As Arthur would say it’s just another useless thread, but I try to be creative when I do useless threads….so on that note I thought it would be interesting ot have a discussion on the the interception capabilities of the USAF late block F-4E’s and the RAF’s F-4M’s, as you would find them during the mid to late 1980’s.
By that time the RAF’s Phantom fleet was mostly focused on interception and air-to-air combat, while the USAF’s fleet was in more of a multi-role mission.
There are thousands of pictures of both USAF F-4E’s and RAF Phantoms intecepting various Soviet aircraft.
So, how do the capabilities of the two aircraft compare. While they are both called the Phantom, there are obviously many differences.
The USAF F-4E had the AN/APQ-120 radar while the RAF’s Phantom FGR.2’s had the AN/AWG-12. The Spey engined F-4M had a faster initial rate of climb, and better acceleration (better TWR certainly is a factor in this….in fact the Spey powered Phantom had a TWR very similar to the F-14A) as well as slightly better endurance and range than its U.S. Navy F-4J counterpart, while the USAF F-4E was faster overall and could climb to higher altitudes. The F-4E also had an internal gun, which deleted the need for the SUU-23/A cannon pod that was usually found on the RAF F-4M.
Typical interception loadout for the F-4E was four AIM-7F/M, four AIM-9L/M, 640 rounds of 20-mm ammo and two, sometimes three external tanks.
The F-4M by contrast was usually armed with four Skyflash, four AIM-9L, two tanks, and either a 20-mm cannon pod (most of the time) with 1,200 rounds, or a centerline tank.
So what are the opinions of which aircraft was the better interceptor? Very similar, yet very different aircraft in some ways.
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July 21, 2005 at 6:55 pm