F-4F (Germany)

This page is about the German jet fighter F-4F (Germany). For other versions, see F-4 Phantom II (Family).

◄F-4F

◄F-104G

◄F-4F KWS LV

◄F-4F

◄F-104G

◄F-4F KWS LV

Germany

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.3	11.0	10.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:300 000

Purchase:830 000

Description

In the early 1980s, around ten years after Germany received their Phantoms, Germany decided to retrofit their F-4Fs in an attempt to modernize them. The F-4Fs at the beginning of their lifecycle were stripped down F-4Es in an attempt to reduce the cost and lost many abilities that the F-4E had. For example, the F-4E could launch AIM-7 Sparrow radar missiles and use guided weapons like Mavericks or Walleyes. Between 1980 and 1983, the F-4Fs regained the ability to fire AIM-7s and use guided weaponry. In addition, it could launch AIM-9L Sidewinders and the electronics were improved.

Introduced in Update "Red Skies", the ◄F-4F Phantom II is a researchable rank VII jet. It is a strong fighter due to its high top speed, access to countermeasures, and good missiles like the AIM-9J. The M61 Vulcan is also extremely potent due to its high fire rate and velocity. It's also an excellent ground attacker since it has access to CCIP for cannons, bombs, and rockets and also the ability to use Mavericks. Players who wish to use the F-4F for ground attack or as a fighter will not be disappointed.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 12 192 m2 140 km/h

Turn time26 s

Max altitude16 000 m

Engine2 х MTU Aero Engines J79-MTU-17A

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight24 t

Equipped with twin MTU Aero J79-MTU-17A engines (licensed copies of the F-4E's engines), each providing 8010 kgf of thrust when spaded, F-4F provides solid performance at any altitude.

While not as fast a climber as the F-104G, it can still climb incredibly well. Its acceleration is above average thanks to its twin engines.

F-4F also has incredible roll rate and thanks to its "Agile Eagle" wing slats and all-flying tail, it can also pull high-G manoeuvres without any issues.

However, pilots should be aware, that while the newfound agility of this Phantom might tempt them to dogfight, they should still stick to Boom'n'Zoom tactics as the F-4F is heavy, and any prolonged turning will bleed a lot of speed - and a slow jet is a dead jet.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 12,192 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	2,066	2,020	16000	26.5	27.8	162.3	152.4	850
Upgraded	2,216	2,140		25.5	26.0	224.2	192.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1458	463	607	583	463	~11	~4

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 810	< 750	< 700	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
MTU Aero Engines J79-MTU-17A		2	14,375 kg		398 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		8m fuel	20m fuel	27m fuel
1,724 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		15,941 kg	18,196 kg	19,595 kg	24,000 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	8m fuel	20m fuel	27m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	5,200 kgf	8,008 kgf	1.00	0.88	0.82	0.67
Optimal	5,200 kgf (0 km/h)	10,170 kgf (1,400 km/h)	1.28	1.12	1.04	0.85

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew2 people

Speed of destruction

Structural1 458 km/h

Gear463 km/h

In terms of armour, there is no armoured glass in the cockpit of the F-4F, nor any relevant armour protecting any crucial part of the plane. There is an 8.5 mm thick steel plate just below the forward fuel tank of the plane, but due to its size relative to the size of the plane, it might as well not be there at all.

All fuel tanks are self-sealing, but this is pretty much standard at this battle rating. Pilots should note that right behind the cockpit, the middle and back section of the plane is littered with modules - fuel tanks, engines, and control surface controls are all tightly packed together and thus any hit to this part of the plane will cause critical damage to at least one component.

The F-4F is equipped with a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) from the get go and can unlock a countermeasures launcher as a tier I modification (unlike the F-4F Early).

Countermeasures are either Flares or Chaff. Flares are crucial to defeating IR guided missiles, while Chaff confuses enemy radars. Pilots should note that since F-4F is equipped with two engines, its heat signature is enormous, especially with afterburner active; thus they need to turn afterburner off in order to successfully evade IR missile.

RWR issues a warning to the pilot when it detects active radar pulsing towards the player; this will be heard as beeps. It also warns pilots when their plane gets "radar locked" by continuous tone. It also displays the approximate position of active radar relative to the plane and highlights radar that achieved "radar lock".

