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

From: [email-masked]
Date: 13 Jul 94 16:33:08 GMT

>From [email-masked]

This series on the McDonnell Phantom concludes with a description of 
its service in the United Kingdom with the Royal Navy and the Royal 
Air Force.  

The F-4K was the export model of the Phantom designed for the Royal 
Navy.  The Royal Navy had originally planned to purchase the Hawker 
Siddeley P.1154 Mach 2 V/STOL fighter as its primary carrier-based 
fighter aircraft.  However, even before the government cancelled the 
P.1154 project altogether, the Royal Navy had dropped out of the 
project, citing its high cost and protracted development schedule.  
This left the Royal Navy with no replacement for its fleet of ageing 
DeHavilland (Hawker Siddeley) Sea Vixens.  During that time period, 
the British government happened to be involved in discussions with 
McDonnell in St Louis on their proposal for a version of the Phantom 
suitable for British requirements.  On July 1, 1964, the Royal Navy 
gave the official go-ahead for a Phantom to fulfill its needs.  

The designation F-4K was assigned to the Royal Navy version of the 
Phantom.  Shortly after the initial approval of the Phantom by the 
Royal Navy, an order was placed with McDonnell for two YF-4K-26 
prototypes and two F-4K-27 production aircraft.  Production examples 
were ordered later.  The original Royal Navy order was for 143 
Phantoms, but cuts in the carrier fleet resulted in a reduction to 
137, then to 110, and finally to only 50 plus an option for seven 
more.  An important provision of the contract was that there be a 
considerable number of British-built components incorporated into the 
aircraft.  

The most important difference between the F-4K and the F-4J was the 
replacement of the J79 turbojets of the F-4J with a pair of 12,250 
lb.s.t. dry and 20,515 lb.s.t. with afterburning Rolls Royce 
RB.168-15R Spey 201 turbofans.  The additional power offered by the 
Spey was thought to be essential in order to provide sufficient power 
to operate the Phantom safely from smaller British aircraft carriers.  
In addition, the Spey was able to provide more bleed air for the 
boundary layer control system, which would permit slower approach 
speeds.  However, the increased power of these engines required that 
the air intake area be increased by twenty percent and that the lower 
portion of the aft fuselage be redesigned.  

The initial contract was for two prototype YF-4Ks (Royal Navy serial 
numbers XT595/XT596) and two pre-production F-4Ks (XT597/XT598).  The 
two YF-4Ks were development test aircraft which were powered by Spey 
engines but had primarily American-built equipment.  The first YF-4K 
(XT595) took off on its maiden flight at St Louis on June 27, 1966.  
It was followed by XT596 on August 1.  Both machines were sent out to 
Edwards AFB for engine trials.  

The first pre-production F-4K (XT597) took off on its maiden flight on 
November 1, 1966.  The two pre-production machines had more 
British-built equipment.  British-built subassemblies were shipped to 
St Louis for assembly by McDonnell.  Unfortunately, the complex offset 
agreements increased the unit price of the F-4K and caused delays.  In 
addition, Britain had to shoulder all the development costs of the 
Spey, which raised the price even further.  

The Royal Navy ordered 48 production F-4Ks (XT857/XT876 and 
XV565/XV592).  They were designated Phantom FG.Mk 1 in Royal Navy 
service.  The "FG" designation meant that they fulfilled both fighter 
and ground-attack duties.  They differed from the two YF-4Ks and the 
two pre-production F-4Ks in having Spey 202/203 turbofans, and were 
fitted with all specified British equipment items.  

The Royal Navy F-4K could be recognized by the presence of a quadrant 
on the rear fuselage which allowed deck crews to check that the 
stabilator was set at the correct angle for a catapult launch.  The 
F-4K had three landing approach lights mounted in a vertical strip on 
the nose landing gear door.  In addition to the Ferranti AN/AWG-11, 
which was a license-built version of the AWG-10, other British-built 
equipment included a Plessey PTR-373 receiver and transmitter, a Dowty 
Electronics UHF receiver amplifier, and a PTR-374 D403P UHF airborne 
emergency transmitter/receiver.  

