Subject: New Fighter Series--McDonnell F-4 Phantom (47 of 50)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 12 Jul 94 01:21:15 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The Nihon Koku Jietai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF) acquired 
154 Phantoms for air defense and reconnaissance.  The fighter version 
was designated F-4EJ, and (except for an initial few assembled by 
McDonnell) was built under license in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy 
Industries, Ltd.  The reconnaissance version was designated RF-4EJ and 
was built in the USA by McDonnell.  

The F-4EJ was ordered for the JASDF on November 1, 1968.  Since the 
Japanese armed forces were forbidden by treaty from having even a hint 
of an offensive capability, the F-4EJ was optimized for the air 
defense role, the AN/AJB-7 bombing system being omitted.  There was no 
provision for the carrying or delivery of air-to-ground weapons.  As 
built, the Mitsubishi-built Phantoms were not fitted with inflight 
refuelling receptacles, but this was later retrofitted.  

Two F-4EJs (JASDF serials 17-8301 and 17-8302) were built by McDonnell 
in St Louis and tested beginning on January 14, 1971.  The next eleven 
(JASDF serials 27-8303/8307, 37-8307/8310, and 47-8311/8313) were 
built by McDonnell in kit form and were assembled in Japan by 
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.  The first Japanese-assembled 
aircraft (27-8303) flew on May 12, 1972.  Subsequently, Mitsubishi 
built 127 F-4EJs under license, the last example being delivered on 
May 20, 1981.  This was the last Phantom built.  

Fourteen unarmed reconnaissance versions of the F-4EJ were built by 
McDonnell and delivered to the JASDF between November 1974 and June 
1975.  They were designated RF-4EJ.  They were virtually identical to 
the USAF RF-4C, with the only differences being the deletion of 
certain equipment such as the radar homing and warning suite.  

The F-4EJ first entered service with the JASDF in August of 1972.  In 
the JASDF, six interceptor squadrons (hikotai) have operated the 
F-4EJ.  These were the 301st, 302nd, 303rd, 304th, 305th, and 306th.  
The RF-4EJ was operated by the 501st Hikotai, replacing that unit's 
RF-86F Sabres.  

Throughout the 1980s, the force of 140 F-4EJs gradually dwindled by 
attrition and reached 125 in 1992.  Conversions to the F-15J began in 
the late 1980s, and most surviving JASDF F-4EJs have been upgraded to 
F-4EJ Kai standards.  

The F-4EJ Kai is an upgraded version of the Japanese-built F-4EJ, 
intended to bring the F-4EJ up to standards appropriate for the 1990s.  
The modernization program began in July 1984, and the first F-4EJ Kai 
was delivered to the JASDF on November 24, 1990.  These are equipped 
with digital avionics, including an APG-172 radar, a heads-up display, 
a podded Thomson-CSF Raphael SKAR, and a large Elint pod developed by 
Mitsubishi.  The designation RF-4EJ Kai was also applied to 
refurbished and upgraded RF-4EJs, incorporating many of the same 
modifications as the F-4EJ Kai, and with an APQ-172 radar.  The 13 
surviving RF-4EJs got a forward-looking radar, an infrared 
surveillance system and an inertial navigational system.  

The first F-4EJ Kai entered service with 306 Hikotai in November of 
1989.  It had originally been planned to upgrade 110 of the 125 
surviving F-4EJs to Kai standards, but this was later changed to only 
96.  Seventeen of the remaining 29 F-4EJs were to be converted to the 
reconnaissance role under the designation RF-4EJ Kai, with the 
remaining 12 to be retired.  

By April 1994, F-4EJ strength was reduced to only three squadrons.  
Three JASDF squadrons are currently equipped with the F-4EJ Kai, and 
they should remain with the JASDF until well after the year 2000.  

JASDF aircraft are assigned a four-digit serial with a two-digit 
prefix.  The second digit in the prefix is the type number of the 
aircraft (7 for the Phantom), whereas the first digit in the prefix 
indicates the last digit of the year of delivery.  

McDonnell F-4EJ-45-MC Phantom	 	17-8301/8302
McDonnell F-4EJ-45-MC Phantom	 	27-8303/8306  -- last two assembled
						by Mitsubishi in kit form
McDonnell F-4EJ-45-MC Phantom	 	37-8307/8310  -- all assembled
						by Mitsubishi in kit form
McDonnell F-4EJ-47-MC Phantom	 	37-8311/8313 -- all assembled
						by Mitsubishi in kit form
Mitsubishi F-4EJ 			37-8314/8323
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			47-8324/8352 (8324 to 8331 later 
						renumbered with prefix 37)
McDonnell RF-4EJ-56-MC Phantom		47-6901/6905  
McDonnell RF-4EJ-57-MC Phantom		57-6906/6914
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			57-8353/8376
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			67-8377/8391
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			77-8392/8403
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			87-8404/8415
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			97-8416/8427
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			07-8428/8436
Mitsubishi F-4EJ			17-8437/8440

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.

Joe Baugher				AT&T Bell Laboratories
1000 E. Warrenville Road		Naperville, Illinois 60566-7013