McDonnell F-4G Phantom

In 1963, twelve Navy F-4Bs were modified as pF-4Gs. This was a Navy designation, not to be confused with the USAF F-4G of twelve years later, which was a *Wild Weasel* aircraft.

The Navy F-4G was a version of the F-4B modified for the evaluation of the feasibility of a SAGE-like system for fleet air defense. The Navy hoped to be able to connect its fighters, ships, and AEW aircraft by a two-way datalink network so that fighters could be controlled through a communication link that coupled their autopilots to a ship or aircraft-based controller. The intent was to make it possible to carry out automatically-controlled interceptions without the need for voice commands from ground controllers. The same system would, incidentally, make night/all-weather automatic carrier landings possible.

In support of this program, a single F-4B (BuNo 148254) was fitted with an AN/ASW-12 two-way datalink communication system and approach power compensator which, coupled with the shipboard AN/SPN-10 radar and AN/USC-1 datalink allowed hands-off carrier landings to be accomplished. An AN/ASW-21 was fitted in place of the ASW-13, which allowed weapons, oxygen, and fuel status to be relayed to the controller. A radar reflector had to be attached to the nose in order to permit the AN/SPN-10 ship-borne radar to track the F-4 during automatic landings. Other changes included the reconfiguration of the number 1 fuel tank, which had to lose 600 pounds of fuel in order to make room for the datalink equipment.

Eleven more F-4Bs were converted to this standard on the production line. Their serial numbers were BuNos 150481, 150484, 150487, 150489, 150492, 150625, 150629, 150633, 150636, 150639, and 150642. The first of these (150481) flew on March 20, 1963. These planes differed from 148254 in having a retractable rather than fixed radar reflector immediately ahead of the nose-wheel bay. In early 1963, two of these planes were sent to the NATC at Patuxent, and in the summer of 1963 the remainder were given to VF-96 for testing.

In January-March 1964, the 10 VF-96 planes were transferred to VF-213. On March 31, 1964, the NATC aircraft were redesignated F-4G, and the VF-213 aircraft followed suit on April 6. The F-4Gs of VF-213 were operated aboard the USS *Kitty Hawk* in the Gulf of Tonkin from November 1965 until June of 1966. One was lost to North Vietnamese AAA, but the others were later stripped of their AN/ASW-21 and brought back to F-4B standards. Seven survived long enough to be converted to F-4N configuration.

The automatic landing and remote-controlled intercept capabilities tested by the F-4G were later incorporated into later production blocks of the F-4B by addition of the AN/ASW-125, which, however, lacked the two-way feature of the AN/ASW-21.

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