Phantom (12 photos) Bashny.Net

"I see in the sky, white line,
My Phantom loses altitude ... »© Siskin



F-4 can rightly be considered one of the most successful and versatile combat aircraft. This machine was developed on the instructions of the Navy of the United States primarily to protect ships and was intended to replace the outdated F-3 Demon. In addition it is tasked to intercept Soviet bombers.





But when the F-4 showed greater speed than the F-104 Starfighter, located at that time in the US Air Force, the latest just showed this car the most lively interest, and subsequently ordered a Phantom for himself.







F-4 was equipped with the latest electronics. He was the first among American cars, has been able to without the help of a ground station guidance, to find and destroy targets outside the visual contact. In Vietnam, the F-4 chalked up 280 victories in aerial combat.



With the ability to easily reach the speed of twice the speed of sound, the Phantom was loved by his pilots as reliable and simple machine that will not fail in battle and is guaranteed to deliver a pilot home.



On the F-4 was established several world records, such as altitude record at 30,040 meters (6 December 1959), a record speed - 1606 km / h (22 November 1961) and the speed record at low altitude - 902 km / h, which lasted for 16 years.



Phantom was in production from 1958 to 1979 and only 5195 were built machines. 5057 of them were made in St. Lewis, Missouri, USA and more 138 built under license in factories Mitsubishi in Japan. Peak production of the F-4 came in 1967 when the factory produced 72 McDonnell aircraft per month. US Air Force were armed with 2,874 Phantoms, while the Navy and Marine Corps - 1264 machines.



Constantly modifying and renewing Phantoms served in the armies of 11 countries: Australia, Britain, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Spain, Turkey, South Korea and Japan. In the UK, Phantoms were serving at the same time in the Air Force and the Navy since 1968 and the last aircraft was written off in January 1992. In the US phantom retired from active service in 1996. By this time, this type of aircraft flown more than 2,735,000 kilometers.



In 1998, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its, the Phantom is still in service with eight countries: Germany, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Spain, Turkey, South Korea and Japan. Israel, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Greece, South Korea and Egypt are planning to upgrade its F-4, to ensure that these aircraft remained on duty until 2015.