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 949 → 3 984

RB9 174 → 12 394

SB8 845 → 11 949

Total cost of modifications276 800

435 000

Talisman cost2 900

Crew training240 000

Experts830 000

Aces3 000

Research Aces1 140 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 320 / 600 %

238 / 238 / 238 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 360 New boosters Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 490 Wings repair Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 Engine Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570	Fuselage repair Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 360 Airframe Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 490 G-suit Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 Cover Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570	M60_belt_pack Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 360 Flares/Chaff Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 360 Mk82 Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 360 LAU-3/A Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 360 M60_new_gun Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 490 M117 Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 490 AIM-9B FGW.2 Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 490 Gun pod SUU-23/A. Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 Mk83 Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 LAU-10/A Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 AIM-9E Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 Mk84 Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570 Mk118 Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570 Mk84 Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570 40px AGM-65B Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570 AIM-9J Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 570

Pilots should start researching countermeasures from the get go, since it can be almost impossible to dodge advanced missiles such as Matra Magics without them. After that, pilots' focus should be on getting AIM-9Js, as those are F-4F strongest missiles and best weapon against enemy planes.

Order of modifications:

Countermeasures > AIM-9B FGW.2 > New boosters > AIM-9E > G-suit > Wings repair > AIM-9J

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The F-4F (Germany) is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon, chin-mounted (640 rpg)
• 90 x countermeasures

The M61A1 is an excellent cannon at its rank, its only disadvantages being the spool-up time and somewhat limited ammo count relative to rate of fire.

Armed with anti-air belts for Air RB, even a short connecting burst will be fatal to any enemy aircraft.

The cannon excels even in Ground RB equipped with armour-piercing belts, giving it 53 mm of penetration, which is enough to get through most SPAAs and light tanks armour and can even pierce the roofs and engine decks of MBTs such as T-90A.

With its extremely high rate of fire, trigger discipline is a must.

Suspended armament

The F-4F (Germany) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
20 mm GAU-4 cannons (1,200 rpg)	1						1
250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs	6	3		6		3	6
500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs	6	3		6		3	6
500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs	6	3		6		3	6
1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs	2	3		3		3	2
2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bombs	1			1			1
750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs	3	3		5		3	3
3,000 lb M118 bombs				1
BLU-27/B incendiary bombs	1			2			1
FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets	57	57		57		57	57
Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets	12	12		12		12	12
AGM-65B missiles		1				1
AIM-9B FGW.2 Sidewinder missiles			2		2
AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles			1, 2		1, 2
AIM-9J Sidewinder missiles			2		2
600 gal drop tanks				1
Maximum permissible loadout weight: 7,257 kg Maximum permissible wing load: 3,000 kg Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 1,500 kg

Default weapon presets

1 x 600 gal drop tank 2 x 20 mm GAU-4 cannons (1,200 rpg = 2,400 total) 2 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-9B FGW.2 Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-9E Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-9J Sidewinder missiles 24 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (6,000 lb total) 24 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (12,000 lb total) 24 x 500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs (12,000 lb total) 17 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (12,750 lb total) 13 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs (13,000 lb total) 3 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bombs (6,000 lb total) 1 x 3,000 lb M118 bomb (3,000 lb total) 285 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets 60 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets 2 x AGM-65B missiles

GAU-4 gunpods - additional gunpods with M61A1 cannons, providing 1,200 rounds per gun. These basically allow pilot to put a wall of lead between their plane and the enemy, however, they severely hamper flight performance.

Air-to-air

AIM-9B FGW.2 - Bravo version are F-4F stock missiles, should be used only until better options become available, as they are obsolete at this BR.

AIM-9E - First upgraded missiles available to F-4F, Echo Sidewinders provide much needed performance boost over the AIM-9B. Better speed, better range and wider seeker window allow Es to hit more reliably. Still, they retain its predecessor's poor G limit and should be used only as stop gap solution.

AIM-9J - Final upgrade available to F-4F, AIM-9Js provide good performance. They can pull twice the G limit of its predecessors, and should be the pilot's weapons of choice for engaging air targets.

Air-to-ground

As F-4F is equipped with a ballistic computer, coupled with its ability to equip massive amounts of ordnance, F-4F can become an extremely potent ground attacker with any ground attack payload.

FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets - Mighty Mouse rockets provide solid performance against ground targets. Sporting 290 mm of penetration, these can easily get through roof armour of most vehicles in-game, though some ERA equipped tanks can survive a few hits. While not having enough explosive mass to score kills with indirect hits, the ballistic computer can help with their aiming, and as F-4F can equip up to 285 of them, pilots can easily compensate accuracy with quantity.

Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets - Basically Mighty Mouse rockets on steroids, Zunis are an anti-everything tool. Their HEAT warhead provides up to 457 mm of penetration and thanks to their explosive mass equivalent to 8.91 kg of TNT, they can severely damage light targets with indirect hits.

AGM-65B missiles - Unique to the F-4F (compared to other German planes) are AGM-65Bs, more commonly known as Mavericks. These are fire and forget anti-tank missiles with TV guidance and a maximum range of 6 km. Their warheads can penetrate up to 830 mm of armour. As they are fire and forget, they are great to use in contested airspace when compared to bombs, though F-4F can carry only 2 of them at once.

Bombs - F-4F, being equipped with a ballistic computer, turns any bomb payload into a much more viable option. Turning on the ballistic computer allows pilot to use arcade-style crosshairs, so any pilot is capable of hitting ground targets with laser accuracy.

F-4F is capable of carrying up to 24 x 500 lb bombs and these are dropped individually, allowing the player in theory to achieve a whopping 24 kills per payload, thus completely wiping the enemy team from existence (in practice however, there will be enemy AA units, and F-4F carrying all that ordnance practically becomes a rock with wings). All bombs carried by F-4F are viable, so it is up to the pilot's personal preferences.

Usage in battles

Ground battles

Most air-to-air combat in ground battles happens inside cannon range; thus it is not recommended to take Sidewinders to ground battles, and focus purely on CAS.

As stated above, the F-4F is an extremely potent ground attacker. Since there are currently only two AA vehicles armed with IR missiles (PGZ04A and Type 93) in-game, pilots should prioritise chaff when picking up countermeasures. Chaff helps with confusing enemy search and tracking radars, increasing probability of miss and thus increasing F-4F survivability.

Flying high above the battlefield is ill-advised, as this approach puts pilots in range of most enemy SAMs.

Radar needs an unobstructed line of sight to work properly, so flying low and utilizing ground obstacles helps with plane survival. Pilots should approach the battlefield at low altitude and do a flyby over enemy spawn in order to determine whenever the enemy team has active AA or not. RWR helps with this task, but pilots should note that lack of active radar does not necessarily mean that there's no AA active; some skilled players turn off search radars in order to drawn out enemy air assets out of cover. If there's enemy AA, it needs to be taken out first. Only then should the pilot gain altitude necessary for ground attacks. If the pilot gets warning that radar lock has been achieved, immediately deploy chaff, start evasive manoeuvres, and should consider disengaging for the time being.

Pilots should not be afraid to inform their teammates in chat while approaching the battlefield, as forward observers help immensely with locating enemy ground assets; F-4F working this way in tandem with squadmates on ground can turn the tide of battle in a matter of minutes.

Air battles

Generally speaking, pilots should always try to stick with their teammates. While the F-4F's agility might be tempting, due to its weight it bleeds speed a lot. Dogfighting a single plane might be doable, but doing so often leaves F-4F in low energy state and thus extremely vulnerable. Pilots also tend to tunnel vision on a single enemy, thus exposing themselves to other enemy planes; teammates can provide much needed cover in this scenario, allowing pilots to survive longer.

As for fuel load, F-4F performs best when afterburner is activated - but pilots should be aware that afterburner devours a lot of fuel. Thus it is not advised to take lighter fuel loads; pilots should take either 20 or 28 minutes load, depending on how much they plan to be active.

At the start of the game, pilots should first accelerate to a speed of 1,000-1,100 km/h, then climb to around 3 km altitude, and head towards the battlefield. As the F-4F is not armed with SARH missiles, climbing higher is ill-advised, as higher altitudes tend to be dominated by planes equipped with SARH missiles - those don't need rear aspect to achieve lock, as they use radar guidance and thus they can lock onto enemies from front and side. However, SARH missiles need continuous radar lock of enemy planes in order to score a hit; older radars (those without look down/shoot down ability) tend to pick up a lot of clutter (reflection of radar waves from the ground) when aimed towards ground. This means older radars lose their lock when aiming at the enemy that is below them, significantly reducing SARH missile effectiveness. By simply staying lower than SARH equipped enemies, pilots should be relatively safe (as long as they keep situational awareness). On top of that, pilots can equip chaff as another layer of protection against SARH missiles.

