How Fast Was The F-4 Phantom & Why Was The Fighter Jet Retired?

Loud, fast, and impossible to ignore, the F-4 Phantom was a fighter jet that definitely turned heads. It was a product of the Cold War era and saw action with both the Navy and the Air Force, packing serious speed and firepower. But even a jet like that doesn't stay in the skies forever, and its run eventually came to a close in the 1990s.

The F-4 Phantom had a top service speed of around Mach 2.23, thanks to its powerful J79 engines. That's about 1,473 miles per hour, cruising at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Throughout its career, the Phantom broke a number of speed records and set a top speed of over 1,600 miles per hour on a short circuit in 1961. It also crossed the continental U.S. in under three hours, using in-flight refueling to maintain its pace.

The Phantom was eventually retired not just because of age, but because some of its design flaws proved costly in combat, especially in Vietnam, where it was one of the five fighter jets used during the war. The Phantom struggled with stability during maneuvers, the pilot had poor rear visibility, and engine smoke made the jet easy to spot by the enemy. Its hydraulic systems were also fragile, making it vulnerable to ground fire, which brought down more Phantoms than any other threat.

The final F-4E Phantom was produced in October 1979, marking the end of its manufacturing run. Though the jet was gradually phased out of active U.S. military service in the early to mid-1990s, Air National Guard units kept flying them, and they were even flown by the Blue Angels. The final Phantoms were eventually retired in 1997, but that wasn't the fighter jet's final bow.

In the years that followed, some F-4s were converted into remote-controlled target drones and used for training exercises. The Phantom also continued to fly for countries other than the United States, including Greece, Turkey, South Korea, and Iran. While there is conflicting information about the number of Phantoms still in the air, there were 167 F-4 jets in active service in 2024, according to a World Air Forces report.

After retiring the Phantom from active duty, the U.S. military replaced it with more modern, updated fighter jets. The U.S. Navy and Marines chose the F-14 Tomcat — one of the best fighter jets built in the 1970s — and the F/A-18 Hornet, while the U.S. Air Force went with the F-15 Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon.