Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Delta Force" data-source="post: 234101" data-attributes="member: 9979">The Spey is more suitable than the J79 for lower altitude operations and short field performance. It also has more room for improvement and can put out tremendous thrust: around 15,000 lbf dry (as seen with the Allison TF41 used on the A-7D), and 25,000 lbf afterburning (as planned on the Spey Mk. 205). I can't find the loaded weight for the F-4K, but I have found that the the F-4K had an empty weight of 31,000 pounds compared to 30,330 for the F-4E. The F-4K likely had a loaded weight of around 42,000 pounds based on the 41,500 pound loaded weight of the F-4E. That gives a potential loaded thrust to weight ratio of 1.19 for a Spey Super Phantom, better than seen on the F-15 Eagle and excellent for a strike aircraft.I'm simply using that as a point of comparison. The Super Phantom would be procured as a multirole aircraft for the USN instead of the Hornet, and it would be offered for sale to foreign nations unable to win approval for more advanced aircraft such as the F-14, F-15, and F-111. The markets that were willing and able to purchase the F-15 were quite limited compared to potential F-4 operators. Providing the improvements on a refreshed design would reduce cannibalization of future sales.</blockquote>