Rarely have there been intercepts as remarkable as the time a U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II successfully acquired a radar lock on the fabled Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, an event that took place during the peak of the Vietnam War. This encounter, which occurred over the Gulf of Tonkin, is a tale of aerial combat that speaks volumes about the unmatched velocity of the Blackbird and, conversely, the impressive capabilities of the F-4 Phantom II.
The incident occurred when F-4 pilot Jerry Hart and his Radar Intercept Officer were flying a Barrier Combat Air Patrol mission. They received a notification from “Red Crown,” the callsign for a support cruiser, about a friendly aircraft approaching from the north – an SR-71 exiting Chinese airspace over Hainan Island.
Confident that the elusive Blackbird would finally be seen, Hart eased the F-4 into position. He recalled, “As the antenna tilted up to its maximum, we got a fleeting contact on the scope, the velocity circle spun wildly, and then it went completely black.” The SR-71 was so fast that the F-4’s radars were overwhelmed by the Phantoms.
The SR-71 was designed by engineering wizard Clarence “Kelly” Johnson and his Skunk Works team. It made its first flight in December 1964. It was incredibly fast, with test pilot Jim Eastham pushing it to Mach 3.56 during a dive—still the record for any air-breathing manned aircraft.
According to one aviation historian, John Smith, “The SR-71 was a product of advanced design and materials, including its heat-resistant titanium skin. It truly belonged to a different class.”
The F-4 Phantom would not be precisely a slouch either; it was just another breed of aircraft altogether. Large and powerful, it was good for a maximum speed of Mach 2.23 and had itself set 16 world speed and altitude records. Extensively used in the Vietnam War and beyond, the F-4 served until its retirement by the U.S. in 1996, although some remain in service elsewhere.
“The contrast between these two airplanes is amazing,” Smith added. “The F-4 was a very good fighter-bomber, but the SR-71 was just plain astonishing what could be done, an engineering marvel.”.
The legend of the Blackbird has only grown over decades, and this encounter reminded one of its peerless capabilities—something out of a radar duel for the ages where no amount of impressive technology that the Phantom used stood against the raw speed of the SR-71.
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