The UK was the first export customer for the US-built F-4 Phantom, which was ordered in the context of political and economic difficulties around British designs for similar aircraft.

[16] Partly as a means of maintaining employment in the British aerospace industry, agreement was reached that major portions of the UK's Phantoms would be built domestically.

[7][17] Hawker Siddeley Aviation was thus appointed as McDonnell's primary UK partner in January 1965, to be responsible for repair, maintenance, design and modification work on Phantoms for the RAF and RN at Brough Aerodrome.

The most significant change to the aircraft was the use of the larger and more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan in place of the General Electric J79 turbojet, to allow operations from the RN's smaller carriers.

[27] The RAF however was less enthusiastic, as the Phantom was not optimised for the close air support role and had been selected as its Hunter replacement more as a way of decreasing the per-unit cost of the overall UK order.

[33] However, following the change of government in October 1964, and the subsequent 1966 Defence White Paper, the new carriers were cancelled, and a gradual rundown of fixed-wing aviation in the Royal Navy was begun.

This included increasing the area of the flight deck, which was also fully angled to 8½°, and replacing the arresting gear with a new water-spray system to accommodate the Phantom's higher weight and landing speed.

The first operational use of the RN's Phantoms had been in 1969, when 892 NAS had embarked for training on the US aircraft carrier USS Saratoga in the Mediterranean, and had undertaken air defence missions alongside the ship's own F-4Js.

[44] During Ark Royal's first three-year commission, 892 NAS, which had initially used RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset as its home base, moved to RAF Leuchars in Fife, where, during the periods when it was not embarked, it undertook Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties alongside No.

[86][r] Following the cancellation of the planned refit of HMS Eagle to allow her to operate the Phantom, 20 airframes that had originally been ordered for the FAA were diverted to the RAF to serve in the air defence role.

[96][s] The RAF Phantom, given the designation FGR.2, was broadly similar to the naval version, with some minor variations in terms of engines, avionics and structure relating to its use as a land-based rather than carrier-based aircraft.

31 Squadrons were assigned a tactical nuclear strike role by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SACEUR), using weapons supplied by the United States.

[101] In October 1970, the RAF ordered 165 examples of a new aircraft, the SEPECAT Jaguar, intended to fill both the tactical strike and reconnaissance missions, replacing the Phantom.

[105][106] When Phantoms were first delivered to interceptor squadrons, they remained in the grey-green disruptive colouration camouflage scheme more associated with the strike and close air support missions they had originally undertaken.

Initially, the UK looked to procure a batch of F-4S aircraft - the F-4S was the most up to date version of the Phantom in service with the US Navy, having been produced through a programme to update the existing F-4J with new engines, hydraulics, electronics and modified wings.

[107] Fifteen airframes, each with no more than 4,300 hours, were selected from among the best of the ex-USN F-4Js stored at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (colloquially known as "The Boneyard") at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

[127] Despite modifications to allow them to operate with the rest of the fleet, the F-4Js retained the vast bulk of the equipment they were originally fitted with, even requiring their crews to use American flying helmets.

[107] As part of their initial refurbishment in 1983, the airframes also underwent painting - at the time, the RAF's interceptor force was being repainted in the air superiority grey colour that had been first used in 1978.

The 201 was eventually upgraded to the Mark 203 version, which had a modified control system for the afterburner, allowing it to light faster and enable power to be applied quickly in the event of a bolter on the small decks of the RN's aircraft carriers.

[142] Performance estimates of the British Phantom compared to its American equivalent indicated that the former had a 30% shorter take-off distance, 20% faster climb to altitude, higher top speed, and longer range.

[143] It was less efficient at higher altitudes, the British Phantoms lacking speed compared to J79-powered versions owing to the increased drag of the re-designed fuselage.

[140] The F-4K's nose wheel oleo extended by 40 inches (100 centimetres) to provide the required 9° take-off attitude due to the shorter and less powerful British catapults.

[146] McDonnell concluded that more power was needed than the J79 turbojet could provide to operate from the smaller decks of British carriers, and as a result, consulted Rolls-Royce about whether the RB-168 Spey turbofan, then in development for use in the Blackburn Buccaneer, could be fitted to the aircraft.

[147] McDonnell continued studies, proposing afterburning Mk.101 engines in 1962, while trials of an F-4B fitted with an extendable nose wheel oleo took place aboard USS Forrestal in 1963.

However, the company persisted with its vision of a VG Phantom, which included a version that was offered to the RAF as a potential alternative to the AFVG aircraft then under development in a partnership between the UK and France.

Although it shared a significant amount of commonality with the UK's versions of the Phantom, including the use of the Rolls-Royce Spey engine, the proposal was ultimately rejected as not offering sufficient increase in capability over the AFVG.

[154] The idea was resurrected when the RAF was looking to replace both the existing variants of the Phantom, as well as the Lightning, in the early 1970s – by this time the AFVG had been cancelled, but the new Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) was under development.

Additionally, the installed reconnaissance equipment would have required the removal of the fire control system for the AIM-7 Sparrow missile, reducing the general capabilities of the aircraft.

[162][ae] While the Tornado was in development, the RAF looked at interim measures to replace the Phantom, which had been in service for over a decade by 1980, and was beginning to suffer from fatigue issues;[163] one proposal was the lease or purchase of McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles to re-equip No.

In partnership with the 74 Squadron Association, the BPAG obtained ZE360, a Phantom F.3 stored at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre at Manston in Kent, and one of only two remaining complete examples, with the ultimate goal of displaying it in its original RAF markings.