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Nah, I think it was no gun at first, then they added wing mounted gun pods then later versions did have an internal cannon (maybe?). But I'm almost sure it was designed without one originally.

This is correct. The external gun was added on the C & D models. An internal gun wasn't fitted until late in the war on the E model.

The F-4 was designed in an era when it was believed that the next war was going to be nuclear. It was envisioned as a interceptor whose primary role was to shoot down Soviet bombers before they could release their weapons. Missiles were ideal for this role. If you got close enough to a bomber to use a gun then those radar controlled guns in the tail of a TU-95 could also engage you.

USN/USMC F-4s were never armed with cannon & maintained a higher kill ratio than their AF counterparts. They went from roughly 3-1 at the beginning of the war to close to 12-1 by the end (due to the introduction of programs that eventually morphed into the fighter weapons school). The USAF never climbed much above 3-1 due to still using outdated WW2 era tactics.

Training > Guns
 
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. They went from roughly 3-1 at the beginning of the war to close to 12-1 by the end (due to the introduction of programs that eventually morphed into the fighter weapons school). The USAF never climbed much above 3-1 due to still using outdated WW2 era tactics.

Training > Guns

Well, I mean,we all saw the beginning of Top Gun.
 
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Big Ugly may have been the greatest fighter aircraft ever built!

Well if we're talking air to air kill ratios... F-15 (and probably a few others) have that pesky "Divide by Zero" you need to.. well... have a ratio in the first place. And they shot down a satellite with an F-15 once.... F-4 shooting up shit in orbit? Didn't think so.

(I'm not really trying to make a case for the F-15 and you could weigh any ranking list to get any number of planes a very good result, but when I think of awesome fighter aircraft of all time, I don't think of the f-4... but, I'm no expert. There certainly were a lot of them... )
 
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Well if we're talking air to air kill ratios... F-15 (and probably a few others) have that pesky "Divide by Zero" you need to.. well... have a ratio in the first place. And they shot down a satellite with an F-15 once.... F-4 shooting up [Mark May] in orbit? Didn't think so.
The F-15 didn't shoot down a satellite...the U.S. Vought ASM-135 ASAT missile that it launched did. The F-15 was specially modified to carry the ASM-135, and an F-4 could just as easily been modified to do the job, had it still be the USAF's frontline fighter at the time (1985). Not saying the F-15 doesn't have a superior kill ratio over the F-4, but using the fact that it just happened to be the platform to launch a missile specifically built to destroy a stationary satellite as an argument as to why the F-15 is superior to the F-4 is meaningless.

The F-4 was indeed a badass aircraft for its time and more than held its own against its foes. That said, in an air-to-air battle, the F-15 would rip it to shreds.
 
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The F-15 didn't shoot down a satellite...the U.S. Vought ASM-135 ASAT missile that it launched did. The F-15 was specially modified to carry the ASM-135, and an F-4 could just as easily been modified to do the job, had it still be the USAF's frontline fighter at the time (1985). Not saying the F-15 doesn't have a superior kill ratio over the F-4, but using the fact that it just happened to be the platform to launch a missile specifically built to destroy a stationary satellite as an argument as to why the F-15 is superior to the F-4 is meaningless.

The F-4 was indeed a badass aircraft for its time and more than held its own against its foes. That said, in an air-to-air battle, the F-15 would rip it to shreds.
I was just talkin smack. :wink:
 
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Saw these guys a couple years ago. F-16 says Hi...

US_Air_Force_Thunderbirds_zpsa8oe8i3f.jpg
 
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