Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft that was built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets (Tupolev Tu-95) during the Cold War. Designed and manufactured by Convair, 1,000 F-102s were built.
A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the USAF's first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry both guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling. The F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and by the 1960s, it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles. It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and, later, by McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs.
Many of the F-102s were transferred from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard by the mid-to-late 1960s, and, with the exception of those examples converted to unmanned QF-102 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) drones, the type was totally retired from operational service in 1976. The follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102.
Variants[edit | edit source]
- YF-102: Prototypes. Non area-ruled fuselage. Powered by 14,500 lbf (64.5 kN) J57-P-11, two built.
- YF-102A: Area-ruled prototypes. Powered by 16,000 lbf (71.2 kN) J57-P-23. Four converted from pre-production aircraft.
- F-102A: Production Model. Initial eight pre-production aircraft built with non-area ruled fuselage. Remainder built (879) with area ruled fuselage.
- TF-102: Two-seat training version, 111 built.
- F-102B: The original designation of the F-106A.
- F-102C: Proposed tactical attack version with J57-P-47 engine. Two converted As as YF-102C engineering test beds.
- QF-102A: Target drones converted from the F-102A. Six built.
- PQM-102A: Unpiloted target drones. 65 converted.
- PQM-102B: Revised target drone conversion, capable of being flown remotely or by pilot in cockpit. 146 converted.
