The US Air Force brought 53 years of F-4 Phantom II operations to a close on December 21 with a retirement ceremony at Holloman Air Force Base. Joe Copalman reports from southern New Mexico.
WHILE THE USAF retired the F-4 from combat service in 1996, it selected the type to replace the Convair QF-106 Delta Dart in the Full-Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) role in 1997.
The FSAT mission saw the Phantom – as the QF-4 – used as an unmanned target drone by the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron (ATRS), part of the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group (WEG).
