Its main purpose was to be the backbone of American air defences and to intercept approaching Soviet strategic bomber fleets (primarily the Tupolev Tu-95) during the Cold War.

The aircraft was designed alongside a sophisticated fire-control system (FCS); however, a simplified unit had to be adopted due to development difficulties.

To improve its performance prior to quantity production commencing, the F-102 was redesigned, its fuselage was reshaped in accordance with the area rule while a thinner and wider wing was also adopted.

Following its entry to USAF service in 1956, the F-102 promptly replaced various subsonic fighter types, such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, in the interceptor role.

The F-102C tactical attack model, equipped with several improvements, including a more powerful engine and Gatling gun, was proposed but not ultimately pursued.

In January 1950, the USAF's Air Materiel Command issued request for proposals (RFPs) to 50 companies for the FCS, of which 18 responded.

Following recommendations by the committee to the Saville Board, the proposals were further reduced to two competitors, Hughes Aircraft and North American Aviation.

Prior to this requirement, Convair had performed considerable early research into delta-winged aircraft and had experimented with various different designs, two of which fell under the name P-92.

Lockheed had chosen to drop out to concentrate on other opportunities while Republic's design had been judged to involve too much technical risk to meet the 1954 deadline for service entry, thus was disqualified, making Convair the de facto winner.

[10] From an early stage, USAF officials had decided to use the Cook-Craigie Plan for the aircraft's manufacturing; under this concept, production tooling and facilities would be created while a small pre-production batch of aircraft would be completed, the aim being to eliminate the need for a lengthy prototype program, instead incorporating any changes required into the production line.

[16] The failure of the J40 led to the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet with afterburner, rated with 10,000 pounds-force (44 kN) of thrust,[17] being substituted for the prototypes and F-102As.

[22] During mid 1953, Convair concluded that it needed to take action to address the F-102's shortcomings to prevent its cancellation, and promptly embarked on a major redesign effort.

[20] It was decided to incorporate the recently discovered area rule, the application of which simultaneously simplified both production and maintenance of the aircraft.

[23] This redesign entailed the lengthening of the fuselage by 11 ft (3.35 m), being "pinched" at the midsection (dubbed the "Coke Bottle configuration"), with two large fairings on either side of the engine nozzle, with revised intakes and a new, narrower canopy.

[28] Yet, the overall changes made were so substantial that two-thirds of the roughly 30,000 tools created to manufacture the YF-102 were scrapped or modified before quantity production had even commenced.

[32] The production F-102A had the Hughes MC-3 FCS, which was later upgraded in service to the MG-10; it was used to locate enemy targets, steer interception courses, and control weapons deployment.

[38][39] A proposed close-support version (never built) would have incorporated an internal Gatling gun, and an extra two hardpoints for bombs, supplementing the two underwing pylons all production F-102s were fitted with for drop tanks (the use of which reduced the craft to subsonic performance[40]).

[41] The side-by-side seating design, popularized in the 1950s (and used with the American Cessna T-37, British Hawker Hunter T.7 and English Electric Lightning T.4, among others), would require a redesign of the cockpit and a nose almost as wide as that of a Convair 340 commercial airliner.

The improved design, in which the proposed Curtiss-Wright J67 jet engine was eventually replaced by a Pratt & Whitney J75, underwent so many aerodynamic changes (including variable-geometry inlets) that it essentially became an entirely new aircraft and hence was redesignated and produced as the F-106 Delta Dart.

[49] Typical interceptions included Soviet long range reconnaissance flights and bomber patrols over the Atlantic Ocean along with various aircraft that were flying to and from Cuba.

They also provided platform training on flight characteristics of delta-winged aircraft for pilots who were destined to fly the B-58 Hustler bomber for the Strategic Air Command (SAC).

The MiGs approached undetected, and one of the F-102s was hit by an air-to-air missile, which did not explode immediately, but remained lodged in the aft end of the aircraft, causing stability problems.

[56] The interceptor was equipped with 24 2.75 in (70 mm) FFARs in the fuselage bay doors; these could be used to good effect against various types of North Vietnamese targets in daylight.

At night, it proved less dangerous to use heat-seeking Falcon missiles in conjunction with the F-102's nose-mounted IRST (Infrared Search & Track), thus it often performed nighttime harassment raids along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Operations with both the F-102A and TF-102A two-seaters (which were used in a Forward Air Control role because its two seats and 2.75 in/70 mm rockets offered good versatility for the mission) continued in Vietnam until 1968 when all F-102s were returned to the United States.

[70][71] Eventually, the program converted hundreds of F-102s for use as target drones for newer fighter aircraft, as well as testing of the U.S. Army's Patriot missile system.

[citation needed] United States Air Force[78] National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data from The Great Book of Fighters[112]General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era