F-4 Phantom II

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A highly successful multirole fighter, originally developed by the U.S. Navy for an interceptor role, but soon adopted by the U.S. Air Force and becoming the backbone, for many years, of the U.S. fighter force. A number of improved models were introduced during its long production run.

A two-seat fighter with a pilot and weapons systems officer, it had Mach 2 speed, heavy payload, and moderate maneuverability. While a good pilot could be effective in a dogfight, early F-4 models suffered from the assumption that all air combat would use only air-to-air missiles (AAM), and the F-4B/C did not have an internal gun. The F-4 could use AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking and AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided AAMs.

Early Phantoms also had the problem of engines that tended to produce excessive smoke, which could be a sign to the enemy: "target here". One of the techniques for suppressing smoke was to go very slightly into afterburner, which eliminated the smoke but increased fuel consumption. All models of the F-4 were capable of air refueling, although there could be problems with a Navy probe-and-drogue fighter trying to take fuel from an Air Force tanker equipped only with a refueling boom.

Externally mounted gun pods were used as an interim solution, and the F-4E did have an internal 20mm autocannon.

Later models had electronic warfare defenses including the AN/ALQ-131 radar jamming pod.

The F-4G variant was optimized for the SEAD mission.