Century Fighters on the International Market By Mike Millette & Stephen Tontoni

In 1973, in the waning days of its involvement in Southeast Asia, the United States found itself with a huge surplus inventory of USAF and Air National Guard aircraft. As part of its Military Assistance Program (MAP) the US government decided to offer the surplus airframes to members of NATO, SEATO and a few other select foreign governments. Among the products that were pitched to other countries, two of the most interesting were the F-102A Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart, both from Convair (later General Dynamics). Designed by the same manufacturer, both aircraft had similar wing planforms, and both had internal weapons bays. There were no other interceptors being sold at that time which utilized internal weapons bays.

Assessing its allies’ needs, Unites States agents contacted the government of Israel to sell F-102As to the IAF. These agents suggested that the big planes had the interceptor ability similar to Israel’s Mirages, but with weapons systems that could be adapted to be more similar to the Vautour attack and ECM aircraft (the Vautour was being phased out at this time). The model photographed here represents one of the three evaluation aircraft provided to the IAF in 1973. It was painted in contemporary IAF markings, right down to the squadron insignia and identification panels. Although Israel had the expertise to up-engineer the avionics and weapons systems on the obsolete Daggers, they decided, eventually, to pass on the offer. While the airframe was tried and proven, the hot prospect on the fighter/bomber market was the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. In any case, as the situation in the Middle East was heating up, Israel had no time to train on and certify new avionics and weapons systems, when the Phantom could be utilized effectively pretty much “off the shelf”.

Around the same time, Japan began their search for an F-104 Starfighter replacement. Among the competitors were the F-4 Phantom II and the F-106 Delta Dart. Soviet incursions into Japanese air space were on the rise and it was felt that the interceptor capabilities of the F-106 would be an ideal solution to this emerging problem. One squadron was selected to perform an operational evaluation of the aircraft and eight aircraft were procured and assigned. These aircraft were not stock production aircraft, but were modified to an F-106J Kai specification by General Dynamics. These modifications included canards to increase aero performance as well as an electrically operated M-61 Gatling gun and fire control systems upgrades. The aircraft pictured belonged to the Squadron Commander, Miyamoto Kumata.

Both Japan and Israel had hard decisions to make; the United States was offering proven aircraft at bargain basement prices. In addition, both Japan and Israel were very important to US security; Japan for its proximity to the Soviet Union and Israel for its stabilizing presence in the Middle East. They assessed their needs and chose more modern weapons to meet their needs. Like Israel, Japan selected the F-4 Phantom, which would form the backbone of Japan’s interceptor defense force for many years to come.

Ultimately, some F-102s soldiered on in ANG and drone units for a few more years, while others continued to serve in the Air Forces of Greece and Turkey. F-106s remained active in ANG units until well into the 1980s, but their window for international prominence had opened and closed without any foreign sales. In the end, the big "Six" was to be operated only by the USAF.

The fate of the three F-102 aircraft that were loaned to Israel for evaluation in 1973 is unknown. The returned F-106s were bailed back to General Dynamics at the end of the operational evaluation. General Dynamics used the Japanese specifications upgrade as the basis for a successor to its previously cancelled F-106X proposal to the USAF. This proposal, however, was eventually dropped in favor of the very successful X/Y-F16 program, which would, ironically, end up in Japanese service as the Mitsubishi F-2A/B.

Stephen Tontoni built the Monogram 1/48 F-102A out of the box, while Mike Millette made some modifications (canards, etc) to his Monogram 1/48 F-106.