F-4 Phantom - The Greatest Cold War Jet?
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is arguably one of the greatest cold war jet fighters, serving with distinction over Vietnam, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and on air defence duties for many air arms around the world. Flying at Mach 2.2, and delivering 18000lbs of ordance on it's enemies, the Phantom is a fearsome multi-role aircraft.
Bibliography
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.
Israeli Air Power into the 1990s, Tim Ripley, Air International, Vol 45, No. 3, 1993.
The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Anthony H. Cordesman and Abraham R. Wagner, Westview Press, 1990.
Kian-Noush, IRIAF: 75th Anniversary, World Air Power Journal, Vol 39, 1999.
Boeing/McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Current Operations, World AirPower Journal, Vol 40, Spring 2000.
McLelland, Tim (2017). Britain's Cold War Fighters. London: Fonthill.
Martin, Patrick (2013). British Phantoms: The Phantom FG Mk.1, FGR Mk.2 and F-4J(UK) in Royal Air Force Service 1979-1992. Erlangen: Double Ugly Book
Lake, Jon (1992). Phantom Spirit in the Skies. London: Aerospace Publishing
Hobbs, David (2020). The British Carrier Strike Fleet: After 1945. Barsnley: Pen & Sword.
Gledhill, David (2017). Phantom in the Cold War: RAF Wildenrath, 1977-1992. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books.
Hobbs, David (1982). Aircraft of the Royal Navy since 1945. Liskeard: Maritime Books.
Hobbs, David (2009). A Century of Carrier Aviation. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing.
Davies, Peter E. (2013). USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Davies, Peter E. (2016). USN McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Dorr, Robert F. and Chris Bishop, eds. Vietnam Air War Debrief. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1996.
Hobson, Chris. Vietnam Air Losses, USAF, USN, USMC, Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961-1973. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2001.
Higham, Robin and Carol Williams. Flying Combat Aircraft of USAAF-USAF (Vol.2). Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press, 1978.
Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of All RAF Squadrons and Their Antecedents Since 1912:. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2nd edition, 2001.
Bishop, Farzad and Tom Cooper. Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat (Osprey Combat Aircraft #37). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2003.
Thornborough, Anthony M. and Peter E. Davies. The Phantom Story. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1994
Aloni, Shlomo. 'Israeli F-4 Phantom II Aces', Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited.
Aloni, Shlomo. 'Arab-Israeli Air Wars 1947-82', Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited.
Nicolle, David and Tom Cooper. 'Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat', Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited.
Norton, Bill. 'Air War on the Edge: A History of the Israeli Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947', Midland Publishing; 1st edition (17 Feb. 2004).
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@@jakobmax3299 VARK VARK VARK VARK
@@CallsignYukiMizuki Vark is reformer propaganda just like the A-10
@@pixelatedxenon9579 No its not. the reformers hate the vark since it was super advanced at the time.
Fun story, in the early 70's my father was in Vietnam. his job was to repair avionics and electronics in helicopters.
He went to church with a guy who was a test pilot. this guy would fly phantoms that had been damaged in combat, checking the repairs to see if they were fit to go back into service.
Dad asked if he could go up in a Phantom sometime and the guy agreed.
They got permission, Dad did all the flight training required, and they got ready to go. not a mission, just a walk around the block to make sure the aircraft was working. but the guy told Dad that he'd show him some fun maneuvers.
They taxied out, but before they could be cleared for takeoff a emergency landing came in. another phantom damaged in combat. It landed and got squared away. When they were about to go again, another emergency bumped them. This happened like four more times, and their flight was scrubbed.
So Dad missed his chance fly in a Phantom. The most he got to do was sit on the tarmac in one for a couple of hours.
Still awesome. And I'm sure he must have remembered all these emergency landings.
i hope your dad is doing ok!
How annoying was that for him?! I understand the frustration. I was at RAF St Athans in the 80s as an Air Cadet. This was a repair base. 3 of us were given the chance to go up in a 2 seat Lightning interceptor that had just been repaired. We squabbled as to who would get to go so much that the pilot laughed and took NONE of us! The other two were Joe (who is now dead sadly, and Paul Shakespeare - who went on to become a Wing Commander in the RAF and flew Jaguars for most of his career! 296 Sqn Stokenewington ATC).
@@michelestefanini5466 He is! Just turned 88 a while back.
