F-106 Delta Darts in the Vietnam War

[Dilandu]

How might Sidewinder armed F-106 "Six Shooters" (F-106s equipped with bubble canopies and Vulcan cannons) have performed during the Vietnam War? The F-106 had maneuverability on par with the F-4 Phantom II, being better in some situations and worse in others. It also carried an IRST system, which I'm not sure the F-4 carried. For purposes of this thread, we'll assume the "Six Shooters" are upgraded on a similar timetable as the USAF F-4s, gaining Sidewinders and Vulcans around the same time.

Okay, I checked the sources. The F-106 could NOT use Sidewinder, even if refitted to carry them in weapon bays.

The reason is: the Falcon missiles, that F-106 was designed to use, were pre-programmed on target while still inside the plane. The MA-1 fire control system aligned their seekers with the plane's radar, so missile lockèd on and tracked the target while still inside the closed weapon bay. The weapon bay doors opened for just 2 seconds to lower the missile launcher rail into air stream & launch it.

The Sidewinder could not be used like that. It have no pre-programming ability. It must lock on target with its own seeker - which took some time. And, well, F-106 simply not designed to fly for a long time with opened weapon bay, waiting while Sidewinder seeker gain the target. The aerodynamic problens would became intolerable.

So no, F-106 could not be refitted tò use Sidewinder. AIM-4H would be much better alternative.

 

[TsrJoe]

Convair F-106 Delta Dart Southeast Asia Camouflage Color Profile and Paint Guide

Here is our Convair F-106 Delta Dart Southeast Asia Camouflage Color Profile and Paint Guide.

www.cybermodeler.com

 

[Archibald]

How might Sidewinder armed F-106 "Six Shooters" (F-106s equipped with bubble canopies and Vulcan cannons) have performed during the Vietnam War? The F-106 had maneuverability on par with the F-4 Phantom II, being better in some situations and worse in others. It also carried an IRST system, which I'm not sure the F-4 carried. For purposes of this thread, we'll assume the "Six Shooters" are upgraded on a similar timetable as the USAF F-4s, gaining Sidewinders and Vulcans around the same time.

Okay, I checked the sources. The F-106 could NOT use Sidewinder, even if refitted to carry them in weapon bays.

The reason is: the Falcon missiles, that F-106 was designed to use, were pre-programmed on target while still inside the plane. The MA-1 fire control system aligned their seekers with the plane's radar, so missile lockèd on and tracked the target while still inside the closed weapon bay. The weapon bay doors opened for just 2 seconds to lower the missile launcher rail into air stream & launch it.

The Sidewinder could not be used like that. It have no pre-programming ability. It must lock on target with its own seeker - which took some time. And, well, F-106 simply not designed to fly for a long time with opened weapon bay, waiting while Sidewinder seeker gain the target. The aerodynamic problens would became intolerable.

So no, F-106 could not be refitted tò use Sidewinder. AIM-4H would be much better alternative.

The F-106 had external wing pylons for a pair of streamlined drop tanks. Maybe Sidewinders could be hanged there to do the job (bolded).

 

[Dilandu]

The F-106 had external wing pylons for a pair of streamlined drop tanks. Maybe Sidewinders could be hanged there to do the job (bolded).

But whats the point? It would not give F-106 much advantages. Its main advantage is exactly the sophisticated fire control system, that could lock Falcon missile on target long before launch. Replacing it with Sidewinder would force pilot to aim manually, hold sight on target for missile lock-on, instead of just pushing the switch and giving the controls to computer.

 

[Archibald]

Did not said the contrary. Red some air combat stories from the 60's, where they did exactly that: they left the AIM-9(B) seeker doing the lock on the target, all by itself. No help for any radar or pilot or aircraft.
Bottom line: wasn't very efficient, or did not worked at all. Must have been the Israelis, or the Pakistanis against the Indians.

 

[Dilandu]

Did not said the contrary. Red some air combat stories from the 60's, where they did exactly that: they left the AIM-9(B) seeker doing the lock on the target, all by itself. No help for any radar or pilot or aircraft.

That's the whole point. The Sidewinder needed to aquire the target by itself. So the pilot was forced to aim it - by aiming the whole plane - on the enemy, and hold the enemy in crosshair for a few seconds, till Sidewinder would lock on it.

With the Falcon & MA-1 fire control system, it was much easier. The missile started to lock on target as soon as plane's radar locked on target. Radar have MUCH more range than missile seeker, and did not require any pilot's efforts to track the target - so the missile was prepared to launch long before the launch itself. As soon as fighter came into missile range, Falcon launched automatically, being already locked on target.

 

[aim9xray]

Not exactly. By the late 60s SEAM (Sidewinder Extended Acquisition Mode) was developed and being implemented. Part of SEAM was a modified Sidewinder interface that allowed the aircraft AMCS to provide signals to position the Sidewinder seeker to the projected target position (even it optically blanked by aircraft structure) so that target acquisition would be immediate after the missile came off the rail. (A "hey! look over there" function if you will.)

SEAM was installed in Navy F-4Js along with VTAS (early helmet-mounted sight) before the end of the Vietnam war.

 

[Dilandu]

Not exactly. By the late 60s SEAM (Sidewinder Extended Acquisition Mode) was developed and being implemented. Part of SEAM was a modified Sidewinder interface that allowed the aircraft AMCS to provide signals to position the Sidewinder seeker to the projected target position (even it optically blanked by aircraft structure) so that target acquisition would be immediate after the missile came off the rail. (A "hey! look over there" function if you will.)

Hm! Didn't know that, thank you!

 

[thefrecklepuny]

I had an old book on the F-15 and its development. It mentioned that F-106's along with F-4's were used as adversary aircraft, officially mimicking MiG-23's. They did pretty well, apparently often giving the Eagle's a harder time than expected.

 

[uk 75]

The F102 Delta Dagger served widely with the USAF overseas both in Asia and Europe.

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Its replacement was not the F106 with these units but the F4 which was multi-role.

The F106 was not upgraded as once planned but served with US Air Defence units until F15 and F16 aircraft were available in sufficient numbers.