improved version of the MiG-23.

The F-4 Phantom is an exemplary 3rd generation fighter. The development of aeronautics, including the introduction of missiles, radar, and other aviation electronic equipment, improved combat performance. Even though the most important aspect of the 3rd generation was the introduction of guided missiles, as a result of practical operational experience, fighter designers recognized that missiles are not omnipotent and close combat is still essential, so they re-equipped machine guns as standard equipment.

The U.S. Air Force replaced it with the F-4E, which had an internally mounted M61 Vulcan 20mm machine gun from 1967. The F-4E was later modified to the F-4G for the “Wild Weasel” role of suppressing air defense networks. A reconnaissance version was also produced. Various derivative versions appeared, including the RF-4C for the U.S. Air Force, the RF-4B for the U.S. Marine Corps, and the export version RF-4E.

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