Aviation 10

I

n April 1965 the British government struck

a major blow to the RAF’s procurement

programme that ultimately led to the

service acquiring the McDonnell Douglas

F-4 Phantom II.

Elected in 1964, the Labour

administration under Harold Wilson had

looked to save money after coming to

power, and early casualties in the defence

budget were the RAF’s proposed BAC

TSR2 strike platform and Hawker Siddeley

P.1154 supersonic V/STOL aircraft. Their

cancellation was then followed by a decision

to abandon a British version of the General

Dynamics F-111.

It was only then that the F-4 Phantom was

selected, effectively as a third choice. The

initial order for an eventual 50 production

FG.1s (F-4Ks) for the Royal Navy and 116

FGR.2s (F-4Ms) for RAF use was placed in

February 1965. The  rst prototype for the

Royal Navy undertook its maiden  ight on

June 27, 1966 and the RAF’s counterpart,

XT852, on February 17, 1967.

The British selected the Rolls-Royce Spey

203 engine for the Fleet Air Arm FG.1s – and

Spey 202/204 for the RAF’s FGR.2s – instead

of the standard US General Electric J79. The

turbofan Spey offered increased power with

reduced fuel consumption over the American

powerplant but necessitated substantial air

intake and fuselage redesign.

The decision substantially impacted the

performance of the British Phantoms, which

achieved higher thrust at low level but less

at altitude compared with the J79-powered

aircraft. It also increased development costs

and added nearly two years to the planned

delivery dates – and when the Phantoms  rst

entered UK service, the Speys presented

major problems that curtailed training and

operations until they were resolved.

The RAF’s FGR.2, intended for multiple

roles, had a more sophisticated equipment

 t than its naval counterpart. This included a

Ferranti inertial navigation and attack system

(INAS), an AD470 HF/SSB radio and internal

24V battery, providing a self-start capability

• while omitting the extendable nosewheel
  undercarriage leg. The  rst 24 FGR.2s were
   tted with removable rear cockpit control
  columns for dual-control training.
  They also featured the Westinghouse AN/
  AWG-12 radar, an advanced pulse-Doppler
  system with look-down and air-to-air modes.
  Armament consisted of four AIM-7E Sparrow
  medium-range radar-guided air-to-air missiles

PHANTOMS

IN RAF SERVICE

n April 1965 the British government struck FGR.2s (F-4Ms) for RAF use was placed in delivery dates – and when the Phantoms  rst

It hadn’t been the RAF’s fi rst choice of type, but the Phantom

moved from stopgap strike, ground attack and reconnaissance

jet to become a successful air defence fi ghter in a multi-role

career spanning nearly 25 years. Dr Kevin Wright explains.

42 Aviation News incorporating Jets October 2018

F-4 PHANTOM TRIBUTE