@@beefyoso LET'S GOOO
The last USAF Phantoms lasted until 2016 as QF-4 manned and unmanned aerial targets before being replaced by QF-16's. The ceremonial final flight included QF-4's painted up in the Vietnam-era SEA camo pattern.
And as a test bed / evaluation platform. Quasi-civilian and not in active service.
Can't believe they use F-4, F-16 as target drone while some country still grateful their Mig-21, F-5 are still flying.
@@dudududu1926 Because unlike those countries, the US has a larger military budget and can afford spending it on newer and more advanced aircraft.
@@dudududu1926 F16 are around since the late 1970ies. These airframes don't last forever. So F16 made in the 80ies are have reached the end of their service life and are no longer safe to fly.
@@petrairene Yeah and the countries I'm talking about still use F-5, MiG from the vietnam war (Thailand, Vietnam). It really shows the Americans are using their money well.
I remember teenaged me being so fascinated by the iconic contrast of wing dihedral and tailplane anhedral. So cool looking, even if I had no understanding of the aeronautics!
Definitely very badass looking for a young me!
I remember little me first seeing the Phantom in Ace Combat 4 and instantly becoming fascinated with how unique it looked compared to the other jets. It's still in my top 5 favorite aircraft of all time
It’s absolutely criminal that despite it being in Ace combat 7 you can’t buy it.
@@klegendm2819 It's in 7 as paid DLC, and it's the cheapest at 3 bucks last time I checked. Still wish it was just part of the base game
My uncle, Major Issachar Naveh, was a F4 Phantom pilot in the Israeli Air Force.
He was KIA on the first night of the Yom Kippur war. His airplane was hit by SA missiles located near the Suez Canal.
As the video pointed out, the lessons learned in Yom Kippur led to the development of highly sophisticated anti SAM weapons and methodologies, effects of which are noticed today in Syria's war-between-wars with Israel, where the Syrian air defense is practically ineffective.
The today's S-300 and even S-400 are still ineffective.
@@SwissMarksman right. Many F4 Phantom and A4 Skyhawk pilots paid with their lives for those insights.
US Navy built Top Gun as lessons of Vietnam. IAF created the most advanced anti SAM system. For example, the samson and delilah loitereing missiles.
I'm sorry for your loss...a salute to Maj. Naveh from across the pond!
@@hillbilly4895 My uncle got badly hit and yet flew injured with a burning Phantom back to Israel, to save it. Every plane counted, it's a generation that didn't rush to eject.
In the final approach, at low speed, the hydraulic systems failed and the phantom rolled uncontrollably. They both ejected but hit the ground as prachutes didn't have time to deploy.
He was married for just a few weeks. Left no children behind.
Salute to your uncle. o7
I absolutely love the f4, its so much fun to fly in games and I absolutely love how it looks
Definitely one of the greatest looking fighter jets but a lot of Cold War fighters look amazing imo, I like up to the F-14 but the F-35 is pretty cool
Great video on one of my favorite jet fighters. Love the description of the F-4 that a Vietnam pilot would use about it; 'proof enough that if you put enough thrust behind a brick you can make it fly!'
Wasn’t it Kelly Johnson who said: “It only takes two things to fly…Thrust and Money.”
@@likydsplit8483 No idea, had never heard of Kelly Johnson before. Now after a quick google I have discovered another rabbit hole to jump down. Thanks!🤯
@@doberski6855 Ha! Good. Here are the names of the fathers of military aviation: Eddie Rickenbacher (WW1), Billy Mitchell (1920-1940), Kelly Johnson (WW2 & Cold War), and Curtis LeMay (WW2, Cold War, founder of the USAF).
@@likydsplit8483 Thanks again, know a little about everyone on that list except Johnson.
A misconception though, the F-4 Phantom was an aerodynamically sound design for its time.
The F4 always looks like it's a pretty small plane when by itself in the sky.
But it's one big boy.
That moment when you realise that the F15 and F16 are both also old enough to be considered Cold War jets and how their main adversaries still cant really compete
Yeah, I didn't really understand until this year just how lethal both airframes are, with the Viper still being able to out-rate everything shy of a Raptor, and how high off boresite 9X's give the already good nose authority of the F-16 that much more advantage. Or how the latest F-15's are basically 70 nautical mile missle truck launch platforms in BVR.
Our oldest stuff, still beats everything but the very latest in 5th gen tech. It's very encouraging...
