The F-4 Phantom was the creation of some forward thinking individuals with-in the McDonnell Aircraft Company. In 1952, the company set out to conduct internal studies to determine which branch of the military would be the next, looking for a new airplane; their studies concluded that it would be the United States Navy (Hickman, Vietnam War: F-4 Phantom II, 2015). The predecessor to the F-4 Phantom II was the F-3H Demon. In 1953, McDonnell took the Demon and set out to improve on it to create an all-weather fighter bomber (Hickman, Vietnam War: F-4 Phantom II, 2015). The United States Navy mandated the requirements that the new jet be no bigger than the Demon, and to be able to operate from an aircraft carrier. Since the Phantoms creation,
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With the short time remaining before Congress would cut funding to the war effort, President Nixon decided he had to apply maximum military power to persuade North Vietnam into negotiations. President Nixon ordered the commencement of Operation Linebacker II until further notice. Heavy bombing raids struck targets in the hours of darkness, while F-4 Phantoms and A-7s conducted day strategic strikes against targets visually. The losses during Operation Linebacker II were heavy, while most of the lost aircraft were B-52 bombers, only three F4 variants were lost during the 11 days of combat (Sullivan, 2016). Operation Linebacker II was a successful operation, prior to the last sortie returning from its mission, North Vietnam had already sent the message to Washington that they were ready to negotiate. In January 0f 1973, the Paris Peace Accords was signed and all prisoners of war were released in April (Harder, 2012). While the F-4 Phantom was being very successful in the Vietnam War, there was a new aircraft that was being developed for the United States Navy. The Grumman Corporation, awarded a contract in 1970, introduced the F-14 Tomcat to the Navy in 1972 (The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica, 2016). The F-14 Tomcat participated in the final days of the Vietnam War, but it did not see any combat action. The precedence that the F-4 set for a joint multi role fighter interceptor had huge impacts on the development of the F-14 Tomcat to suit the needs of the United States
With the short time remaining before Congress would cut funding to the war effort, President Nixon decided he had to apply maximum military power to persuade North Vietnam into negotiations. President Nixon ordered the commencement of Operation Linebacker II until further notice. Heavy bombing raids struck targets in the hours of darkness, while F-4 Phantoms and A-7s conducted day strategic strikes against targets visually. The losses during Operation Linebacker II were heavy, while most of the lost aircraft were B-52 bombers, only three F4 variants were lost during the 11 days of combat (Sullivan, 2016). Operation Linebacker II was a successful operation, prior to the last sortie returning from its mission, North Vietnam had already sent the message to Washington that they were ready to negotiate. In January 0f 1973, the Paris Peace Accords was signed and all prisoners of war were released in April (Harder, 2012). While the F-4 Phantom was being very successful in the Vietnam War, there was a new aircraft that was being developed for the United States Navy. The Grumman Corporation, awarded a contract in 1970, introduced the F-14 Tomcat to the Navy in 1972 (The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica, 2016). The F-14 Tomcat participated in the final days of the Vietnam War, but it did not see any combat action. The precedence that the F-4 set for a joint multi role fighter interceptor had huge impacts on the development of the F-14 Tomcat to suit the needs of the United States