The F-4 Phantom aircraft, nicknamed “Baba”, which has a very important place for both Turkish and world aviation since the 1960s, is the most loved and popular fighter aircraft of the Turkish Air Force, and is one of the first examples of the 3rd generation warplanes. Let’s take a closer look at these planes, which contain many advanced technologies of the time and are used even today…
The birth of a legend: all about the F-4 Phantom II!
In 1955, the US-based McDonnell Douglas began work on a new generation fighter aircraft. As a result of these studies, the XF4H model aircraft, which we can call the ancestor of the F-4 Phantom, emerged in 1957. The aircraft, which made its maiden flight in 1958, was generally successful after some tests, such as landing on the carrier runway.
So much so that this aircraft was able to reach speeds above twice the speed of sound (2 Mach). After this process, in 1961, the F-4 Phantom officially entered service by entering the US Navy in the first stage. Since the years of production of the F-4s coincided with the Vietnam War, the planes had a chance to prove themselves in the given missions.
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airplanes after the war; It was sold to many countries such as Japan, Iran, Germany, Egypt. Besides the Vietnam War, they took part in many successful operations such as the Arab-Israeli Wars and the Iran-Iraq Wars.
To date, 5195 F-4 Phantoms have been produced. There are some countries that still use these planes today: Turkey, Greece, Korea and Iran. Let’s take a look at the technical details of Baba planes, which have a story from the 1960s to the present.
| Crew | 2 |
| Dimensions | 19.2m length, 11.7m wingspan, 5m height |
| Weight | Maximum take-off weight of 28 tons, curb weight of 13.75 tons |
| Engine | 2x General Electric J-79-GE-17A Turbojet with Afterburner |
| Speed | 940 km/h (2.23 Mach) |
| Combat Radius | 680 km with standard payload |
| Max Range | 2699 km |
| Service Ceiling | 18300 meters |
| Radar | AN/APQ-120 (EL/M-2032 SAR on Israeli and Turkish F-4s) |
Where does the name phantom come from?
The story of the name of the F-4 Phantom is as follows. The Americans are considering naming the plane Satan (devil) in the first place. But later, when the aircraft was found very successful in the navy, they named it Phantom II, inspired by the “MC Donnell Douglas FH Phantom” aircraft, one of the first generation jets that entered service in the American navy.
F-4 Phantom’s adventure in Türkiye
The story of F-4 Phantoms in our country began with the delivery of the first 8 aircraft on August 30, 1974, upon an order of 40 aircraft in 1971. Deliveries were interrupted for a while due to the embargoes at that time, and were completed in 1978.
Later, with the newly placed orders and the grant planes received from various countries, there were 236 F-4s in the inventory of the Turkish Air Force in 1992. Some of the aircraft were modernized through a work with Israel in 1999, gaining significant electronic capabilities.
Modernized aircraft re-entered the fleet in 2000 under the name “F-4 2020 Terminator”. Today, THK has retired many of its F-4 Phantoms. About 50 F-4s are still in use in our inventory.
We talked about the F-4 Phantom aka Baba fighter jet. What do you think about this plane? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments.