WCS Info

While most of the WCS was declassified long ago, there is nothing that will presently replace the F-4G Wild Weasel, and the F-4E/F is still in use by NATO allies. Therefore, ranges, frequencies, and other capabilities are not discussed here. If you're really interested in this sort of info, any older Jane's All the World's Aircraft in the reference section of your local library will probably provide what you seek. The GIFs/JPGs shown here have had some items obscured before I obtained them.

Cockpit Fam

Front cockpit

Those who have never been in the seat of a fighter jet are always surprised at just how cramped the quarters are. As shown in this front cockpit snapshot ( provided by Tom Pirtle -Thanks, Tom ! ), the pilot can't touch his feet or knees together, and there is no room to stretch on a very long, ocean-crossing flight. Late in its lifetime, almost every F-4 had a ruggedized VHS VCR installed on edge, next to the pilot's right arm/shoulder. This made it even more uncomfortable - it was like driving with a suitcase wedged between you and the car door.

This is a Pave Spike jet, identified by the indicator just above the left hand glare shield. ( Look for two gray knobs in upper left. ) To the right of that is the ASG-26 LCOSS, through which, one viewed the front radar scope. Out of the picture in upper right is the RHAW ( "ECM" ) scope.
The black-and-yellow lever at left is the CANOPY JETTISON handle; to the right of that is the station arming panel, with its distinctive zebra-striped MASTER ARM switch. Beneath it are the LABS/WPN REL switches, and the late-model AWRU panel, which allowed infinitely-adjustable intervals between multiple-weapon releases. Continuing right, the red button is the STORES JETTISON switch, and centered are the HSI ( "ball") and the Bearing-Distance-Heading Indicator. The stick grip contains the red PICKLE ( bomb ) button on top and the IFR BOOM switch, ( side ) used to activate certain missile sequences. Hidden by the grip is the trigger switch, used for firing missiles, guns, and rockets.

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Rear cockpit

This is probably the same jet; a Pave Spike Laser coding panel is clearly visible in the most-forward position of the righthand console; other series jets have the TF/OB cursor control in that place.

Down between the GIB's legs is the DSCG radar scope, with its distinctive stiff rubber hood extending into space. The round yellow scope is the ALR-46 RHAW; just visible in the bottom right is the red thumb-operated EL STROBE wheel of the radar Hand Control.

Note the three rear-view mirrors on the forward canopy rail. In most cases, two more were mounted in fairings OUTSIDE the cockpit, as well !

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Radar primer

Note: While the graphics below show some examples of an F-4E radar, they are also representative of most fighter-type aircraft. Some of the concepts are almost universal in that respect - nearly every fighter uses aim dots and ASE circles once locked on, even if the terminology is different. All use some form of horizon line, the most basic of flight instruments.

PPI display - At right is a hand-drawn simulation of what the F-4's radar looked like. This is a MAP-PPI display, presented first, solely because it is the type of display most folks would recognize as a "radar screen". PPI mode really wasn't used very much, though.

The bright line slanting up and right is the radar sweep, while the broken horizontal line is the "artificial horizon", or HORIZON LINE. The small blip at extreme right is the EL STROBE, which indicated where the antenna was sweeping, relative to the aircraft's nose. The antenna sweep was always horizontal to the earth, but could be lowered/raised above the horizon via thumbwheel. The curved line in the pic is a range marker. ( Technically, the adjustable "bombing range strobe". )

In Target Find/Offset Bomb mode, a vertical cursor was also displayed; it intersected the range strobe over predetermined targets or IPs, tracking them under computer control.

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B-SCAN Search - This is a representation of what the crew would see while searching for an airborne target. The bright vertical line would sweep back and forth left-to-right, right-to-left, painting clouds and airborne targets. (There are 3 to 6 aircraft targets in this picture.)

While it may seem an unfamiliar way to show things, the B-scan gave excellent azimuth ( relative bearing ) information, and showed close-in targets much more clearly than a PPI sweep.

The two short vertical blips are the ACQ SYMBOLS, which the GIB positioned so as to bracket the target ( using the radar hand control - the original joystick ). He then acquired lockon by squeezing the hand control's trigger.

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LOCKON and track - Once the target was acquired, the sweep focused on the target, and two horizontal missile range strobes appeared, ( RMin and Ra/RMax ), calculated by the Target Intercept Computer ( TIC ) from ever-changing data. As the fighter closed on the target, moving "IN RANGE" for a good missile shot, an "allowable steering error" ( ASE ) circle at the center of the screen grew in size. An AIM DOT position, continuosly calculated by the TIC as the optimum aim point, was also shown somewhere on the scope. If the crew flew the jet to keep the AIM DOT inside the ASE circle, the TIC would allow the missile to be launched.

The outer Vc ( "V-sub-c" ) circle was present only on old DVST and MSDG scopes; it's sole use was the gap in it's rim. This "Vc gap" indicated the relative velocity with which the fighter was closing upon the target. In DSCG scopes, it was replaced by digits in an upper corner which presented the Vc directly in knots.

There also was a "dogfight" AUTO-ACQ mode for use by the pilot. He could quickly place the WCS in this "SUPER SEARCH" mode with the touch of a single throttle-mounted button. The radar automatically swept its range gate outward until it encountered a target, and automatically locked on. The pilot could reject this target and have the radar search for another simply by touching the button again.

Sometimes, the aim dot appeared to steer the plane away from the target - but this was only because the Target Intercept Computer always planned a "Lead-Pursuit" course to the target. This would invariably bring the F-4 to a position behind and slightly below the target - a standard "visual identification" feature of all modern inteceptors, worldwide.

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Weapons-employment primer

The F-4, no matter it's tasking, was a fighter jet. During the Vietnam War, every bombing mission carried at least two medium-range AIM-7 radar missiles - and the E-models always had the internal gun - for use against enemy fighters. ( Some bomb loads permitted carriage of 2 or 4 short-range AIM-9s as well. )

If an enemy plane was encountered, all external stores and tanks were jettisoned, to increase manueverability. The F-4 was designed to carry up to four AIM-7s "for free", half-submerged in the fuselage missile wells, with fins extending up inside the plane 18 inches or so. ( The USNs F-14 Tomcat does this as well.)

Here are some "standard" configurations for Vietnam-era missions:
( e.g. - R/O = Rt. Outboard; L/A = Left Aft; R/I = Rt. Inboard; R/F = Rt Fwd., etc. )

G.P. Bomb
R/O Sta	R/I Sta	R/A+R/F	C/L	L/A+L/F	L/I Sta	L/O Sta
MER w/4 500lb bombs	TER w/3 500lb bombs	AIM-7 + camera	650 gal tank	AIM-7 + (none)	TER w/3 500lb bombs	MER w/4 500lb bombs

Heavy Bomb profile
R/O Sta	R/I Sta	R/A+R/F	C/L	L/A+L/F	L/I Sta	L/O Sta
2,000 lb bomb	TER w/3 500lb bombs	AIM-7 + camera	650 gal fuel tank	AIM-7 + (none)	TER w/3 500lb bombs	2,000 lb bomb

Anti-personnel Bomb
R/O Sta	R/I Sta	R/A+R/F	C/L	L/A+L/F	L/I Sta	L/O Sta
370 gal wing tank	TER w/3 cluster bombs	AIM-7 + camera	MER w/4 cluster bombs	AIM-7 + (none)	TER w/3 cluster bombs	370 gal wing tank

Special mission
R/O Sta	R/I Sta	R/A+R/F	C/L	L/A+L/F	L/I Sta	L/O Sta
370 gal wing tank	TER w/3 500lb bombs	AIM-7 + camera	650 gal fuel tank	AIM-7 + (none)	AGM-12 Bullpup missile	370 gal wing tank

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