Exactly- I love the F4 but the planes I thought of were the F15, F16, MiG-29 and Su-27 …….. but at the same time I would take the newest version of F-15 or F-16 over almost anything else in the world
Thankfully we haven't had a big war to push aviation development on the scale of ww1/ww2, but it seems like times are changing
@@ZESAUCEBOSS I'd replace mig-29 with mig-31
@@giorgikobakhidze9667 You can't buy or operate them adequately anymore since Russia can't buy proper microchips anymore until they cease with their military adventurism in Europe.
A buddy of mine, fresh out of the Yale Mathematics program, drove F-4s in 72 over Nam. Went on to become a squadron commander. The only difference between "Terre" and the rest is that he was Black. He went on to become a Bonds dealer in NYC, but passed during COVID.
As a current fighter pilot, the F-4 still looks cool to this day!
Yeha modern plane like f22and f35 are like "I will kill you before you even know". But f4 and Vietnam war era plane have that "come dogfight me like a man or run away and be killed by my missiles" that are just amazing
Back in the early '80s F-4s from Laughlin AFB used to fly right over our town out in West Texas at low level and occasionally would even go to burner and give us an awesome boom until they sadly banned the practice. I used to look for them when I was playing outside and occasionally would see their smoke trails before they came over and got a great look at them. Loved them then and still one of my faves and coolest looking jet fight ever IMO!
I don't know where you lived, but Laughlin did not have F-4s in the 1980s. Perhaps you are thinking of RF-4s from Bergstrom AFB near Austin. There were low level training routes in West Texas that both bases used routinely.
@@AirwayZombie well they always came from the direction of Del Rio about 100 miles south of us. I was in elementary school at the time so I assumed that's where they flew from as that was the only base in that direction.
@@bryangrote8781 Sounds like the F-4s you saw may have been flying on IR-169 or IR 170 (or the other I can't remember) which were low level training routes north of Laughlin AFB. But F-4s flying on them definitely did not come from Laughlin. Laughlin managed those routes and T-38s from Laughlin flew on them all the time.
@@gort8203 Makes sense. Used to see the T-38s as well and they were always a lot more common. Seeing the F-4s was always a treat, but don't think I saw any after '85 at the very latest and probably more like '83ish.
We also used to get B-52s from Dyess about 150 miles NE of us until the B-1s took over but the Buffs were even earlier and barely remember them. The B-1s were the coolest of all and were always low and fast. Flights like those by anything became rare by the late '90s. What a shame. Enjoyed our brief, but regular "air shows".
The F-4 was a 2-Toolbox airplane. The F-111 was a 1-Toolbox airplane. In the F-4, you had to remove the ejection seat to replace the radio.
F-4 Phantom required 200 man hours of maintenance for every hour flight. Compare that to the simplicity of the F-15 and the F-16 and that number is just staggering. In my opinion, the F-4, while it fit the Navy's requirements, was a disaster for our Air Force. However, they had it forced on them in response to the incompetence of the Air Force top brass. They were almost forced into having to adopt the F-14 if it were not for Boyd and the engineers at McDonald-Douglass who created the F-15, which had none of the neat features that the Air Force top brass wanted (things like variable wing sweep), but completely blows away the competition in performance and ability. One huge advantage boasted of the first F-15s: only 15 manhours of maintenance required for every hour of flight, - 2 manhours better than the design goal of 17!
@carltonace1606 just FYI Boyd's "bluebird" bears absolutely no resemblance to the F-15, his memoirs show a startling lack of understanding of "pie in the sky" engineering techniques. The "redbird" design concept that so offended him was deliberately overdesigned in order to make sure that no good ideas were left on the table. The engineers laughed Boyd and the "fighter plane mafia" out of the room and then paired the design down to what we have today. Which was significantly more technologically advanced than what Boyd had demanded, for one thing it had a working RADAR, something Boyd vehemently derided as unneeded for a modern air superiority fighter.
@@carltonace1606Boyd and his friends are/were basically useless frauds. But yeah by all means follow WW2 era doctrine, and remove all elements that made the F-15 successful from the F-15, am I right Piere Sprey.
@@carltonace1606No radar, no ejection seats, not enough fuel, no advanced avionics etc… etc…
The F-4 also set the de-facto standard for missile armament, that every following US fighter jet adhered to.
