They were manufactured by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri for the United States Air Force (as F-101s), and later sold to Canada.

The Voodoo's primary armament was nuclear AIR-2A Genie unguided air-to-air rockets, and there was significant political controversy in Canada about their adoption.

Although they never fired a weapon in wartime, the CF-101 served as Canada's primary means of air defence from Quick Reaction Alert facilities at Canadian airbases.

Unofficially, it was recognized that there was still a bomber threat, and talks had been underway prior to the Avro Arrow's termination on the RCAF acquisition of an "off-the-shelf" interceptor from the United States.

The USAF indicated its readiness to supply 56 F-101B interceptors and 10 F-101F trainers (by employing Convair F-102 Delta Daggers in less demanding NORAD sectors) for Canada.

The deal was delayed by over a year by negotiations over offsets and acquisition costs, as well as debate within the Diefenbaker government about Canada adopting nuclear weapons systems, which had been agreed to in principle in 1958.

The succeeding Pearson government signed an agreement with the United States concerning nuclear arms for Canada on 16 August 1963.

On 24 July 1961, the first two Voodoos were transferred to Canada in a ceremony at RCAF Uplands in Ottawa, marking the beginning of Operation Queen's Row.

Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, Manitoba performed modifications on the incoming fleet such as transferring some specifically Canadian equipment, including engines, from the old aircraft to the new.

Most of the old Canadian Voodoos were scrapped in the US, but 22 were converted to RF-101B photo-reconnaissance versions and flew with the Nevada Air National Guard until 1975.

[4] Data from The Great Book of Fighters[5]General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era