F-102 Delta Dagger Units

Osprey Combat Aircraft #132

by Peter E. Davies, Jim Laurier (Illustrations)

This illustrated study explores the design, development, and deployment of the F-102, a groundbreaking fighter intended to combat the threat of Soviet nuclear-armed bombers.

World War II saw the development of the heavy bomber as a decisive weapon which, in sufficient numbers, could overcome defensive fighters and guns and lay waste to strategic targets. The addition of nuclear weapons to the bomber's armament made it even more formidable, and by the late 1940s, US planners saw the growth of a Soviet nuclear-armed bomber fleet as a terrifying threat to North American security. Conventional subsonic fighters with guns and free-flight air-to-air rockets would be incapable of reaching these incoming bombers in time to prevent even one from delivering a devastating nuclear attack. As a result, supersonic speed, long-range guided missiles and precise radar-based control of an interception became prerequisites for a new breed of fighters, beginning with the F-102.

A massive research and development effort produced the F-102A “1954 Fighter,” the J57 afterburning turbojet, its Hughes MX-1554 fire control system and, in due course, the Semi-Active Ground Environment (SAGE) radar and communications network that covered North America to guide its airborne defenses. In service, F-102As also provided air defense in Europe with USAFE, in the Far East, and in Southeast Asia, where they protected US airbases in South Vietnam and Thailand from air attack by North Vietnamese fighters and bombers and escorted B-52s and fighter-bombers on their attack sorties.

This illustrated study from leading expert Peter E. Davis details the design, development, and deployment of the futuristic F-102, including its complex research program and role in Vietnam.

96 pages, Paperback

Published May 26, 2020

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have yet to read a bad piece of writing by Peter Davies, and this examination of the first of the operational Convair delta-winged combat aircraft is no exception. Because the F-102 was the first, a considerable word count is devoted to what it took to make the then cutting-edge vision of technology into a viable combat aircraft. From there, Davies examines the world-wide deployment of the type, and the surprisingly active use of the machine in Vietnam in the ground attack and pathfinder roles. While "Duece" pilots might have longed for aerial combat with the North Vietnamese fighter force, it was probably just as well that the contacts could be counted on one hand; the one serious encounter saw the USAF on the short end of the stick.

[Matthias Noch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is not bad, but the title is a bit misleading. The book covers on its 96 pages, mainly the technical equipment and development in very great detail, but the amount of data about the units that operated the aircraft is minimal. I've never read a book in this series, which is focused on the units and operational experiences using the aircraft, that was so focused on the technical developments of the plane while ignoring the operation history more or less entirely than this one.