The United States Marine Corps has a proud history of flying fast, well-equipped and powerful jet fighters in support of its troops on the ground.
Having started out with McDonnell’s basic FH-1 Phantom, the Marines soon received much more capable jets. The F2H Banshee, a scaled up Phantom, become a great recon platform while the North American Fury series provided high-speed anti-air performance.
Grumman’s exceptional F9F Panther became the ubiquitous attack aircraft of the Korean War and its capabilities were expanded as the swept-wing F9F Cougar. Marine Douglas F3D Skyknights scored the first radar-only jet-on-jet night kills and the fast-climbing F4D Skyray gave the Marines a true jet interceptor.
Vought’s F-8 Crusader was the USMC’s first true multirole fighter and together with the outstanding McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom would provide close air support for Marine Corps forces during the Vietnam War.