The first three Royal Navy Phantoms were delivered to Yeovilton on 
April 29, 1968.  The initial trials and crew training were handled by 
No. 700P Squadron, after which No. 892 Squadron was formed for 
carrier-based operations and No. 767 Squadron was assigned the task 
of handling crew training.  

The only Royal Navy operational unit to fly the Phantom, No. 892 
Squadron, was commissioned on March 21, 1969.  It became carrier 
qualified aboard the USS *Saratoga* (CVA-60) in the autumn of 1969.  
It embarked for the first time aboard HMS *Ark Royal* in June of 1970.  
The primary role of the Phantom FG Mk 1 was air-to-air interception, 
with a secondary role of ground attack.  

As compared to the General Electric J79-powered Phantom, the use of 
the Spey produced a ten percent increase in the operational radius and 
a 15 percent increase in ferry range.  Better take-off, initial climb, 
and low-level acceleration figures were obtained.  However, the 
Spey-powered Phantom had a lower maximum speed, a lower ceiling, and a 
generally poorer altitude performance than did the J79-powered 
version.  

The Royal Navy suffered from an unexpectedly rapid drawdown of its 
carrier force.  The cost of refitting HMS *Eagle* for Phantom 
operations had turned out to be prohibitively high, and HMS 
*Victorious* had to be retired early because of an onboard fire.  This 
left only the HMS *Ark Royal* as a Phantom "platform".  Since the 
carriers now didn't need as many Phantoms as before, only 29 Phantom 
FG.Mk 1s were actually delivered to the Royal Navy.  The remainder 
were immediately diverted to the Royal Air Force, which was already 
receiving its own version of the Phantom, the FGR.  Mk 2.  These 
Phantom FG. Mk 1s were turned over to No. 43 Squadron at RAF 
Leuchars in Scotland.  This squadron had been reformed on September 1, 
1969 to operate Phantom FG.Mk 1s which were surplus to Royal Navy 
requirements and was given the responsibility of the air defense role.  
Most of the other Royal Air Force Phantom FGR.Mk 2s served in the 
strike/attack role.  

The last Phantom FG.Mk 1 (XV592) was delivered on November 21, 1969.  

The F-4K carried no internal cannon nor could it carry the SUU-23/A 
underfuselage cannon pod.  However, F-4K aircraft transferred to the 
RAF were later made compatible with this gun pod.  

In 1978, the British government decided that it could no longer afford 
to maintain carriers capable of operating conventional fixed-wing 
aircraft, and the HMS *Ark Royal* was decommissioned.  The last 
Phantom launch from HMS *Ark Royal* took place on November 27, 1978.  
This meant the end of the line for No.  892 Squadron, and the unit was 
disbanded on December 15, 1978.  Its Phantom FG.Mk Is were transferred 
to the Royal Air Force by the end of 1978.  After that time, the Royal 
Navy switched to smaller carriers that were equipped with V/STOL 
Harriers and helicopters.  

After their transfer to the RAF, ex-Royal Navy FG Mk 1 aircraft were 
assigned to No. 111 Squadron.  No. 111 Squadron had been formed at 
Leuchars, Scotland in 1975 to assume air defense duties and had flown 
Lightning interceptors.  It converted to the ex-Navy Phantoms in 
1978-1980.  No. 111 Squadron flew its Phantoms in the air defense 
role, its primary responsibility being the patrolling of the 
Iceland-UK "gap".  It relinquished its Phantoms when it converted to 
the Tornado F.Mk 3 in 1990.  

No. 43 Squadron of the RAF flew its last Phantom mission on July 1, 
1989.  It converted to the Tornado F.Mk 3 shortly thereafter.  

The Royal Navy lost seven Phantoms in accidents during service.  A 
further eight of them crashed after they were transferred to the RAF.  
Phantom FG.Mk 1s are now in storage and are no longer flying.  
However, it is possible that they might be sold to another user.  

