



FineMolds 1/72 pienoismalli, rakennussarja.
In the early 1970s, the West German Air Force planned to transition from the F-104G to the Tornado IDS (a joint British, German, and Italian development), but due to development delays, they considered adopting the lighter and simplified F-4 proposed by the United States. Initially, a single-seat version was considered, but based on the experience of the RF-4E that had been introduced earlier, they reverted to a two-seat configuration. Thus, it was adopted by the West German Air Force and became the F model, but because it was equipped with a simplified radar without an illuminator function, it could not operate AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, and its air-to-air armament consisted only of AIM-9 missiles and cannons. In addition, the aerial refueling system and one internal fuel tank were removed to reduce weight. Externally, it is characterized by the installation of movable leading-edge slats and a stabilizer (tail fin stabilizer) without fixed slats. 175 F-4F aircraft were procured for two fighter-bomber wings and two interceptor wings. In 1983, as part of the Combat Efficiency Improvement (ICE) program, the radar system was replaced with the AN/APG-65GY to improve beyond-visual-range look-down/shoot-down capabilities, enabling the use of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. 110 aircraft were modified for air defense, while another 37 were converted into enhanced ground attack variants without radar modifications.
























