RichB63 Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 (edited) Hi friends, 36 EF-4C Phantom ll conversions were completed in the late 1960s. They were in service as Wild Weasel aircraft for approximately 10 years, replaced by the F-4G in the late 1970s. Originally, they carried ALQ-101 jamming pods in the forward RH Sparrow missile bay. After a midlife electronics upgrade, they switched to the ALQ-119. Photographs from the late 1970s time frame show that both long and medium length variants of this pod could be fitted. The photos below are both dated November 1977. I want to model a Nellis AFB based aircraft circa 1975, when 119’s were first specified. Would it most likely have carried the long or medium length ALQ-119? Or would both have been in the inventory at that time, as they evidently were two years later? Edited October 6, 2020 by RichB63 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Quixote74 Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 (edited) Afraid I don't have a definitive answer on service dates for you but I would think the "short" and "long" pods were largely concurrent in service, although the long pod definitely came first. This is based on the "sub-variant" designations: the long pod was first in service as the ALQ-119(V)-1, at 143 inches. The ALQ-119(V)-2 at 105 inches is the "short" pod. And in looking into this, there is apparently also a "medium" length pod, measuring 115 inches, first in service as the ALQ-119(V)-3!! Basic difference between the three is capability, the long pod being able to cover low, medium, and high frequency bands; the medium covering medium and high bands, and the short pod low bands only. Later variants of each type were produced, sub-types designated as follows: Long: 119(V)-1/4/7/10/15 Medium: 119(V)-3/6/9/11/14/17 Short: 119(V)-2/5/8/13/16 You may be able to find specific dates of sevice by googling the full designations. Until researching this I had no idea there were three lengths, and I suspect the "medium" pod is usually mistaken for a short or long variant. (Source for the above is the weapons & stores reference section of Jon Lake's F-4 Phantom: Spirit In the Skies). Edited October 10, 2020 by Quixote74 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichB63 Posted October 11, 2020 Author Share Posted October 11, 2020 Quicote, Thanks for all of those details...it helps a great deal. I didn’t know either that they came in 3 sizes...I figured “short” and “medium” were terms used interchangeably. Funny, I have the cited reference book also, but overlooked the section on ordnance! Cropping the above images to scale, I’m almost certain we’re looking at medium and long pods. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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