The F-4M was the version of the Phantom intended for the Royal Air 
Force.  It was intended as a replacement for the Hawker Hunter in both 
the ground attack and fighter reconnaissance roles.  

Originally, the replacement for the Hunter was to have been the Hawker 
Siddeley P.1154 Mach 2 V/STOL fighter, which was to have been built in 
both shipboard and land-based versions.  The Royal Navy backed out of 
the P.1154 project in February of 1964, leaving the RAF to go it 
alone.  When the Labour government was elected in October of 1964, one 
of the first acts of the new Prime Minister Harold Wilson was to 
question whether Britain really needed or could afford such an 
expensive military aircraft as the P.1154.  On February 2, 1965, the 
government cancelled the P.1154 project altogether, leaving the RAF 
with no Hunter replacement.  The RAF had expressed an interest in the 
McDonnell Phantom as far back as January of 1964, at the same time 
that the Royal Navy was considering its own version of the Phantom 
which eventually emerged as the F-4K.  Anticipating that the RAF would 
eventually be able to follow up its interest in the Phantom with some 
hard cash, the McDonnell design team began to develop a version 
specifically for the RAF under the US designation F-4M.  On February 
9, 1965, the RAF followed the Royal Navy's lead and announced that 
they had selected the Phantom as the successor to the Hunter.  The RAF 
designation was to be Phantom FGR.Mk 2.  The "FGR" meant Fighter, 
Ground attack and Reconnaissance, which were to be the roles to be 
fulfilled by the aircraft.  

On July 1, 1964, an agreement was announced on the first order for 
both the Royal Navy and the RAF.  There were to be two RAF F-4M-29 
prototypes and 38 production F-4Ms.  The original target for the RAF 
was 200, but this was eventually reduced to 150.  

On July 1, 1965 it was announced that agreement had been reached on 
the initial production batch for the RAF--two YF-4Ms and 38 F-4Ms.  At 
that time, it was stipulated that the RAF would ultimately want to 
acquired 200 F-4Ms.  The order was soon reduced to 150, but the final 
32 planes on the order were cancelled before they could be delivered.  

The RAF Phantom, like the Royal Navy version, was powered by a pair of 
Spey 202/203 turbofans.  The RAF actually preferred the cheaper and 
proven J79 turbojet for its Phantom, but domestic political 
considerations dictated the choice of a British-designed engine.  

The F-4M differed from the Royal Navy version in having a 
Ferranti-built AN/AWG-12 fire control system (a license-built version 
of the Westinghouse AN/AWG-10 fitted to the US Navy F-4J) interfaced 
with a Ferranti inertial navigational and attack system (originally 
developed for the abortive TSR.2).  The RAF version lacked the slotted 
stabilators, the double-extensible nose leg, and the aileron droop of 
the naval variant.  The F-4M was fitted with anti-skid brakes for 
safer operations on wet or short runways.  Unlike the F-4K, the F-4M 
was compatible with the SUU-16/A and SUU-23/A gun pods.  The basic 
armament consisted of four Sparrow air-to-air missiles carried in 
underfuselage slots.  Since the F-4M was not intended to be launched 
from carriers, it lacked the prominent stabilator incidence indicator 
quadrant that was fitted to the rear fuselage of the F-4K.  The F-4M 
was otherwise externally almost identical to the Royal Navy F-4K.  

The first of two YF-4Ms (XT852 and XT853) flew at St Louis on February 
17, 1967.  XT852 was then transferred to Holloman AFB in New Mexico 
for trials.  XT853 was transferred to NAS Patuxent River in Maryland.  

The production F-4M differed only in detail from the YF-4M.  A total 
of 116 production Phantom FGR.Mk 2s were delivered to the RAF.  The 
first F-4M to reach Britain was XT891, which arrived at Yeovilton on 
July 18, 1968.  Two days later, it was transferred to No.  23 
Maintenance Unit at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.  115 more F-4Ms 
were delivered to the same unit.  The last example (XV501) was 
delivered on October 29, 1969.  However, repairs to XV434 (which had 
been damaged during an earlier accident) delayed its delivery until 
June 16, 1970.  

