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Derivated Sparrow pod for inflight formation used on F-4 Phantoms


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Hoping that this is not fruit of my deviated fantasy cause in the past week I tried to scavenge its name through my documents and picture mess but I couldn't find it...so does this thing during Vietnam war really existed or not?


thanks for looking 😄

 

Luigi

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I meant made using a Sparrow-like body maybe a tad more fatter, it was fitted on frontal Sparrow well and had antennas or some kind of tracking device which communicated with the antenna installed above the fuselage of the other Phantom so they could keep some sort of safe formation flight without crashing against each other, I don't even remember if I read about this in a pdf document, a book or a site, for sure I was searching something related to F-4C/D stuff and ended up finding them

 

Luigi

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I know what you're talking about (at least I think!). It's included with the weapons in Monogram's 1/48 F-4C. I just checked the stash. It's even in the most recent boxing. The instructions just have it labeled "ECM pod", so I can't be of much help on a technical name for it. But, it matches your description: sparrow shaped but a little fatter, has antennas, and mounts in the forward sparrow recess. I hope this at least gets you started in the right direction! 

 

Chris

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Scott,

Monogram provides the AN/ALQ-87 & AN/ALQ-101 (V3) pods in their 1/48 & 1/72 F-4C Phantom II kits.  I don't think it is in their F-4J release, featuring a TER with MK.82 bombs instead.  The Accurate Miniatures 1/72 F-4J kits have both sets or ordnance and pylons included, though.

R/

Dutch

Edited by Dutch
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EROS was a part of the F-4 program almost from the very beginning of the F4H-1 tests.

 

So, it is entirely appropriate for it to be seen on F4H-1, F4H-1F, and F-4A photos,,,,,and then later on in the second type of F4H-1 photos. (in old books one will see EROS more often that Sparrows in the pics)

 

It must have stuck around for almost the entire lifetime of the F-4, someone here recently posted a photo of an Australian F-4E with one mounted in the Port Forward Sparrow bay.

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