12th TFW Association – The F-4 Phantom II by E J Sherwood

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Did you know? The Phantom II, F-4

The F-4 Phantom II was built by McDonnell Douglas as two seat in tandem, twin jet engine, fighter bomber,

and was the most produced of any of the American fighter jets, and was sold to many of our allies during the

60’s and 70’s. The power of twin J-79 (GE) engines, gave this aircraft the energy and speed needed to carry and

deliver a huge assortment and quantity of armament. Some of the other countries that shared in the F-4 were

Canada, Israel, UK, Australia, Turkey, Greece, Spain, South Korea, Japan, West Germany, and Egypt. Iran even

got F-4’s while the Shah was still in power.

The 12th TFW operated with the F-4C at MacDill AFB and CRAB, and the F-4D at Phu Cat AB.

By the Numbers: 5182 Phantoms were built achieving 25 world performance records.

The F-4 had many variants; F-4H-1F, F-4H-1 “The first of the Fleet” were redesignated F-4A and F-4B respectively on 1 Oct. 1962.

F-4A, B, J, N & S – Navy & Marine, air-to-air missile based, no gun, but had external weapons stores racks for

ground attack.

Note 1: Variants over time for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps; F-4B was upgraded to F-4N, and

F-4J was upgraded to F-4S.

F-4C – USAF, air-to-air missile based, no gun, with external weapons stores racks, including an external

mounted gun pod option. Was originally slated to be the F-110 but became an F-4 variant for standard military

labeling.

Note 2: USAF versions had larger and heavier landing gear for rough runway operations.

RF-4B, C & E – USAF, photo tactical reconnaissance aircraft, carried no weapons, only internally mounted

cameras. Was the replacement for USAF RF-101 Voodoo and was easier for maintenance than the fighter

versions.

F-4D – USAF, greater avionics and weapons capability than the B & C, otherwise very similar to the C.

F-4E – USAF, first F-4 with transistor electronics, an internal mounted gun, more powerful engines. A crew

chiefs dream for aircraft maintenance, and pilots to fly.

F-4EJ – Export licensed to Japan for Home Defense Force manufacture.

F-4G – USAF, Wild Weasel (electronic counter measures, and accompanied other fighter bombers for air

strikes to jam and knock out enemy radar) saw combat operations in the first Gulf War.

F-4K and M - Variants for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, respectively, refitted with Rolls-Royce Spey

turbofan engines.

QF-4/QRF-4 – Retired F-4 aircraft variants converted to manned/unmanned drone aircraft.

12th TFW Association – The F-4 Phantom II by E J Sherwood

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Thunderbird configured F-4 aircraft F-4C 63-7558, The 558

th TFS Commanders Bird

German F-4 The Phantom

Typical Yankee Air Pirate Look F-4C 63-7551 Canon City, CO as 12 TFW Memorial

Capt. Bill Cottrell, 559th

TFS, MacDill & CRAB. Lettering XN = 559th TFS at CRAB.