Skyline

The F-4M was the RAF version with significant changes, though not very useful in actual combat. Both F-4s served as interceptors, fighter-bombers, and nuclear detonators, but the F-4M could be equipped with a camera pod for aerial reconnaissance. The F-4M was the only one produced in England to serve in the Falklands/Malvinas War in 1982, not in active combat but as a defense platform, as it arrived after the hostilities ended along with an additional purchase to the American F-4Js.

In the end, the idea of ​​blown flaps was maintained at the cost of a modification and a sacrifice: the pylons of hardpoints 1 and 9 were changed from 6 pylons to only 3; the landing gear was modified and reinforced for landings on narrow decks; and the heart of the F-4UK, the Rolls Royce Spey, the gigantic engines that made the Phantom take off from the small decks of HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle, was also removed. However, these aircraft carriers would not live so long, as the British decommissioned them in 1978, and in 1979 the F-4Ks were transferred to the RAF until their retirement in the early 1990s when they were replaced by the Panavia Tornados.

Another idea was to give the British an extremely fast reconnaissance fighter, but the British demanded an onboard radar, which would give combat and reconnaissance capabilities. However, the idea did not go ahead because the project was canceled before it left the drawing board.

Like other later versions for the Navy and Air Force, this one was also modified for the target drone role. As the F/A-18s were introduced, the F-4Ns were either retired or modified for this function.

This version was a systems upgrade, an attempt to update the airframes of recently built units that were not as worn down by the Vietnam War. The F-4N, like its predecessor, served only as naval interceptors, leaving the ground attack role to other fighters.

VF-161 Chargers

The FVS project originated from an earlier study, still based on the F-4L for the UK Navy, as the idea was for a super-powerful fighter with variable-geometry wings to land on small British aircraft carriers.

During the trials for the new Navy interceptor fighter program, McDonnell, recently merged with Douglas, decided to stand out in the competition with several studies of structural upgrades, from wings to engines. One of the best-known was the FVS, with variable-geometry wings, which would become the F-14. The FVH was also intended for the Navy, but these studies served the F-15 program years later.

The British acquired 15 refurbished F-4J units from the desert stockpile at Davis-Monthan Air Base after the Falklands/Malvinas War until 1991.

When the F-4J airframes completed their post-Vietnam service cycles, they were also deployed as target drones in various test ranges until the stocks were exhausted.

Like the F-4B, ​​the F-4J was a trainer for electronic warfare, being more advanced than its predecessor.

After several studies, the navy concluded that an upgrade of the F-4B was no longer viable, and with the cancellation of studies for an F-4L, the doors opened for an economically viable and reliable version. The F-4J was born as a new version full of innovations that would be a mainstay during the Vietnam War. This version updated the old J79 engines with a new version and a correction, as the old ones were known as "flying chimneys." The J79-GE-10 not only increased power but also eliminated this "flying chimney." The new radar, a "cut" variant of the AN/AWG-9, came with an innovation that would be applied to all subsequent fighters: the look-down/shoot-down capability, which allowed firing missiles at targets close to the ground. This was vital in air combat, as North Vietnamese fighters were known for their low flight and surgical strikes, since radars suffered interference due to the ground.

VF-111 Sundowners

The studies of the Model-98F served as a basis for the studies and introduction of the F-4J. And for a future F-4J+