According to the results of their use, many combat aircraft either turned out to be forgotten for their low qualities, or became true legends, which even people who have no relation to aviation know about. The latter include, for example, our IL-2, and much later American Phantom aircraft.
Perhaps this is the most famous of all American aircraft from 1960-1980, and its name for many years has become a household name for all US Air Force fighters. Its highlight was multifunctionality, which our aircraft designers were able to achieve a little later. In general, the Phantom plane is no less a vivid symbol of the Cold War than, for example, the B-52 bomber.
A feature of this technique was that medium-range missiles could be placed in the bomb bombs of the machine. It is interesting that their domestic counterparts, subsequently used to equip the MiG-23, were strongly reminiscent of their design and performance characteristics. The Chinese, on the other hand, created a JH-7 aircraft at all “under the carbon”. The similarity is not only in appearance, but also in almost identical engines and even radar. It is not surprising that the Phantom is an airplane, a photo of which can still be seen in many magazines devoted to weapons.
Development start
The initial work began in 1953, when the US Air Force was keenly concerned about the lack of the slightest developments in the field of creating a supersonic carrier-based fighter. The first was McDonnell, but that project did not fully meet the requirements of the military. However, on the basis of the prototype, the AN-1 fighter-bomber was subsequently created.
However, the failure of the “pioneer” was not connected with the failure of the concept, but in the technical task for a new plane, completely revised in 1955: the fact is that the admirals at that time had revealed a desire to have a purely carrier-based interceptor fighter capable of accelerating to M = 2, armed exclusively with missiles.
By the way, who created the Phantom plane? The McDonnell already mentioned by us. Having gained experience, its engineers were able to create a machine that fully meets all the requirements of the customer. Moreover, the latter came out so successful that it is still in service with many countries of the world.
First prototypes
Already in the middle of summer of the same year, the first prototype was created, which received the designation F4H-1F, and three years later it flew. Test pilot R. S Little sat at the helm. The aircraft used J79-3A engines (2x6715 kgf), but after the first fifty flights, it was decided to change them to J79-GE-2. After a little more time, the latter also gave way to the model J79-GE-2A (2x7325 kgf). So the Phantom plane of the second model appeared.
In 1960, an absolute speed record of 2583 km / h was already achieved on it. But here the Americans went to a small technical trick: a mixture of water and ethyl alcohol was injected into the compressor chamber under pressure, which allowed cooling the turbine blades effectively and preventing their thermal destruction. This modification received the designation F-4A, in total 23 aircraft of this model were produced.
All of them were used exclusively for flight tests, the US Air Force did not enter service. In general, the “Phantom” is an airplane (there is a photo of it in the article), in the history of which there were at least a dozen modifications. Given that he was in the arsenal of the United States directly for a relatively short time, this can be considered a record! If you don’t know what the Phantom (airplane) looks like, then you can satisfy your curiosity by reading this article!
Start of production, modifications
The production of these machines was started in December 1960. By 1967, the US Air Force was armed with about 637 aircraft of this model. Subsequently, a scout was created on the basis of these varieties. Subsequently, at least 500 “pure” Phantoms were produced, a number of old aircraft (except for experimental batches) were converted into new modifications.
Interestingly, the decision to take the Phantom into service as a multi-role fighter was made only in 1962. In many respects, such a slowness was associated with discussions at that time about the role of the future machine. Some designers suggested immediately making it an analogue of an attack aircraft with the makings of a fighter, while others insisted on the option of creating a purely fighter equipment, which at that time was most in demand by the US Air Force.
Technical equipment and weapons
The aerodynamic design is normal, the wing is low, trapezoidal, its feature was the presence of folding consoles. The tail is made swept for maximum resistance to air flow and increase the maneuverability of the aircraft.
Unlike the main fighters of those years, the Phantom aircraft was distinguished by developed mechanization, a number of modifications had the UPS system on board. So that the plane can land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, a brake hook is used. It withstands landing machines weighing up to 17 tons. Of course, such landings are available only to the most experienced pilots who feel their plane perfectly.
The radar of the AN / APQ-120 model was used in the design of the machine, the AN / ASQ-26 complex was responsible for aiming, the AN / AJB-7 system was responsible for navigation and the exact exit of the aircraft to the bombing point. To drop bombs, the F-4 phantom plane used AN / ASQ-9L brand equipment. Radar radiation from enemy radars was detected by the receiving equipment AN / APR-36/37, the complex AN / ALQ-71/72/87 was responsible for detecting EW interference.
The flight navigation system F-4E includes the ANN AN / ASN-63, an AN / ASN-46 computer and a low-altitude radio altimeter AN / APN-155. For communication, radio navigation and identification there is a comprehensive AN / ASQ-19 system, including a TACAN transceiver.
Armament. At nine nodes of the external suspension, the F-4 phantom aircraft can carry a variety of weapons, including four medium-range AIM-7 Sparrow URs. There is the possibility of carrying weapons in the niches of the fuselage, the aircraft can also use aircraft guns of the M61A1 model (ammunition of 1,200 rounds per gun). On board there are blocks with NAR, standard bombs, poured aircraft devices (VAP) on wing suspensions.
The Phantom plane (the characteristics, the photo of which is in the article) has the ability to carry two nuclear model bombs on board: Mk43, Mk.57, Mk.61 or Mk.28. The total mass of possible weapons is about seven tons, but with such a load, a machine can take off only if the fuel tanks have not been completely filled. This is one of the key shortcomings of this model, which was most pronounced in Vietnam, where the Americans met with Soviet MiGs. Our aircraft's traction performance in relation to weight and weapons was significantly higher.
Production Details
The release of Phantoms to cover the needs of the US military went on until 1976 (in total about 4,000 aircraft were delivered, and about 1,300 went to the needs of the Navy). In addition, about one and a half thousand cars were exported. But it should be noted here that some of the exported vehicles were transferred directly from the US Navy / Air Force.
It is not surprising that the F4 Phantom aircraft became one of the most popular in the fighter jet sector of the time, as more than five thousand pieces were released in total. Finally, from 1971 to 1980, 138 aircraft were built in Japan, which were a licensed copy of the American Phantom, which differed from the basic version in some changes in the composition of weapons and on-board equipment.
Specifications
The total wing span was 11.7 meters, the fuselage length was 19.2 meters, the maximum body height was 5 meters, and the wing area was 49.2 square meters. The maximum take-off mass varied from 25 to 26 tons. An empty F 4 Phantom aircraft (without fuel and suspended weapons) weighed 13,760 kg, six tons of fuel were placed in the internal fuel tanks, and another four tons could be poured into the hanging tanks.
Motors and flight performance
As a power plant, two General Electric turbofan engines were used. There were also two models: J79-GE-8 (with a maximum traction of 7780 kgf), J79-GE-17 (the highest traction characteristic of which was 8120 kgf).
At one time, the Phantom aircraft, the technical characteristics of which are in the article, became a real legend of the US Air Force precisely for the reason that its flight data was very good. The aircraft could accelerate to 2300 km / h, the maximum achievable height in practice was 16,600 meters, acceleration acceleration - 220 m / s, flight range 2,380 kilometers.
The take-off run length before takeoff was 1340 meters, with a parachute the car completely stopped for 950 meters. On aircraft carriers, where the hack was used, the American Phantom aircraft stopped for about 30-40 meters. The maximum speed overload achieved during practical operation was 6.0G.
Significance and combat use
Americans loved the Phantom plane very much (the characteristics of which we have already described), since the devices of this model for a very long time remained the main means of gaining superiority in the air of the Air Force and Navy. The first known episode of combat use took place on April 2, 1965, during the fighting in Vietnam. There, aircraft of this model collided with MiG-17F fighters, which were delivered to North Vietnam by our country.
Since 1966, the MiG-21F, also supplied by the USSR, participated in episodes of the confrontation. The US Air Force and Navy assumed that the Phantoms would quickly begin to gain superiority in the air, since they had quite powerful airborne weapons, high-quality radar, as well as good acceleration and marching speed. All these circumstances gave hope for good results of air battles.
Advantages and disadvantages
But in practice, it turned out that in a collision with more maneuverable aircraft, the characteristics of American aircraft were not very popular. They had lower speed, the wing had a greater operational load, and restrictions on overloads also made their role (6.0 versus 8.0 for MiGs). It also turned out that American cars have a smaller turning angle with somewhat worse practical handling. The thrust per unit weight of weapons in Soviet aircraft was also better.
The advantages included quick acceleration (the difference with the MiG is about seven seconds in favor of the American), the car climbed faster, our pilots praised the visibility from the cockpit of the captured Phantoms, as well as the presence of the second crew member. The latter significantly unloaded the pilot himself, as he constantly monitored the area of the rear hemisphere and could warn the commander about the threat that arose there.
