Subject: McDonnell F-4 Phantom (15 of 49)

From: [email-masked] (joseph.f.baugher)
Date: 28 May 94 12:46:04 GMT

Israel had long expressed an interest in acquiring the HIAC-1 
high-altitude camera for use in keeping a close eye on its Arab 
neighbors.  However, this camera was originally so large and bulky 
that it could only be carried aboard the Martin/General Dynamics 
RB-57F.  In later years, slimmed-down variants of this camera became 
available which could be carried in pods small enough to fit 
underneath fighter aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom.  Such pods had 
been developed for the USAF RF-4C, but they were still so large and 
bulky that they imposed an unacceptably severe performance penalty.  

In the interest of achieving an acceptably high performance in an 
aircraft carrying the HIAC-1, Israel had launched a project known as 
*Peace Jack* in collaboration with General Dynamics and the USAF.  At 
first, an extremely advanced aircraft known as the F-4X was envisaged, 
one which was to have special water injection propulsion system which 
had the potential of achieving a Mach 3+ performance.  Israel loaned 
an IDF/AF F-4E (USAF serial 69-7576) to General Dynamics as a mockup 
for the project.  However, this program eventually fell through 
because of the high cost and because of fears on the part of US State 
Department officials about the export of an aircraft with such an 
advanced performance.  

Following the collapse of the F-4X project, a less-ambitious project 
known as the F-4E(S) was undertaken.  Three Israeli Air Force Block-44 
F-4Es (among them 69-7576) were converted to a special high-speed 
reconnaissance configuration by replacing the F-4E radar and gun 
installation with a new nose containing the HIAC-1 66-inch focal 
length long range oblique photography camera.  Behind the HIAC-1 
camera was a vertical KS-87 camera.  The three aircraft were also 
fitted with datalink, Elta IFF and UHF, and formation-keeping strip 
lights.  In the interest of security, a false black radome was painted 
on the nose.  

USAF serials of the three aircraft were 69-7567, 7570, and 7576.  The 
flight test program began on November 20, 1975 and was carried out in 
high secrecy.  The three planes carried US civil registration numbers 
based on their military serials (N97576, N97570, and N97567).  The 
modified aircraft were returned to the Israeli Air Force in 1976-77.  
Their subsequent history is largely unknown, although rumors suggest 
that least one of them has been lost in action.  

Sources:

  McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume II, Rene J.
  Francillon, Naval Institute Press, 1990.

  McDonnell F-4 Phantom: Spirit in the Skies.  Airtime Publishing, 1992.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

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