155096986 Parsons G Jul 2013 F 4F Pharewell Air Forces Monthly Issue 304

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F-4F PHAREWELL

PharewellAfter 40 years of service the German Air Force (Luftwaffe)

is about to retire the last of its McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom IIs Gary Parsons reports from Wittmundhafen

Air Base in Germany

F-4F

The F-4F 'Heritage Flight'Four F-4Fs have been nished in paint schemes to represent the decades of operations since the type entered service in 1973.F-4F 37+01 the very rst F-4F to be rolled out of the McDonnell Douglas factory at St Louis has notched up nearly 7,400 hours in its long career. Selected to carry the Phinal Pharewell colour scheme of blue and gold, Col Roubal will pilot it for the last time on June 29, weather permitting. There are plans for this aircraft to be preserved near the gate at the air eld.38+10 Wears the Norm 72 camou age of the early 1970s and large serial on the fuselage sides. The scheme was a traditional green and grey pattern, re ecting the types air-to-ground role during its rst 20 years or so. One of the later aircraft, this airframe has only 6,900 hours to its credit.38+33 With a mere 6,500 hours, the young-ster of the remaining eet wears the Norm 81 grey colour scheme better suited to the types air-to-air taskings.37+22 the most recent paint scheme is the all-grey Norm 90 scheme worn by this airframe, one of the more elderly with nearly 7,100 hours on the clock. The scheme changed very little over the last 20 years and was well-suited to the F-4Fs all air-to-air taskings from the ICE upgrade to the present day.

Right: The size of the mighty Phantom is illustrated in this image of F-4F 38+10 during its post-fl ight service after landing at Wittmundhafen on May 8. Key Gary Parsons

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RequirementThe Luftwaffe operated two variants of the McDon-

nell Douglas F-4 fighter-bomber 88 RF-4E reconnaissance and 175

F-4F air-to-air versions. The RF-4E replaced the Lockheed RF-104G from 1970 and the F-4F superseded the F-104G and Fiat

G91R in air defence and ground attack roles a few years later. The

first F-4F, 37+01, made its initial flight a t the factory in St Louis, Missouri on March 18, 1973 and the first aircraft to land in Germany were 37+03 and 37+04, touching down at Wittmund-hafen on August 31 that year. JG 71 became the first unit to operate the F-4F, which would eventually equip another three wings JG 74 Mlders, Jagd-bombergeschwader (Fighter-bomber Wing) (JbG) 36 Westfalen and JbG 35. The last F-4F, 38+75, was delivered on April 26, 1976.

UpgradesThe F-4F was essentially a lightened F-4E, weighing in at 3,300lb (1,500kg) less through the elimina-

Its a sad feeling, admitted Colonel Gerhard Roubal, the commander of Jagdges-chwader (Fighter Wing) 71 (JG 71) Richthofen. At the

end of June the Phantom will be gone forever [from the Luftwaffe] and

thats why we took the opportunity to create this heritage flight of the different

camouflage patterns of the 1970s, 80s, 90s and the official farewell design. Col Roubal has lived

with Phantoms for much of his service career he has 2,500 hours on the F-4F since he first piloted the type in 1987. Behind us are four differently-painted F-4Fs, each commemorating a decade in which the Phantom has protected German skies. They will be the last four F-4Fs to fly at the end of June

when the base hosts an open house, expected to attract around 130,000 visitors to

pay homage to the fighter that has been a regular sight over Friesland for 40 years.

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F-4F PHAREWELL

tion of several air-to-ground systems and a fuel tank, but as a result was a better performer and more suited to air defence. A first upgrade was instigated in 1975 under the Peace Rhino programme where the aircraft received an all-weather capability with a LRU-1 digital weapons display replacing the old analogue screen, an upgraded radar and associated defensive aids. All aircraft were modified by 1984.

A much bigger programme began in 1991 called the Improved Combat Efficiency (ICE) upgrade, which consisted of replacing the radar with the AN/APQ-65 designed for the F/A-18C Hornet and updating the avionics, enabling the F-4F to carry the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM), giving the aircraft a beyond-visu-al-range (BVR) capability. Col Roubal confirmed the F-4F is still a match for many fighters: We still have a good weapon system, from the 20mm cannon to the Sidewinder and AMRAAM. We have a very capable radar developed from the F-18, so, except for a datalink, we are up-to-date. We have a rear warning radar, ECM [electronic countermeasures] pod, everything you would want. If we had to go to war today, we could. We are well suited to the tasks of air policing and quick reaction alert [QRA]. An advantage is our two-man crew.

By 1996 113 F-4Fs had been upgraded and equipped the two remaining fighter wings at Neuburg and Wittmundhafen, plus the training unit at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, USA. At that time JG 71 consisted of two squadrons, or staffeln, numbered 711 and 712.

