McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom II
By the late 1960s, the West German Luftwaffe was relying on increasingly aging aircraft for air defense, such as the F-86 Sabre and F-84F Thunderstreak. A replacement was needed, but the West German government wanted to avoid another debacle like the F-104G Starfighter, whose catastrophic loss rate in German service had made it a grim joke. The Luftwaffe considered the Dassault Mirage F.1 and a new design from Lockheed, but settled on the proven F-4E Phantom II; at first, the Germans requested a simplified, single-seat Phantom, but this was rejected by McDonnell Douglas as not being feasible from a production standpoint. The end result was the F-4F Phantom II.
The F-4F externally was identical to the F-4E, but had a degraded APQ-120 radar that did not have the guidance system for the AIM-7 Sparrow, which was also eliminated on the F-4F. It also lacked inflight refuelling capability and the ability to launch precision-guided weapons, while major internal components would be built in Germany itself. The F-4F was, therefore, the cheapest and lightest of the various Phantom variants. The first F-4F flew in May 1973 and entered service with the Luftwaffe a few months later under Operation Peace Rhine, replacing the F-84F and F-86 in fighter wings, and supplementing the Fiat G.91R and F-104G in ground attack wings.
Not long after its introduction in service, however, the Luftwaffe realized that it was entrusting the air defense of West Germany, a nation that would come under massive Soviet air attack in the event of a war, to an aircraft that would only be equipped with an internal gun and short-range Sidewinder missiles. This would require the F-4 to get into dogfights with far more agile Soviet fighters such as the MiG-21, and leave it at a long-range disadvantage against the MiG-23 Flogger. This did not mean much sense for an interceptor, and so beginning in 1980, the F-4F fleet was restored back to essentially baseline F-4Es, with Sparrow capability, inflight refuelling, and precision munitions capability, such as launching the AGM-65 Maverick. Avionics were also upgraded, as was the cockpit, making the F-4F a much better fighter—though German crews still referred to it as the Eisenschwein (Iron Pig) and Fliegender Ziegelstein (Flying Brick).
While the F-4F was now capable of taking on the MiG-21 and MiG-23, it was still at a disadvantage against the new third-generation Soviet fighters coming into service, such as the MiG-29 and Su-27. In 1984, the Luftwaffe requested another upgrade to the Phantom, replacing the ALQ-120 radar with a more advanced multimode APG-65, the same carried by the F/A-18 Hornet, along with a host of other upgrades. The main purpose of this was to allow the F-4F to carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. Delays to the AMRAAM program meant that the F-4F fleet did not start receiving the upgrade until 1988, and was not complete until 1995—by which time the Cold War was over. However, it had unexpected dividends: the Eurofighter Typhoon project ran into innumerable delays during the 1990s, to the point where a now-unified Germany considered leaving the project altogether, but the upgraded F-4F ICE (Improved Combat Efficiency) was able to shoulder the load for the decade and beyond. The F-4F was finally retired in 2013. 175 F-4Fs were built.
Dad got this picture of a Jagdbombergeschwader (JBG) 36 F-4F at Ramstein in 1978. It carries the then-current Luftwaffe splinter scheme of brown and dark blue over white. JBG 36's crest is carried on the intake. At the time, JBG 36 was based at Pferdsfeld, West Germany; today, it is known as TLG 73 and flies Eurofighter Typhoons. 38+46 stayed with the unit until 2000, when it was retired and subsequently scrapped.
Worth noting is the Royal Danish Air Force TF.35XD Draken in the background, and the Luftwaffe Alpha Jet A.
McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom II
By the late 1960s, the West German Luftwaffe was relying on increasingly aging aircraft for air defense, such as the F-86 Sabre and F-84F Thunderstreak. A replacement was needed, but the West German government wanted to avoid another debacle like the F-104G Starfighter, whose catastrophic loss rate in German service had made it a grim joke. The Luftwaffe considered the Dassault Mirage F.1 and a new design from Lockheed, but settled on the proven F-4E Phantom II; at first, the Germans requested a simplified, single-seat Phantom, but this was rejected by McDonnell Douglas as not being feasible from a production standpoint. The end result was the F-4F Phantom II.
The F-4F externally was identical to the F-4E, but had a degraded APQ-120 radar that did not have the guidance system for the AIM-7 Sparrow, which was also eliminated on the F-4F. It also lacked inflight refuelling capability and the ability to launch precision-guided weapons, while major internal components would be built in Germany itself. The F-4F was, therefore, the cheapest and lightest of the various Phantom variants. The first F-4F flew in May 1973 and entered service with the Luftwaffe a few months later under Operation Peace Rhine, replacing the F-84F and F-86 in fighter wings, and supplementing the Fiat G.91R and F-104G in ground attack wings.
Not long after its introduction in service, however, the Luftwaffe realized that it was entrusting the air defense of West Germany, a nation that would come under massive Soviet air attack in the event of a war, to an aircraft that would only be equipped with an internal gun and short-range Sidewinder missiles. This would require the F-4 to get into dogfights with far more agile Soviet fighters such as the MiG-21, and leave it at a long-range disadvantage against the MiG-23 Flogger. This did not mean much sense for an interceptor, and so beginning in 1980, the F-4F fleet was restored back to essentially baseline F-4Es, with Sparrow capability, inflight refuelling, and precision munitions capability, such as launching the AGM-65 Maverick. Avionics were also upgraded, as was the cockpit, making the F-4F a much better fighter—though German crews still referred to it as the Eisenschwein (Iron Pig) and Fliegender Ziegelstein (Flying Brick).
While the F-4F was now capable of taking on the MiG-21 and MiG-23, it was still at a disadvantage against the new third-generation Soviet fighters coming into service, such as the MiG-29 and Su-27. In 1984, the Luftwaffe requested another upgrade to the Phantom, replacing the ALQ-120 radar with a more advanced multimode APG-65, the same carried by the F/A-18 Hornet, along with a host of other upgrades. The main purpose of this was to allow the F-4F to carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. Delays to the AMRAAM program meant that the F-4F fleet did not start receiving the upgrade until 1988, and was not complete until 1995—by which time the Cold War was over. However, it had unexpected dividends: the Eurofighter Typhoon project ran into innumerable delays during the 1990s, to the point where a now-unified Germany considered leaving the project altogether, but the upgraded F-4F ICE (Improved Combat Efficiency) was able to shoulder the load for the decade and beyond. The F-4F was finally retired in 2013. 175 F-4Fs were built.
Dad got this picture of a Jagdbombergeschwader (JBG) 36 F-4F at Ramstein in 1978. It carries the then-current Luftwaffe splinter scheme of brown and dark blue over white. JBG 36's crest is carried on the intake. At the time, JBG 36 was based at Pferdsfeld, West Germany; today, it is known as TLG 73 and flies Eurofighter Typhoons. 38+46 stayed with the unit until 2000, when it was retired and subsequently scrapped.
Worth noting is the Royal Danish Air Force TF.35XD Draken in the background, and the Luftwaffe Alpha Jet A.