The F-102 Delta Dagger was a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft used by the US Air Force during the Cold War. It was developed and produced by the American company Convair. The prototype YF-102 made its first flight on October 24, 1953, but nine days later it got destroyed in a crash. Transonic drag was much higher than expected, and the aircraft was limited to Mach 0.98. To solve the problem and save the F-102, Convair began a major redesign, incorporating the recently discovered transonic area rule, which is a design technique used to reduce an aircraft’s drag at transonic and supersonic speeds.
The redesign of the F-102 entailed lengthening the fuselage by 11 ft (3.35 m) and "pinched" at the mid section, dubbed the "Coke Bottle configuration", with two large fairings on either side of the engine nozzle, with revised intakes and a new, narrower canopy. A more powerful model of J57 turbojet was fitted as the aircraft structure was lightened. The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger entered service in April 1956. Its main mission was to intercept Soviet bombers. The F-102 was the first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter of the USAF. It was withdrawn from front line service in 1976 and was replaced by the Convair F-106 Delta Dart.
The first operational service of the F-102A Delta Dagger was with the 327th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at George Air Force Base, and eventually a total of 889 F-102As were manufactured, production ending in September 1958. Serving as bomber escorts, the F-102 was also used in the Vietnam War. Armed with twenty four 70mm FFAR rockets in the fuselage bay doors, this interceptor also played an important role as a ground-attack aircraft against various types of North Vietnamese ground targets in daylight. At night it was less dangerous to use heat-seeking Falcon missiles in conjunction with the F-102’s nose-mounted IRST (Infrared Search & Track) on night time harassment raids along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Specifications
Engine: one Pratt & Whitney J57-P-25 afterburning turbojet.
Maximum speed: Mach 1.25 (825 mph, 1,304 km/h) at 40,000 ft.
Rate of climb: 13,000 ft/min, or 66 m/s.
Range: 1,350 mi (1,170 nmo, 2,175 km).
Service ceiling: 53,400 ft (16,300 m).
Avionics: MG-10 fire control system.
Length: 68 ft 4 in (20.83 m).
Wingspan: 38 ft 1 in (11.61 m).
Crew: one
Weapons: twenty four 70 mm FFAR unguided rockets; six AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missiles.