Four recessed sparrows and four sidewinders on the wing, together with 3 drop tanks.
F-14 and F-15 could carry exactly the same, while the lightweight fighters, F-16 and F-18 come with two missiles less.
The AMRAAM replaced the Sparrow and loadouts are usually more long range focused now, with 6 AMRAAM and 2 Sidewinder as standard (or 4/2 for the Viper), which is exactly what the F-22 carries.
I feel like one of the most interesting modifications of the Phantom was the IAI Super Phantom, followed by the Kurnass 2000.
The Super Phantom replaced the J79-GE-17s with PW1120s, as well as a proposed upgrade to the avionics and radar.
Only one Phantom was modified with the PW1120s, and I've found conflicting sources on if it actually had the avionics upgrade or not.
The program would later be scuttled by McDonnell Douglas, due to it being a competitor to their F/A-18 Hornet.
This led to Israel only adopting the avionics (APG-76 radar and advanced HUD) for their Kurnass 2000.
The Kurnass 2000 never actually carried Sparrows while in-service with the Israelis (since they used it strictly as a bomber and for SEAD/DEAD), but the wiring was still there. It can only be assumed the APG-76 still had the illuminators for Sparrow compatibility, since it was based on the APG-68.
The Kurnass 2000 would carry 2x more Python IIIs/IVs in place of their forward Sparrows, and 2x extra countermeasure pods in the rear Sparrow bays (for a total of 282 CMs).
8:12 I think we would all love to see an Operations Theatre video on this engagement!
I have over 2800 hrs. in the Rhino - three combat tours in Nam - used EVERY system on the jet to include the Martin Baker H-7! In my opinion, the best fighter of its era--
Respect.
Thank you for your service. I bet you could tell a story or two!
My Daddy was an F-4 aircraft maintenance crew chief at Da Nang around 71-72, and I am sure he was very good at it. I have always been proud of him.
@@warnerchandler9826 It was the unsung hero's like your dad who kept us flyboys in the air - they worked their butts off, day, night, heat, cold, and rain to keep our aircraft in tiptop shape - the were acutely aware that if they didn't do their job to perfection somebody was going to die - in all my years of flying the phantom I never had a serious problem - except for when I got shot down but the maintenance troops couldn't help that
@@carlparlatore294
[Human] perfection and my dad were a good fit. He had a strong sense of duty and certainly would have recognized that his unit's efforts were directed entirely toward the men at the pointy end whose missions were the reason.
One year ago I saw this plane at Dayton AF museum. I was stunned how large it was!
American Legion in our hamlet has an F-4 in Thunderbird Livery. It is a BIG SUMBITCH!!
My dad was a mechanic in the air force back in the mid 60's, but he got to go for a ride in an f-4, I still have the old pictures he was able to take. Was one of the thrills of his life.
The Phantom also was the jet chosen by the USAF as the jet for the Thunderbirds for a while.
And the Navy Blue Angels flew them at the same time the Thunderbirds did for a while, which was something.
The Operations Room will always be my first love, but Im really enjoying my new side piece, The Intel Report.
My cousin flew over 100 missions off of the Kittyhawk in Nam. Went on to be an instructor at Top Gun, and a test pilot for the F-14.
Thank you for all the cool videos. I learnt so much about military history a side of it which I didn't know much about!
Great Job Sir.
One of my friends in my subdivision flew the F4 during his decorated USAF career... Thank you for doing this video.
Great video, Just a note during the Gulf war for SEAD EF-111's and F-16CJ's also heavily participated in the action. Most Phantom squadrons were partially vipers and the Ravens had jammers along with similar HARM capabilities to the phantom.
EF-111s and F-16CJs didn't perform the same roles as Weseals. SEAD/DEAD.
I remember a quote I read some time ago that goes something like "The F4 is proof of the aerodynamic theory "With Enough Power You Can make a Brick fly." A very capable and deadly brick.
My nomination for the Coolest Cold War Jet is the F8 Crusader. My Late Uncle Shag was a Naval Aviator. He flew Banshees in combat over Korea. That was before my time. When I knew him he was a Crusader driver.
When he came to visit us in his Crusader he would make a couple of low passes over our house so we would know to come and pick him up at the USAF SAC base 50 miles away. A Crusader flying way less than 100 feet above your head is pretty impressive. This was the 60s, and the Navy was cool with that sort of thing. Decades later he told me he felt sorry for modern pilots who don't get to have any fun.
