F-4 Phantom

The F-4 Phantom II was a supersonic long-range all-weather fighter-bomber used by the United States military from 1960 to 1996. It was developed by McDonnell Douglas.

It was the fighter and fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force, Navy and Marines during the Vietnam war. It was used both by the Navy Blue Angels demonstration team and the Air Force Thunderbirds.

Some are still in service with other nations who bought it from the United States.

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom

Type: Supersonic fighter bomber

Powerplant: Two General Electric J79-GE-10 afterburning turbojet

Performance: Top speed 1500 mph

Dimensions: Wingspan 38 ft. 4 in. Length 58 ft 2 in.

Armament: One 20 millimeter Vulcan cannon, and either four AIM-7 Sparrow missiles and four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles or 16,000 lb bombload.

Phantoms over Israel

The Phantom was first acquired by the Israeli Defense Forces in September 1969, and 67 days later, the F-4 saw aerial combat with the Israelis for the first time, when a Phantom crew shot down an Egyptian Mig-21. Phantoms took part in the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War (suffering heavy losses), and the 1982 war in Lebanon. The Phantom was used mainly as a fighter-bomber, although Israeli F-4s scored a total of 116.5 air-to-air kills.[1] The Israeli name for the F-4 was the Kurnass (sledgehammer).