Pilots should not turn fight and instead stick to boom'n'zoom tactics. Luckily, thanks to excellent AIM-9Js, F-4F doesn't need to turn fight in most cases. Optimal launch range is from 1 to 3 km - closer and the missile might not be able to keep track, farther and the missile might run out of fuel before reaching its target. Missile range is dependent on several factors - altitude, the speed of the launching and targeted aircraft, their mutual distance, and the amount of manoeuvring the missile needs to do. Generally speaking, missile traveling in a straight line will have better range than manoeuvring missile. Also, missile launched from higher altitude and with initial speed advantage will also have better range. As for evading missiles, it depends on distance and type of missile launched. It is not advised to pull high G manoeuvres when the missile is launched outside 3.5 km range, as the missile still has time and energy to correct itself before impact, while the target plane just bleeds all of its energy and is left defenseless.

Missiles launched at 3-3.5 km range or greater can be dodged without need for high G manoeuvres - simply slowly zig-zagging while going fast is often enough to defeat them; this manoeuvre does not waste precious countermeasures nor energy. Of course, pilots can also turn off the afterburner and deploy flares as another layer of protection.

Missiles launched below 3 km require different tactics. As most modern missiles can pull 20 Gs or more, pilots need to get as many countermeasures as they can between them and the incoming missile; this often requires a combination with high G evasive manoeuvres, as countermeasures are not 100% guarantee and a missile that locked onto countermeasures might still continue in its path and hit an escaping plane.

If pilots need to counter ground based AA, the best tactic is to break line of sight; by either flying behind cover such as mountains or flying close to the ground.

Specific enemies worth mentioning:

• Mirage IIIs, F-5s and J-35s: While F-4F, thanks to its Agile Eagle upgrade, can get these planes in its crosshair, they are more than capable of out-turning F-4F in prolonged turns. On top of that, Mirage is armed with a dreaded Magic AAM that is capable of pulling 30 Gs.

• MiG-21ss: Same case as above; Most of these planes are armed with R-60 AAM, capable of pulling 30 Gs.

• F-4E, F-4EJ, Phantom FG.1 and FGR.2: While these planes offer similar flight performance, they are armed with AIM-7 SARH missiles, and thus have significant advantage while fighting at high altitudes.

• A-10A / A-10A Late: The A-10 presents itself as nuisance for the F-4F in a way that SARH-carrying F-4s do not have to worry about in the same way: the AIM-9J does not have the range to be able to hit A-10s out of visual range (i.e to prevent flaring) and in closer ranges the AIM-9J will be countered by the massive flare reserves available to A-10s. You will have to resort to CQC in the form of dogfighting; the F-4F's Agile Eagle package allows this to be done relatively easily, as the A-10 cannot ratefight or turnfight for a sustained amount of time (be wary about your first push onto one however, as they will still have enough energy to potentially launch an AIM-9L or get their lethal 30 mm autocannon onto you). It is strongly advised to not engage A-10s in groups, as they can effectively protect each other with their missiles and will rapidly drain you of energy and flares.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• AIM-9J's are decently flare-resistant (especially compared to Russian counterparts such as the R-60)
• Comes with internal 20 mm Vulcan cannon rather than having to equip it as an external pylon (unlike other Phantoms)
• Equipped with RWR and 90 Countermeasures
• Variety of large air-to-ground payloads, including the potent AGM-65B Maverick fire and forget missiles.

Cons:

• Heavy, bleeds a lot of speed in turns
• AIM-9J has very short range and is slower than other IR missiles that are comparable
• Lack of SARH missiles requires different approach than with other Phantoms and presents fewer opportunities to shoot down enemies
• Pure CAS loadout reduces flight performance
• Large size of airframe makes head-on attacks extremely risky, even with the potency of the 20 mm Vulcan cannon

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the F-4F (Germany) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Germany Suffers - Should You Grind The F-4F Phantom - Vehicle Review - Sako Sniper (Review starts at 0:53)

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
Jet Fighters	F2H-2 · F3H-2
	F-4C Phantom II · F-4E Phantom II · F-4J Phantom II · F-4S Phantom II
	F-15A · F-15C MSIP II · F-15E
Strike Aircraft	AV-8B Plus · AV-8B (NA)
Helicopters	AH-6M
Export/Licensed
Aircraft	◄F-4F Early · ◄F-4F · ◄F-4F KWS LV · Phantom FG.1 · Phantom FGR.2 · F-4J(UK) Phantom II · F-4EJ Phantom II · F-4EJ ADTW · Kurnass · Kurnass 2000
	F-15J · F-15J(M) · Baz · Baz Meshupar · F-15I Ra’am
	▄AV-8B Plus
Helicopters	Lahatut
	The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation merged with Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas Corporation. Later it was merged with The Boeing Company in 1997.
See Also	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries