McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

On 10 May 1972, Lieutenant [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Lieutenant (junior grade) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] flying an F-4J, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] "Showtime 100", shot down three MiG-17s to become the first [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of the war.

Their fifth victory was believed at the time to be over a mysterious North Vietnamese ace, Colonel [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], now considered mythical. On the return flight, the Phantom was damaged by an enemy [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

To avoid being captured, Cunningham and Driscoll flew their burning aircraft using only the rudder and afterburner (the damage to the aircraft rendered conventional control nearly impossible), until they could eject over water.

During the war, U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom squadrons participated in 84 combat tours with F-4Bs, F-4Js, and F-4Ns.

The Navy claimed 40 air-to-air victories at a cost of 73 Phantoms lost in combat (7 to enemy aircraft, 13 to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and 53 to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]). An additional 54 Phantoms were lost in mishaps.

By 1983, the F-4Ns had been completely replaced by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and by 1986 the last F-4Ss were exchanged for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

On 25 March 1986, an F-4S belonging to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] "Vigilantes," became the last active duty U.S. Navy Phantom to launch from an aircraft carrier, in this case, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

On 18 October 1986, an F-4S from the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a Naval Reserve fighter squadron, made the last-ever Phantom carrier landing while operating aboard [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

In 1987, the last of the Naval Reserve-operated F-4S aircraft were replaced by F-14As.

The last Phantoms in service with the Navy were QF-4 target drones operated by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], California.

These airframes were subsequently retired in 2004.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

United States Marine Corps


The Marines received their first F-4Bs in June 1962, with the "Black Knights" of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], California becoming the first operational squadron.

In addition to attack variants, the Marines also operated several tactical reconnaissance RF-4Bs.

Marine Phantoms from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] arrived in Vietnam on 10 April 1965, flying close air support missions from land bases as well as from the aircraft carrier USS America.

Marine F-4 pilots claimed three enemy MiGs (two while on exchange duty with the USAF) at the cost of 75 aircraft lost in combat, mostly to ground fire, and four in accidents.

On 18 January 1992, the last Marine Corps Phantom, an F-4S, was retired by the "Cowboys" of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The squadron was re-equipped with F/A-18 Hornets.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

United States Air Force


In USAF service the F-4 was initially designated the F-110 Spectre^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} prior to the introduction of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The USAF quickly embraced the design and became the largest Phantom user.

The first Air Force Phantoms in Vietnam were F-4Cs from the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which arrived in December 1964.

Unlike the Navy, which flew the Phantom with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (pilot) in the front seat and a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] as a radar intercept officer (RIO) in the back seat, the Air Force initially flew its Phantoms with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in the back seat.

This policy was later changed to using a navigator qualified as a weapon/targeting systems officer (later designated as [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] or WSO) in the rear seat.

However, because they originally flew with pilots in the rear seat, all USAF Phantoms retained dual flight controls
throughout their service life.

On 10 July 1965, F-4Cs of the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron, on temporary assignment in Vietnam, scored the USAF's first victories against North Vietnamese MiG-17s using [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] air-to-air missiles.

On 26 April 1966 an F-4C from the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron scored the first aerial victory by a U.S. aircrew over a North Vietnamese MiG-21.

On 24 July 1965, another Phantom from the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] became the first American aircraft to be downed by an enemy [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and on 5 October 1966 an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] F-4C became the first U.S. jet lost to an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], fired by a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Early aircraft suffered from leaks in wing fuel tanks that required re-sealing after each flight and 85 aircraft were found to have cracks in outer wing ribs and stringers.There were also problems with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] control cylinders, electrical connectors, and engine compartment fires.

Reconnaissance RF-4Cs made their debut in Vietnam on 30 October 1965, flying the hazardous post-strike reconnaissance missions.

The USAF [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] used the F-4E from the 1969 season until 1974

Although the F-4C was essentially identical to the Navy F-4B in flight performance and carried the AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, USAF-tailored F-4Ds initially arrived in June 1967 equipped with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

However, the Falcon, like its predecessors, was designed to shoot down bombers flying straight and level.

Its reliability proved no better than others, and its complex firing sequence and limited seeker-head cooling time made it virtually useless in combat against agile fighters.

The F-4Ds reverted to using Sidewinders under the "Rivet Haste" program in early 1968, and by 1972 the AIM-7E-2 "Dogfight Sparrow" had become the preferred missile for USAF pilots.

Like other Vietnam War Phantoms, the F-4Ds were urgently fitted with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (RHAW) antennae to detect the Soviet-built [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] SAMs.
^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}
From the initial deployment of the F-4C to Southeast Asia, USAF Phantoms performed both air superiority and ground attack roles, supporting not only ground troops in South Vietnam but also conducting bombing sorties in Laos and North Vietnam.

As the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] force underwent severe attrition between 1965 and 1968, the bombing role of the F-4 proportionately increased until after November 1970 (when the last F-105D was withdrawn from combat) it became the primary USAF ordnance delivery system. In October 1972 the first squadron of EF-4C [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft deployed to Thailand on temporary duty^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} The "E" prefix was later dropped and the aircraft was simply known as the F-4C Wild Weasel.

Sixteen squadrons of Phantoms were permanently deployed between 1965 and 1973, and 17 others deployed on temporary combat assignments.

Peak numbers of combat F-4s occurred in 1972, when 353 were based in Thailand.

A total of 445 Air Force Phantom fighter-bombers were lost, 370 in combat and 193 of those over North Vietnam (33 to MiGs, 30 to SAMs, and 307 to AAA).

^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}
The RF-4C was operated by four squadrons,^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} and of the 83 losses, 72 were in combat including 38 over North Vietnam (seven to SAMs and 65 to AAA).^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien][Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

By war's end the U.S. Air Force had lost a total of 528 F-4 and RF-4C Phantoms.

When combined with U.S. Naval and Marine losses of 233 Phantoms, 761 F-4/RF-4 Phantoms were lost in the Vietnam War.

On 28 August 1972, Capt [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] became the first USAF ace of the war.

^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} On 9 September 1972, WSO Capt [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] became the highest-scoring American ace of the war with six victories.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} and WSO Capt [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] became the last USAF ace of the war on 13 October 1972.

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Upon return to the United States, DeBellevue and Feinstein were assigned to pilot training (Feinstein was given a vision waiver) and requalified as USAF pilots in the F-4. USAF F-4C/D/E crews scored 107½ MiG kills in Southeast Asia (50 by Sparrow, 31 by Sidewinder, five by Falcon, 15.5 by gun, and six by other means).

Un F-4C du 555 TFS

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