Timeline F-4 Phantom II

Big, fast and twin-engined, the Phantom II flew with the US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force at once. 5,195 were built, and it fought from Vietnam to the Middle East.

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Dashed left edge = started before this timeline · Dashed right edge = still ongoing

F-4 Phantom II 13

1958 F4H Phantom II first flight McDonnell Aircraft, St. Louis The twin-engined, two-seat Phantom II flies for the first time. Designed for the US Navy, it is soon adopted by the Marine Corps and Air Force as well.
1960 Phantom II enters US Navy service A string of world records The Phantom enters fleet service and sets a series of world speed and altitude records.
1961 Project Skyburner World speed record A Phantom II sets the world absolute speed record at about 2,585 km/h (1,606 mph) over Edwards Air Force Base.
1963 F-4C enters USAF service The Air Force buys a Navy jet The US Air Force adopts the Navy's Phantom as the F-4C, a rare case of the Air Force buying a Navy fighter.
1967 Operation Bolo Robin Olds' MiG trap USAF F-4s led by Colonel Robin Olds pose as bomb-laden F-105s, lure North Vietnamese MiG-21s into combat and shoot down seven of them without loss.
1969 – 1974 Blue Angels and Thunderbirds fly the Phantom Air show years Both US display teams fly the F-4 — the only time the Navy and Air Force teams used the same type.
1969 Israel receives the F-4E Kurnass The first Phantoms reach Israel, where they become the backbone of its air force through the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War.
1972 First US aces of the Vietnam War Cunningham and Driscoll Navy F-4 crew Randy Cunningham and Willie Driscoll shoot down three MiGs in one mission, becoming the first American aces of the war.
1972 Steve Ritchie becomes a USAF ace Fifth MiG kill F-4 pilot Captain Steve Ritchie downs his fifth MiG-21, becoming the US Air Force's only pilot ace of the Vietnam War.
1981 Phantom production ends 5,195 built The last Phantom, a Mitsubishi-built F-4EJ for Japan, rolls out, ending production after 5,195 aircraft.
2013 Germany retires the F-4F After 40 years The Luftwaffe flies its last Phantoms, replaced by the Eurofighter Typhoon.
2016 USAF retires the Phantom Last QF-4 target drones The US Air Force flies its last QF-4 target drones at Holloman Air Force Base, ending 53 years of Phantom service.
2021 Japan retires its Phantoms F-4EJ Kai Japan's Air Self-Defense Force retires its last F-4EJs, ending half a century of Phantom service.