By then all the RF-4Es had been withdrawn from service and passed to Turkey and Greece. The completion of the introduction of Tornado into Luftwaffe and German Navy service meant the F-4F lost its ground-attack role in the early 1990s, JbG 36 becoming JG 72 and JbG 35 JG 73. The latter units lost their F-4Fs in March 2002 in anticipation of receiving Eurofighters, followed by JG 74 at Neuburg in June 2008, leaving just JG 71 at Wittmundhafen to manage the remainder of the fleet. Col Roubal enthused: Our peak time for flying the F-4F was in 2009 when we flew about 8,600 hours we had 50 jets available it was heaven for us!

Above: Wearing the Norm 72 camoufl age pattern of green and grey, F-4F 38+10 depicts the colours of the aircraft when it was introduced into service in 1973. Key Gary ParsonsBelow: Col Gerhard Roubal, the commanding o cer of JG 71. The unit will reduce to Group status in October and be designated Tactical Air Force Group Richthofen. Key Gary Parsons

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Phinal daysSince 2009 the fleet has gradually reduced as airframes reach the end of their operating lives, with just ten aircraft left by the end of May. I have eight pilots and ten jets to take us through to the end of June, continued Col Roubal. If we want to take a three-ship to the air, we have to manage it carefully, since I have four pilots on QRA [Quick Reaction Alert] each day two on immediate standby and two in reserve. We are maintaining QRA until the end of June to the very last moment and on July 1 we make the switch to the Eurofighter.

Eurofighter (the Luftwaffe hasnt adopted the name Typhoon) is already at Wittmundhafen and the first have been noted carrying the red R of Manfred von Richthofen, the First World

Top: F-4F 38+28 was painted to celebrate 45 years of Phantom operations from Jever and Wittmund. Florian Friz Above: F-4F 37+01 is expected to be placed on display at the entrance to the airfi eld at Wittmundhafen. Key Gary ParsonsLeft: Two of the last dozen F-4Fs remaining in February on patrol over Friesland in northern Germany. Frank CrbasBelow: The subtle green and brown of the Norm 81 camoufl age scheme of the 1980s on 38+33. Key Gary Parsons

Our peak time for flying the F-4F was in 2009 when we flew about 8,600 hours we had 50 jets available it was heaven for us!

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F-4F PHAREWELL

War ace from whom the wing takes its name. We are in the process of building up the Eurofighter QRA capability, explained Col Roubal. The first Eurofighter arrived on April 8 and since then we have had two testing flying procedures and checking the new infrastructure and maintenance facilities. In May we increased to eight aircraft and have been stress-testing the systems before going live on July 1. From then we will have four Eurofighters assigned to the base for the next year doing QRA only its a case of crawl, walk, run!

Although new facilities have being constructed for Eurofighter, it will be a temporary home while the existing F-4F QRA site is completely rebuilt between 2016 and 2018 to become a swing-role Eurofighter support complex an interim solution that allowed unhindered F-4F operations until the end of June while the Eurofighter facility was brought up to operational capability. The future of the base had been questioned

when the retirement date for the F-4F was announced, but Col Roubal said that its airspace advantage had been its saving: This is the best positioned airfield in Germany for exercises, he said. We have the east of Friesland, the German Bight and airspace from Schleswig-Holstein to England when you include Dutch airspace. It is unique in Europe.

In the new Luftwaffe structure there will be three Eurofighter wings, but spread over four bases for operational purposes. Col Roubal explained: In the new structure JG 71 is losing its status as a wing. We will go down to Group status, so we are losing a wing commander a colonel whose rank will reduce to lieutenant colonel. This Group will be subordinate to the Tactical Fighter Wing [TFW] 31 Boelcke based at Nrvenich. We will be autonomous in our tasking, but the aircraft will carry TFW 31 marks on the tail with the Richthofen R under the canopy. We are still more than a squadron we will operate one flying

staffel, one technical squadron, one administration squadron and one logistics squadron. So function-ally, its still a wing, but a little bit smaller than before. The only thing missing is a second flying staffel. We will have 20 aircraft instead of 29, so its not a big difference. From October 1, the unit will officially be known as Taktische Luftwaffengruppe (Tactical Air Force Group) Richthofen.

When we get to 20 Eurofighters we will have 4,000 flying hours allocated we expect to reach that in 2018, added Col Roubal. This year it will be just two to three hundred hours. For the next couple of years we will concentrate on QRA and the air-to-air role, but will move to swing-role in the future.

However, my [flying] days are over Im leaving at the end of June. The blue Phantom [37+01] is my aircraft Im determined to do the very last flight at the open house day! Then I will go to a desk job in Berlin working for the Chief of the Air Staff.

The three colourful F-4Fs of the heritage fl ight together at Wittmundhafen. Key Gary Parsons

Above: The very fi rst F-4F, 37+01, wears this Phantom Pharewell paint scheme for the event planned at the end of June at Wittmundhafen. Col Roubal will fl y the aircraft during the formation displays on June 29. Key Gary ParsonsLeft: I sign out! says Spook in German. Mike KerrBelow: Eurofi ghter 30+83 is one of the fi ghters currently working up for QRA at Wittmundhafen and wears the red R of Richthofen under the canopy. Mike Kerr

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