#f-4

[nocternalrandomness]

A Luftwaffe F-4F from Jagdgeschwader 74 moves off a US Air Force KC-135R out of RAF Mildenhall

(U.S. Air Force photo by TSgt. Brad Fallin}

[eyestothe-skies]

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

[usaac-official]

An F-4 Lightning of the 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron at Stock Route airfield, Australia, 1942-1943

[sempergrumpy-1]

[monkeyssalad-blog]

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phanton II USAF 64-0829 64-829A by Chris Murkin Via Flickr: McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phanton II USAF 64-0829 64-829A Photo Taken at USAF National Museum Wright-Patterson Base Dayton Ohio HAC_5951

[opelman]

Carrier Ops by Treflyn Lloyd-Roberts Via Flickr: Royal Navy Phantom XT596 is prepared for launch in the carrier display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Aircraft: Former Royal Navy McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom FG.1 XT596. Location: Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton (YEO/EGDY), Somerset, UK.

[enriquemzn262]

Have you ever wondered how the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, famous for not having an internal gun and paying the price during the first few years of the Vietnam War, actually got one during the course of the war and in relatively short order?

F-4B of the US Navy

Well, it’s really simple: McDonnell Douglas had also developed a recon variant of the Phantom, the RF-4, which basically traded the radar for a camera set, requiring a longer nose to fit it, but which was otherwise identical to the combat variants.

So once the need for an internal gun was made, it was a simple matter of swapping the camera equipment for a gun, and adding the radar back

And thus, the gun-equipped F-4E, was born, giving a starting point for subsequent advanced variants, all equipped with guns.

[usafphantom2]

USAF Torrejon AFB Bird, Spain.

@perpetuaosombro via X