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When to use flares dcs5/24/2023 ![]() Unlike the USAF, Navy F-4s could carry 2xAIM-9 and bombs under each wing plyon, so it was quite common for USN CAP/Escort F-4s to carry some bombs as well as missiles to provide some SEAD for the attack aircraft. But since the F-4 couldn't fire the forward AIM-7s without dropping the centerline tank and the Navy had horrible results with the AIM-7, they usually only carried 2xAIM-7 in the rear wells. ![]() The USN had great AIM-9s and almost always carried 4xAIM-9. So even on May 10, 1972, during the biggest day of air-to-air combat during the entire war, Major Lodge's Oyster flight of F-4Ds was carrying 1 x AIM-4D on each wing pylon, either 2 or 3 AIM-7 + ECM pod. The USAF also liked to carry the AIM-4D instead of the AIM-9. The USAF had crappy AIM-9s and favored carrying AIM-7s, but the USAF also liked to put an ecm pod in one of the forward AIM-7 wells. But the USAF and USN used different loadouts based on their own experience and judgement. ![]() So, you shouldn't be looking for what the aircraft was capable of carrying, but instead looking for documentation of what they actually carried.įor example, the F-4 could in theory carry 4 x AIM-9 and 4 x AIM-7. The Navy needed chaff far more than they needed flares. The Navy mainly faced MiG-17s which had no IRMs. The Vietnamese didn't have many and on most days used them very sparingly.
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