THE ROYAL AIR FORCE'S original purchase of the F-4 Phantom was circuitous to say the least. Having been denied the P1154 and TSR2 and abandoned the F-111, the service belatedly cottoned on to the fact that the Royal Navy's Buccaneer S2 was excellent at its low-level strike role, and long after the Fleet Air Arm embraced the 'Brick' the RAF did likewise with mixed feelings. Meanwhile, to complement its Buccaneers the FAA needed a new fighter to replace its ageing Sea Vixens and Scimitars. Having tried to 'Anglicise' the F-111, bumping up the cost to dizzy heights for little gain, it might be assumed that lessons had been learned. Not so. With the Phantom, the Ministry of Defence excelled itself. Part of the dilemma lay in the Royal Navy only having small carriers, for which it needed modified Phantoms — the standard F-4J was deemed unsuitable due to performance issues when operating from smaller vessels. Maybe, in fairness, the then British government was duped by sales propaganda from McDonnell Douglas. Recent information has revealed that the UK was led from an early stage to believe that the US was also interested in a proposal by Rolls-Royce to use afterburning Spey engines in an attempt to allow heavyweight Phantoms to operate from smaller carriers such as the Essex Class.
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