McDonnell Douglas F - 4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F - 4 Phantom II was the main fighter aircraft of the U . S Navy and the U . S Air Forces in the Vietnam War , replacing the F - 105 Thunderchief . Description . The F - 4 Phantom II is a twin - engine , all - weather , third generation fighter - bomber . The cost of a new one during its age was 2 . 4 million . The aircraft could perform four tactical air roles : air superiority , interdiction , close air support and fleet defense , as it did in Southeast Asia and the Middle East . First flown in May 1958 , the Phantom II originally was developed for U . S . Navy fleet defense and entered service in 1961 . The USAF evaluated it for close air support , interdiction , and counter - air operations and , in 1962 , approved a USAF version after it was discovered to be over 100 miles per hour faster than the F - 104 Starfighter . The USAF ' s Phantom II , designated F - 4C , made its first flight on May 27 , 1963 . Production deliveries began in November 1963 . In its air - to - ground role the F - 4 could carry twice the normal bomb load of a WW II B - 17 . USAF F - 4s also flew reconnaissance and " Wild Weasel " anti - aircraft missile suppression missions ( the latter had a specialized variant known as the F - 4G Wild Weasel ) . Phantom II production ended in 1979 after over 5 , 000 had been built more than 2 , 600 for the USAF , about 1 , 200 for the Navy and Marine Corps , and the rest for friendly foreign nations , including to Israel , Iran , Greece , Spain , Turkey , South Korea , West Germany , Australia , Japan , and Great Britain . The F - 4 was used extensively in the Vietnam War , where its numerous dogfights with North Vietnamese MiG fighters earned it the nickname " the world ' s leading distributor of MiG parts . " The Phantom also saw service in the Middle East with the Israeli Air Force . The Israeli Phantoms were delivered under the Peace Echo I though IV and Nickel Grass programs . Israeli F - 4E Phantoms were nicknamed Kurnass ( heavy hammer ) while the RF - 4E ' s was called Orev ( raven ) . In the Beqqa Valley the Phantom shot down 4th generation soviet aircraft piloted by Russians under Syrian markings . The last Israeli Phantoms were retired in 2004 . Later versions of the aircraft were still active in the U . S . Air Force inventory well into the 1990s . F - 4s are no longer in the USAF inventory but are still flown by foreign nations . The aircraft is still used by the USAF in an unmanned drone form ( the QF - 4E ) for training in air - to - air gunnery . In one particular incident , a flight of four F - 22 Raptor s were on a training mission where they had to ' intercept ' a QF - 4E . Each Raptor fired missiles at it , but for some reason , all of them missed , despite the QF - 4E flying in a straight line the whole time . Finally , all four Raptors fired missiles all at once and finally shot down the aging Phantom . A veteran pilot on the ground was known to have said " So it takes four Raptors to shoot down one Phantom . . . " . Starting in 1973 , F - 4E ' s were fitted with target - identification systems for long - range visual identification of airborne or ground targets . Each system is basically a television camera with a zoom lens to aid in positive identification , and a system called Pave - Tack , which provided day and night all - weather capability to acquire , track and designate ground targets for laser , infrared and electro - optically guided weapons . Another change was a digital intercept computer that includes launch computations for all AIM - 9 Sidewinder and AIM - 7 Sparrow . Operators . Australia Greece Variants for the U . S . Navy and the U . S . Marines . F - 4B was upgraded to F - 4N , and F - 4J was upgraded to F - 4S . ( One batch of F - 4J aircraft were supplied to the Variants . United Kingdom as F - 4J ( UK ) ) . Variants for the U . S . Air Force . F - 4E introduced an internal cannon . The F - 4D and E were widely exported . These versions of the aircraft were extensively used under the Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) air defense system . A dedicated SEAD variant with updated radar and avionics , converted from F - 4E . The designation F - 4G was applied earlier to an entirely different Navy Phantom . Variants for the British Military re - engined with Rolls - Royce Spey turbofans . Simplified F - 4E exported to and license - built in Japan . Simplified F - 4E exported to Germany . Retired aircraft converted into remote - controlled target drones used for weapons and defensive systems research . Tactical reconnaissance variants .