U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II

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The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy (USN). Proving highly adaptable, it entered service with the Navy in 1961 and by the mid-1960s was then adopted by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the United States Air Force (USAF). The USAF quickly embraced the design and became the largest Phantom user. McDonnell Aircraft later merged with the Douglas Aircraft Company to form McDonnell Douglas in 1967.

The F-4 Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981 and a total of 5,195 aircraft were built becoming the most produced American supersonic military aircraft in history. The F-4 Phantom was a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2 and could carry more than 18,000 pounds of weapons on nine external points, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs.

The F-4 Phantom was used extensively during the Vietnam War and it became the principal air superiority fighter for the USAF, USN, and the USMC. The F-4 also played an important part in the ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance roles that were used later in the war. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the F-4 Phantom continued to be a major part of U.S. military air power. The F-4 Phantom was also the only aircraft used by both the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration teams.

The F4D joined the military arsenal in 1967, it soon became one of the greatest multiple services combat aircraft. The Air Force Special Weapons Center took over the weapons suitability testing for aircraft at Kirtland AFB. The Center began testing on the F-4D Phantom II in 1966 and aircraft numbers 40930 and 65654 were documented at Kirtland AFB.

The photo shows the large array of weapons that can be carried by the F-4D Phantom II.

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