Other places of military use
It is believed that the most successful crew during the Vietnam War was the pilot S. Ritchie and navigator C. Bellevue, on the combat account of which, according to the Americans themselves, there were five Vietnamese MiGs. Since the late 60s of the last century, aircraft of this model began to be massively transferred to the Israeli allies of America. As part of the Israeli Air Force, the machines proved to be very good.
But even there, in clashes with the Egyptian MiG-21s, which Soviet pilots were at the helm of, they found out the same shortcomings. The problems were so great that the Israelis launched on their territory the release of the French Mirage fighter jets, and for this they did not disdain even to steal part of the technical documentation. In the future, "Phantoms" were refocused on solving assault missions, which aircraft of this model coped without any complaints.
However, the pilots themselves were not enthusiastic about this, since the Phantoms used as assault vehicles suffered significant losses (up to 70% of the fleet of these vehicles). Again, this fact was explained not by the high professional qualities of the Egyptian pilots, but by the good skills of Soviet calculations of the Soviet air defense systems.
Subsequently, aircraft were used during the conflict between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988), but at least some details of their military use in those years are still unknown. However, the first air battle between the plane and the helicopter dates back to that time, when the Mi-24 of the Iraqi Air Force was able to knock out the Phantom attacking it with air-to-air missiles.
It is also known that in 2012, the Syrian Air Force shot down the Phantom of Turkey, which the latter used as a scout.
Some experts in the field of technology and weapons believe that the Phantom plane is a “third-generation” US fighter-bomber, at the time of its creation it was seriously able to overtake its time. There are some prerequisites for such an opinion, since the model turned out to be very successful, and some of its characteristics remain in demand today.
Today, aircraft of this type remain in service with the Air Force: Egypt (about two dozen vehicles), the Greeks have about fifty modernized Phantoms, Iran also has them, but all Iranian aircraft belong to the 60th year of construction, and the number of remaining operational vehicles is unknown. Turkey uses this type of aircraft, which is armed with at least one and a half hundred modernized Phantoms, South Korea (about fifty), Japan (one hundred aircraft). Note that the Japanese use samples of their own construction, which we already mentioned above.
Modern perspectives
Today, the machines remaining at the US Air Force are massively converted into heavy impact UAVs, as well as into radio-controlled targets intended for training air force crews and air defense calculations. The Americans themselves write that the last episode of the flight of the “human” “Phantom” occurred in mid-April 2013 (meaning a flight over US territory). Prior to that, the “last of the Mohicans” was considered to be a vehicle with license plate number 68-0599, which made its flight to the base in the Mojave desert on January 18, 1989, and has not been flying since then.
But at present, the US Department of Defense predicts that soon all the Phantoms that are currently in storage will be removed from conservation and mass converted. It is known that, as of today, at least 316 vehicles of this type have already been removed from storage.
What will they do with Phantoms?
The American corporation BAE Systems is engaged in the overhaul of these aircraft with their subsequent conversion into a QF-4C radio-controlled target. It is known that ultimately all the machines will be transferred to the 82nd separate squadron of radio-controlled targets (Aerial Targets Squadron - ATRS). It is based in Florida.
In appearance, “robotic” airplanes can be easily distinguished from ordinary ones, since the wingtips and fin are colored in bright red (you can see the photo of the Phantom aircraft of this type in the article). It is already known about a couple of hundreds of ordered and under construction devices. Such re-equipment is valuable in that the vehicles can be used as combat vehicles.
In order to demonstrate the combat capabilities of the converted Phantoms, in January 2008, an air-to-ground missile was launched for the first time from one of them. It is believed that aircraft converted into UAVs can be effectively used to suppress enemy air defense systems. Even despite the effectiveness of the technology itself, the loss of pilots during their downing will not happen, which will save the lives of trained pilots.
Most likely, in the next decade, the latest “Phantoms” on the “human drive” will be permanently decommissioned in all countries where such machines are still in service. And then it will be possible to look at the legendary device either in museums or when visiting private aviation collections. Finally, you can always see the photo of the Phantom aircraft on the pages of this article.
Our pilots had the opportunity to evaluate the captured Phantoms. I must say that Soviet experts spoke highly of this car at once for several indicators, especially noting the overall workmanship, excellent electronics, the convenience of landing and the pilot's work. Also, in the aircraft of this model, “protection against the fool” was competently founded. So, in landing mode it was impossible to launch a rocket or mistakenly use other weapons. Alas, this sometimes happened with the pilots of our MiGs, who, being tired, could simply click in the wrong direction ...