I know the F4C model was in Vietnam but i know next to nothing about the E model of the F4.
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.