The first of 583 F-4C ordered by the USAF began delivery in late 1963. They basically were F-
4Bs that had been refit for ground operations. The F-4C arrived in Southeast Asia in early 1965
and by 1966 equipped 7 squadrons in Vietnam and 3 in Thailand. The early F-4Cs lacked guns
and relied totally on missiles but it wasn’t long before the addition of SUU-16A gun pods with M-
61AI-20-mm guns were put to use to compensate for the lack of internal guns. The addition of
these gun pods gave the pilot gun fire but degraded the performance of the aircraft. The first F-
4Cs suffered from many defects such as wing tanks that would spring leaks and require
resealing after every flight. Many had cracked ribs on outer wing panels. It wasn’t too long
before the F-4D made an appearance.

One of Col. Robin Olds’ men had an idea that it might be possible to fool the enemy aircraft and
inflict heavy casualties on them. The idea was presented to Col. Olds and it sounded feasible so
plans were immediately worked on and ironed out. January 2, 1967 the plan, now called
“Operation Bolo” was put into action. Instead of the usual F-105s leading the way and being
intercepted by MiGs who departed the scene when the F-4s arrived, the F-4s took the lead and
flew at normal F-105 speeds, altitudes and formations. When the MiGs came up to intercept
what they thought were F-105s they instead found Phantom IIs.

Specification of the F-4C

Manufacturer: McDonnell-Douglas

Role – Fighter

Performance
Engines - (2) General Electric J79-GE-15 turbojets, 10,900 lb.s.t dry, 17,000 lb.s.t. with
afterburner
Maximum Speed – 1,433 mph @ 48,000 ft, 826 mph at sea level
Initial Climb Rate - 40,550 fpm
Service Ceiling - 56,100 ft
Combat Ceiling - 55,600 ft
Combat Range - 538 miles
Maximum Range – 1,926 miles with maximum external fuel

Weights
Empty - 28,496 lbs
Gross - 51,441 lbs
Combat Weight - 38,352 lbs
Maximum Take-Off Weight - 58,000 lbs

Dimensions
Wingspan 38 ft 5 ins
Wing Area - 530 sq ft
Length - 58 ft 3 3/4 ins
Height - 16 ft 3 ins

Fuel
Maximum Internal - 1,986 US gallons (1,343 gallons in fuselage, 630 gallons in wings)
Maximum External - 600 US gallons in centerline tank underneath the fuselage and 740 US
gallons in (2) under-wing tanks / total fuel to 3,313 US gallons

Armament
(4) AIM-7D or -7E Sparrow semi active radar homing missiles in under-fuselage recesses
Inner pylons could each accommodate (2) AIM-9B/D Sidewinder infrared homing missiles
Ground Attack Mode – able to carry up to 16,000 pounds of ordnance on centerline pylon
underneath the fuselage
Plus
(4) under-wing hard-points

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