Alaskan Air Command F-102 Delta Dagger

Short History of the 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.

History of F-106 in Alaskan Air Command (AAC):

AAC planners had pushed both the Air Force and Air Defense Command for the assignment of the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger to Alaska as a replacement for the F-89. The guided-missile-equipped Delta Dart interceptor was far superior to the machine-gun-equipped Scorpion, along with increased speed and range and having a higher operational ceiling. Additionally, fewer F-102s could be utilized than the F-89, which meant a reduction in the number of interceptor squadrons without the loss of capability. Plans were made to reduce the number of interceptor squadrons from six to four, with two each at Ladd and Elmendorf. This was a complex operation which involved the reassignment of units between AAC and Air Defense Command.

The F-102s began arriving in Alaska in August 1957 when the 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron arrived at Elmendorf from McChord AFB, Washington. The 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron arrived later that month from Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. The three F-89 squadrons were taken off operational status and prepared for reassignment back to the CONUS. The 64th FIS departed for McChord AFB in August; the 65th to Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri in November, and the 66th FIS was reassigned to Oxnard AFB, California in November.

Instead of receiving two F-102 squadrons, HQ USAF decided to reduce the number of squadrons at Ladd to one. The 449th FIS was re-equipped with the AIM-4 Falcon missile capable F-89J Scorpion. The 18th FIS was reassigned to Wurtsmith AFB and the 433d was reassigned to Minot AFB, North Dakota. This left AAC with three interceptor squadrons in Alaska, two F-102 squadrons at Elmendorf and the one F-89 squadron at Ladd. However, in October 1958, the 31st FIS was inactivated at Elmendorf, its aircraft and personnel transferred to the 317th FIS, making it a double-sized squadron.

In March 1959, Air Force planners received a nasty surprise when radar operators along Alaska's western coast spotted on their screens a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft flying close to the Alaskan coast, but in international airspace. Two F-102s, dispatched from Galena, intercepted two Tupolev Tu-16E or F "Badger" jet bombers just at the edge of their effective range. It was also found that the F-102 proved unequal to the task of intercepting other Soviet reconnaissance aircraft due to their limited range. In March 1963, a Soviet reconnaissance bomber overflew Nunivak Island and the west coast of Alaska. Two F-102s were scrambled from King Salmon but the pilots had to be recalled because of low fuel when they were within 20 miles of the Soviet aircraft. This led to a serious debate about AAC's capabilities and the decision to replace the F-102s with the Convair F-106 Delta Dart from Air Defense Command.