The initial plans were for the Phantom FGR.Mk 2 to serve in the 
strike/attack role pending the availability of the Anglo-French 
SEPECAT Jaguar.  When the Jaguar eventually did become available, the 
Phantom would then switch over to the air defense role and would 
replace the BAC Lightning in service.  

The first Phantom FGR Mk.2s were handed over to No 228 Operational 
Conversion Unit at RAF Coningsby in August of 1968.  The first 
operational squadron was No. 6, which was formed at RAF Coningsby in 
May of 1969.  The Phantom FGR.Mk 2 replaced that unit's ageing 
Canberra B.Mk. 16s.  Subsequently, Phantom FGR.Mk 2s were operated by 
Nos. 6 and 54 Squadrons of Air Support Command, Nos. 23, 29, 56, and 
111 Squadrons of Strike Command, and Nos. 14, 17, 19, 31, and 92 
Squadrons based in Germany.  They served in the ground attack and air 
defense roles.  In the tactical reconnaissance role, FGR Mk 2s were 
operated by No. 2 Squadron based in Germany and by No. 41 Squadron of 
the Air Support Command.  

The F-4M could carry the SNEB rocket pod, the 1000-pound bomb, the 
BL755 cluster bomb unit, and it could also carry nuclear weapons.  
When used in the reconnaissance role, the F-4M could carry the EMI 
special pod which housed cameras, infrared linescan, and side-looking 
radar.  This unit had mapping and moving target indication 
capabilities and could carry a variety of optical cameras.  

In the mid-1970s, the SEPECAT Jaguar became available, and 
Phantom-equipped ground attack squadrons began to relinquish their 
planes and convert over to the new Anglo-French plane.  The Phantoms 
were now available for the air defense role, supplanting the BAe 
Lightning which was at that time in the process of being retired from 
service.  Beginning in 1975, the changeover to air defense roles was 
accompanied by the addition of Marconi ARI.18228 radar warning 
receiver antennae in a fintop pod.  In the air-defense role, the 
armament typically consisted of four AIM-7E2 Sparrow radar homing 
missiles, two AIM-9G Sidewinder infrared homing missiles, and an 
optional SUU-23/A gun pod.  The Sparrow gave way to the BAe Sky Flash 
in 1979 and the AIM-9G yielded to the AIM-9L in the early 1980s.  The 
BAe Sky Flash is a semiactive radar-homing missile with a launch 
weight of 425 pounds and an effective range of about 30 miles.  The 
66-pound high-explosive warhead is triggered by an EMI active-radar 
fuse.  

The RAF Phantom did not participate in the Falkland/Malvinas conflict 
of 1981.  However, RAF Phantoms began operating out of Port Stanley 
Airport in the Falkland Islands in 1982 following their recapture from 
Argentina.  In order to compensate NATO for the diversion of these 
aircraft to the Falklands, Britain purchased 15 ex-US Navy F-4Js for 
use in Europe.  They retained their J79 engines and their American 
avionics.  They were assigned the designation F-4J(UK) rather than the 
more logical "Phantom F.Mk 3" so that they would not be confused with 
the Tornado F.Mk 3.  The US Navy BuNos of these planes were BuNos 
153768, 152773, 153783, 153785, 153795, 153803, 153850, 153809, 
155510, 155529, 155574, 155734, 155755, 155868, and 155894.  RAF 
serials were ZE350-ZE364.  The F-4J(UK) aircraft retained their J79 
engines and their American avionics.  These planes were overhauled and 
modified before delivery to the RAF.  A number of US Navy systems, 
such as the AN/ASN-54 Approach Power Compensator System, the AN/ASW-25 
datalink system, and the AN/ALQ-126 countermeasures set, were removed 
and replaced by British systems.  The prominent electronics 
countermeasures antennae on the upper sides of the air intakes were, 
however, empty.  

The first three F-4J(UK) aircraft were delivered to the United Kingdom 
in August of 1984.  They equipped the newly-formed No.  74 Squadron at 
RAF Wattisham.  These aircraft were intended to serve in the air 
defense role pending the introduction of the Tornado F.Mk 3 into RAF 
service.  

>From 1987 onward, 75 Phantom FGR.Mk 2s received new BAe-built outer 
wing panels in order to extend their fatigue lives.  

The F-4J(UK) aircraft delivered from US Navy stocks to the RAF were 
retired from service in early 1991 when some low-time Phantom FGR.Mk 2 
fighters became available to No.  74 Squadron.  However, The Phantom 
FGR.Mk 2 was used only briefly by No.  74 Squadron, the squadron 
standing down on September 20, 1992 and disbanding the next day.  

During the late 1980s, Phantom-equipped interceptor squadrons began to 
be re-equipped with Tornado F.Mk 3s.  The last two Phantom-equipped 
interceptor squadrons were disbanded in the second half of 1991.  The 
Falkland-based No.  1435 flight exchanged its Phantoms for Tornadoes 
in mid 1992.  Nos. 56 and 74 Squadrons based at Wattisham disbanded in 
the fall of 1992, bringing the era of Phantom service with the RAF to 
an end.  

A total of 32 Phantom FGR.Mk 2s and one F-4J(UK) were lost in 
accidents.  

XT899, the last Phantom at Wildenrath, is now on display at the Czech 
Air Force Museum.  

There have been reports that Greece has expressed an interest in 
buying some of the ex-RAF Phantoms, but so far as I am aware, no firm 
order has been issued.  

Royal Navy serials for Phantom FG.Mk 1: 

XT595-XT596 	McDonnell YF-4K-26-MC Phantom 
XT597-XT598 	McDonnell F-4K-27-MC Phantom 
XT857-XT858 	McDonnell F-4K-30-MC Phantom 
XT859-XT862 	McDonnell F-4K-31-MC Phantom 
XT863-XT870 	McDonnell F-4K-32-MC Phantom 
XT871-XT876 	McDonnell F-4K-33-MC Phantom 
XV565-XV571 	McDonnell F-4K-34-MC Phantom 
XV572-XV578 	McDonnell F-4K-35-MC Phantom 
XV579-XV585 	McDonnell F-4K-36-MC Phantom 
XV586-XV592 	McDonnell F-4K-37-MC Phantom 
XV604-XV610 	order not taken up 

RAF serials of Phantom FGR Mk.2: 

XT852-XT853 	McDonnell YF-4M-29-MC Phantom 
XT891-XT895 	McDonnell F-4M-31-MC Phantom 
XT896-XT906 	McDonnell F-4M-32-MC Phantom 
XT907-XT914 	McDonnell F-4M-33-MC Phantom 
XT915-XT928 	transferred to following batch 
XV393-XV398 	McDonnell F-4M-33-MC Phantom 
XV399-XV417 	McDonnell F-4M-34-MC Phantom 
XV418-XV436 	McDonnell F-4M-35-MC Phantom 
XV437-XV442 	McDonnell F-4M-36-MC Phantom 
XV460-XV475 	McDonnell F-4M-36-MC Phantom 
XV476-XV495 	McDonnell F-4M-37-MC Phantom 
XV496-XV501 	McDonnell F-4M-38-MC Phantom 
XV520-XV551 	McDonnell F-4M Phantom - order cancelled 

RAF Serials for F-4J(UK): 

ZE350-ZE364	US Navy BuNos 153768, 152773, 153783, 153785, 153795, 
		153803, 153850, 153809, 155510, 155529, 155574, 
		155734, 155755, 155868, and 155894. 

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.

  Modern Air Combat, Bill Gunston and Mike Spick, Crescent, 1983.

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

  Post-World War II Fighters: 1945-1973, Marcelle Size Knaac,
  Office of Air Force History, 1986.

  The World Guide to Combat Planes, William Green, Macdonald, 1966. 

  The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston,
  Orion, 1988. 

  The World's Great Attack Aircraft, Gallery, 1988.

Joe Baugher			**************************************
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