McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel V
← F-4 Phantom II McDonnell Douglas · Variant 7 of 7

McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel V

The radar hunter — gun removed, nose full of receivers, armed with HARM · First flight 1975 · In service 1978

The F-4G was the fifth generation of the USAF's Wild Weasel concept — aircraft dedicated to suppressing enemy air defences. Converted from F-4E airframes, it had the internal cannon removed to make room for the AN/APR-38 radar-homing and warning system (later upgraded to the AN/APR-47), whose antennas sat in a fairing on top of the fin and under the nose. The first F-4G flew in 1975 and the type entered service in 1978.

An initial batch of 116 F-4Es was converted from 1976, and 18 more followed in 1987–88 to make up for attrition, for 134 in total. The F-4G could carry the full range of anti-radiation missiles of its era — the AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-78 Standard ARM and, from the mid-1980s, the AGM-88 HARM.

During the 1991 Gulf War, F-4Gs deployed to Bahrain escorted coalition strike packages against air-defence sites. The last USAF F-4Gs were retired on 26 March 1996, ending the Phantom's front-line career in American service; the role passed to the F-16CJ.

Gallery