I know the F4C model was in Vietnam but i know next to nothing about the E model of the F4.
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from Heatblur's manual
Unfortunately, the F-4E's initial deliveries from October of 1967 would align its operational entry with the drawdown of the US' Rolling Thunder bombing campaign over North Vietnam. The type would have to wait until 1972 to put the true extent of the jet's upgrades to the test. With the resumption of the air campaign in February of that year, the E-model Phantom II would fly thousands of missions, and in the span of seventeen months score 21 air to air kills.
Was it predominantly USAF or USN phantoms, or an even mix
Navy never flew the E, so USAF only
So navy was flying missions on the older phantom while the air force was flying the E from 72 on?
Earlier in the war the Navy was flying their F-4Bs, as well as a multitude of F-8 Crusader variants (C,D,E,H, and J). They would later introduce the F-4J, which while not having an internal gun like the F-4E, had a Pulse-Doppler radar instead, which gave them a look-down/shoot-down capability that no other plane in the world had at that time.
Ok cool, and did the J variant adopt the leading edge slats?
The F-4J itself did not. About 60% of the F-4J fleet was later converted into the F-4S, which did include leading edge slats, but by the time that happened the Vietnam War was over.
Interesting. So you could say that late war, the USAF had the better dogfighter (gun + slats) but navy had the better missile capability (radar with look down shoot down)
It would be fair to say that yeah. While the Air Force was able to optimize their Phantoms for dogfighting, for the Navy the Phantom was still their primary interceptor. In the event of a cold war gone hot scenario, it was the Phantom's job to keep the carrier alive by shooting down Soviet bombers before they got within AShM range. Hence forgoing an internal gun for a more powerful radar. And not adopting leading edge slats (which increase drag and slow the plane down considerably) until the F-14 has been adopted, by which point it's replaced the Phantom in the Fleet Air Defense role.
Thanks! so it was the navies interceptor, but not the air forces. What did the air force use at that time, the f106 or something along those lines?
Yeah it was the F-106. Originally it was supposed to be the F-4, which won a competition against the F-106 in the interceptor role. But between the F-4s needed for Air Superiority, bombing, and Wild Weasel in Vietnam, all of the airframes the Navy needed, as well as the tons of overseas operators, there simply wasn't enough F-4s to go around, so the F-106 stayed in service as the air forces principle interceptor for decades.
Shortly after the Vietnam war (1977) the US Navy would introduce the F-4S with a similar aerodynamics upgrade package to the Agile Eagle F-4Es. Because the Navy Phantoms never got guns and thus had a better center of gravity, those would be the best turning F-4s ever produced.
The Navy had the F-4J by that time, and I'm sure that version has participated in Vietnam operations at the end of the war.
I'm not an expert on this, I know about half of the Navy's F-4B's were upgraded to F-4N, but that program started in 1972 so I doubt many got to Vietnam.
The E entered service in 1968.