I got to sit in the cockpit of his Crusader a few times when we were picking him up. Pretty heady stuff for a 10 year old boy with a thing for fighters. When he left he would get afterburner clearance for takeoff. He'd only use about half the runway and go near vertical on takeoff to troll the Air Force.
The F4 may have been the Greatest Cold War Jet, but the F8 was the Coolest.
Be Well.
Im with you. America's "last gunfighter" had some pizzazz where the F-4 was a flying brink and made damn sure everyone knew it.
Great video. I would love to see a video like this on the P38
Always informative at professional levels!
I think it was Dick Jonas that had a song about the F-4 whose chorus went something like "The all-weather, interceptor, fighter-bomber......mostly bomber."
The F-4 definitely earned its reputation, but it did get replaced with some really amazing jets that carry on the legacy.
Request: would be great if all the numbers mentioned could also appear on screen as well.
Yes, the Phantom II was the greatest cold war jet fighter, fighter bomber, tactical recon, and suppression of enemy air defense (Wild Weasel) aircraft of the cold war.
I always look forward to seeing your video's.
Your thumbnail has been my desktop background for over a year now
I really enjoy your content . Cheers brother
LOVE this! I’d love to see more like it! Of course, I’m a big fan of all of your videos, so that’s not a surprise!
Phantoms Phorever!
All ways quality work.
Thank you.
When I was young I've always loved the F-4 Phantom and it interest me to this very day.
This was my grandpas jet. So badass
Since it is March, you should do Robin Olds and Operation Bolo.
Big Ugly was the stick against which every fighter in the world was measured for a very long time.
What a beautiful bird
The F-4 is a really cool aircraft. I've heard the US still has a bunch of them in the desert, but that information is probably years old. Probably not suitable for a modern conflict, but they're out there...
@@froggymusicman Can probably use a radar/avionics upgrade and integration with modern weapons and maybe datalink, and then it will be as good as anything less than F35 and F22 at BVR combat.
@@dougerrohmer practically the more updated versions could carry AIM-120s, AGM-88 Harm, Laser targeting pods and laser guided bombs with more modern electronic systems
Fasinating that Eric 'Winkle' Brown was instremental in the Phantom becoming part of the Fleet Air Arm.
I set in cockpit of one @ El Toro MCAS, on the flight line, 1969. Would have loved to have had a ride!
Excellent and Outstanding!!!
The F4. More famous even, than the Spitfire (IMHO) and my favourite aircraft of all time.
Awesome stuff, very well-researched.
Is this a part of a new series on the Yom Kippur war or a one-off?
The phantom was a dream plane! Big strides in speed and technology but we all know the TOMCAT was the greatest cold war fighter!!
It's boxy shape, with the wingtips going up and its stabilizers slanting down, tells the design story of the F-4. It was great at going really fast in a straight line but not very maneuverable.
Same as the cars of that era...
@@BeingFireRetardant American cars at least. European cars were the opposite.
The F-4 really is a close formation of aerodynamic fixes and compromises.
@@thelandofnod123 Kinda debatable.
The classics like the Mini, 2CV and beatle didn't change at all. Though newer vehicles that came out around that era did go more boxy.
@@davidty2006 Sorry I should have clarified, I was referring to speed over manoeuvrability and vice versa.
Great stuff! Can we please get some videos on British Cold War aircraft like the Lightning/Harrier etc?
“The MiG Killer” 🔥
My understanding is that the F-4 initially performed *dismally* against the Migs in Vietnam, until the pilots were re-educated about using the plane properly for their adversaries (and incidentally resulting in the creation of the Top Gun school). Yet you do not mention this huge issue at all.
The pilots were trained for long range missile fighting, but this was not how the war really was being fought. It started out as 1:1, but after TopGun that ratio became fair better for the Phantom.
it also had a slight issue of planners jumping the gun on missiles and calling for the removal of cannons under the assumption that all engagements would only occur at missile ranges. early on Top Gun was mostly to teach how to still dogfight even without your primary dogfighting weapon. once a cannon was added to the frame for the American arsenal, its kill ratio's really skyrocketed. fortunately that bus with engines had more than enough power and capacity to mount an external gun pod!
So what was the most numerous jet of the Cold War?
Station in Korea(US Army). Did a joint war simulation with the Koreans at their air force base in Suwon. Which hosts F-5s and F-4s. Awesome and majestic to see those jets still flyingZ(at least the F-5s, F-4s were grounded for an investigation). About to go back to Suwon for another event. Hopefully I'll see the F-4s flying this time.
That said, the jets are extremely old. I got to talk to the pilots. Many systems are too old and failing(none of the F-5s have working bomb sights anymore, they cant pull high Gs or fly after burner for long, and the pilots mention regularly feeling anxious when going on flights because they never know if theyll make it back or crash,). One pilot knew a guy who died in a crash. Korea is racing to retire these planes. I know we love them. But they are too old to safely and reliably fly, and need to hurry to a museum. As sadly, Korea has lost some pilots due to aging F-5s and F-4 airframes crashing as they get older and harder to maintain.
me, looking at the thumbnail: wow, Emperial Japan was flying F-4s? that's nuts 😂
Terrific video!
The F-4 was one of the most capable NATO fighters and was the one that was available in significant numbers. Numbers, pilot experience, doctrine, spares availability, and war planning were all important. Similar performance aircraft existed in Western service (F-106, English Electric Lightning, Mirage III) in lower numbers.
It was the first global JSF.
So many iconic planes that deserve their own documentary such as this. The Vulcan, A10 warthog and Lightning off the top pf my head seeing them fly during the 80s
My wife's uncle few one in Vietnam for the USMC. Then the F/A18 till retirement. He turned down the Dallas Cowboys after the NFL draft to fly jets! He of a guy! Mad respect.
2nd highest usage of F-4 in German Luftwaffe: 263.
175 F-4F and 88 RF-4E.
+10 F-4e based in the US for training
Not concurrent.
3:12 Is there a running joke with this pilot names? This is the best name after the Captain Sum Ting Wong.
Its weird seeing a report about the Phantom with no mention of the JASDF who are obsessed with the aircraft
Phantom is the only plane to have both served Thunderbird and Blue Angels.
The Sledgehammer. A fitting name
F4 Phantom moment
FYI, little known fact about the F4 was that its nickname was given to it because of the vast amounts of coal it consumed and radar was not needed against it as the naked eye could see the black plume of coal exhaust.
F-16 and F-15 were around before the Berlin Wall came down. They kick the F-4's arse.
1:10 all those munitions don’t fit on there at the same time right?
It is a common misconception in the West that Iran was unable to maintain its fighter jets after withdrawal of US advisors. On the second day of the Iran-Iraq war, Iran sortied 160 aircraft including 120 f-4s that attacked airbases in Iraq (operation Kamran-99). Thereafter more or less all of Iran’s 400 or so F-4s remained operational except those lost in combat. Source: Cooper & Bishop, Iran-Iraq War in the Air 1980-1988, c 2000
If I’m not mistaken, the plural of Phantom is Fanta.
You mean Nazi Coke.
Wanna see JASDF Phantoms in 4K? Check out 1-300. The guy takes great videos of Phantom fly-by's, takeoff/landing/taxiing.
It's his 1-300B channel you probably want to promote, but add both channels together and he still has a criminally small subscriber base either way.
The spitfire of the post war world
Saint Louis represent!
Why do the Brits always get the best camo schemes? Theirs were the best looking of all the Phantoms.
Nah, can't compare to the Keith Ferris experiments the Navy was doing in the late '70s and early '80s. The 4-color 1982-83 schemes used by the F-4S Phantoms of VF-301 and 302 are my favorite.
There is a funny historic fact that Iran was able to keep its airforce operating so long during the Iran-Iraq war largely due to the fact that they invoked their pre-revolution agreements with Israel, which sent engineers, missiles, and basically all their spare parts for the Phantom to upkeep the Iranian fleet.
Nice
With 5195, it's only 3rd supersonic after MiG-21 (13996) and MiG-19 (5500)
F-111 in Desert Storm also suppressed radar sites ?
For D. Storm, 15th August was D. Shield.
As I recall, the F-111 Electric Fox conducted ECW missions during Desert Storm along side EA-6Bs.
I do not know if the Electric Fox carried out any direct attack defense suppression missions (meaning HARM missiles or CBUs).
I understand the F4s and EA-6Bs handled those.
@@likydsplit8483 Correct.
@@SirJamesSomerville99
EF-111s flew missions ramming radar during Desert Storm.
A good watch would be:
DOGFIGHTS S2E12 "DOGFIGHTS OF DESERT STORM" HISTORY CHANNEL (2007)
or
The Operations Room "Desert Storm - The Air War, Day 1 - Animated" (2020)
edit: changed S2E4 to S2E12
@@user-gs6bi3pm5c Desert Storm, and Desert Shield are not the same thing.
Never even mentioned the JSDF
Another exceptional segment on my all time favourite jet fighter with the best name “Phantom”. One should check out documentary with hall of fame fighter ace Robin Olds, I think he said the F4 didn’t get the high kill ratio until it was modified to include guns for dogfights, as they had lots of issues with the sidewinders failing in the Vietnam. Have a fun 2023 to all & keep up the great content.
Not only did they re-introduce guns for the Phantoms, but they also had to re-learn the art of air combat maneuvering or dogfighting.
I'm not sure where you got that impression, Robin Olds had this to say about a gun on the Phantom:
"The gun pod wasn’t so much a speed penalty as an object of increased drag and fuel consumption. But that wasn’t my objection to the gun pod, I refused to carry it for 3 basic reasons;
It took the place of five or six 750 lb bombs. Only my older and more experienced fighter pilots had ever been trained in aerial gunnery, to say nothing of air-to-air fighting. There were perhaps a dozen of them in the 8th TFW. I had no intention of giving any of my young pilots the temptation to go charging off to engage MiG-17s with a gun. They would have been eaten alive. Instead they fought MiGs the way I taught them and did so with notable success."
Actually, the Phantom was a better fighter without a gun. The USAF only achieved a ratio of 7:1 after introducing the gun-armed F-4E variant. The Navy never carried a gun, even a gunpod, and achieved a ratio of 17:1.
USAF used their Phantoms mostly as fighter-bombers, so air-to-air training and upgraded radars and missiles came much later than the Navy variants.
Also, the gun was largely ineffective for air-to-air and it was never designed to fill that role. It's angled down below the nose slightly, as it is on most attack aircraft (like the A-10) rather than angled upward as it is for air-to-air use (like on the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F/A-18). Only eight kills were achieved with the gun, two of which only finished off planes that had already been damaged by AIM-9 Sidewinders.
It's also "Phantom II" as the original Phantom was the FH-1 from 1947.
The F-4 was designed as a bomber interceptor, and I believe no interceptors at the time had guns on them.
It was only when it was decided to use them as combat fighters instead that fighter people complained about not having a gun.
I also find it surprising that you did not even mentioned the controversy over the first variants not having a gun.
That was only a brief controversy because the missiles had bugs. Once the bugs had been sorted out, nobody has used a gun in air to air combat for decades. But noooooo, the wannabee gamer Richthofens will still insist that all fighters must be bogged down by a gun and ammo, no matter the weight penalty.
Very minor, not relevant
it was fine without a gun as long as you had the right training and weren't constrained by horrible rules of engagement like they were during the vietnam war
@@ramonnoodles7840 That's another point.
It is an essential aditional offensive option, which means nothing in BVR missle truck attacks, but can mean everything after the merge where nose authority allows for snapshots that no 9X, Meteor, etc. can aquire lock on, even HOB shots. Very smart minds have already determined this, the gun stays.
The Tomcat, Strike Eagle and Falcon would like to talk with your Phantom.
Render them redundant, or obsolete?
YES
I'd say it's either 2nd or 3rd best cold war jet. F-15 has to be no.1 then it's a toss up between F-4 and F-14
I know, we're the best🤗🤗🤗
I completely forgot that the Jaguar existed.
If it was the second most produced, what is the first? A mig?
An amazing plane that can deliver a heck of a lot of ordinance as well as being extremely fast but not designed to handle MiGs. Best plane of the Cold War? Nah. That would probably be the F-15 for the K/D ratio lol
0:55 257 nautical miles is 474 km.
11:08 PHIL LEOTARDO
I was gonna say aha, but reliable sources do show that South Korea operates them! Maybe not for much longer (with oncoming replacements). I do see lots of fancy livery flights in Japan ASDF channels, but I don't know how far in the past those photos are from.
Danm straight the F4 Phantom jet fighter is the best dog fighter in the world. I love it an$ it’s my favourite jet ✈️
Would love to see a video on Sweden during the cold war 👍
Cheeky RAF Phantoms