Despite the termination of mass production of the F-8 Crusader fighters, the US Navy was in no hurry to part with them. In general, a very good aircraft, it was in full accordance with the tasks in front of him. However, one of the reasons why the F-4 Phantom II did not quickly ousted the Crusader from the decks of the aircraft carriers was the exorbitant price of the Phantom. In the early 1960s, the F-4D fighter cost the American taxpayer $ 2 230,000, nearly double the cost of the F-8E. In addition, the maintenance and operation of the F-4 was much more expensive. It also took up more space on the aircraft carrier. This was especially noticeable on aircraft carriers such as Essex and Oriskany, designed during the Second World War. In the early and mid-60s, the Crusaders, along with the Phantoms, very often climbed towards the Soviet Tu-16 and Tu-95, which were tracking American aircraft carrier groups.
Sometimes these meetings ended tragically. In February 1964, four F-8s entered thick clouds following a pair of Tu-16s. What happened after that is unknown, but only two fighters returned to their aircraft carrier. All in all, 172 Crusaders were lost in various accidents. Before production ceased in 1965, Vought built 1,219 Crusaders. Although the F-8 was considered a fairly strict machine, a little more than 14% of the aircraft crashed in accidents and disasters, which was not so bad by the standards of the 60s. For comparison, it is worth recalling the statistics of operational losses of American Lockheed F-104 Starfighter fighters or Soviet Su-7B fighter-bombers of the first series.
Deck "Crusaders" were among the first to find themselves on the "line of fire" in Southeast Asia, taking an active part in the Vietnam War. In 1962, unarmed RF-8A reconnaissance aircraft from the VFP-62 squadron, based on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) aircraft carrier, flew over the territory of Laos. They took photographs of partisan camps, which later became targets of attacks by carrier-based fighter-bombers. Naturally, the rebels very soon figured out the connection between the flights of scouts and the subsequent bombing, and within a short time anti-aircraft cover appeared around the large partisan bases in the form of 12, 7-14, 5 machine-gun installations and 37-mm rapid-fire assault rifles. The first RF-8A was shot down by anti-aircraft fire on June 7, 1964. Even the escort in the form of four F-8Ds, which tried to suppress the anti-aircraft batteries with cannon fire and volleys of 127-mm unguided Zuni missiles, did not help the scout.
The pilot of the first downed RF-8A was lucky, he successfully ejected and, after landing in enemy territory, managed to hide in the jungle. After a night spent behind enemy lines, the next morning the downed American pilot was evacuated by a search and rescue helicopter.
On August 2, 1964, the Americans provoked an attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on their destroyers (the Tonkin incident), after which a formal pretext appeared for unleashing a full-scale aggression against the DRV. Soon, the Crusaders belonging to the US Navy and the USMC, along with the Phantoms, Skyhawks and Skyraders, took an active part in the war.
In 1964, there were not many F-4 Phantom II heavy carrier-based fighters, and a typical air wing located on an aircraft carrier had the following composition: one or two squadrons of F-8 Crusader fighters, two or three squadrons of piston attack aircraft A-1 Skyraider, one- two squadrons of light jet attack aircraft A-4 Skyhawk or a squadron of heavy twin-engine deck attack aircraft (bombers) A-3 Skywarrior and several (4-6) reconnaissance aircraft RF-8A, AWACS aircraft E-1B Tracer or EA-1E Skyraider, as well as anti-submarine helicopters UH-2 Seasprite.
Within 2-3 years "Phantoms" strongly pressed "Crusaders" on the decks of aircraft carriers of the Forrestal class, as well as the atomic USS Enterprise. But operation on ships of smaller displacement such as Essex and Oriskany continued. The command planned to replace the Crusaders in the reconnaissance squadrons with the more high-speed RA-5C Vigilante, but these aircraft, due to their high cost, complexity and high maintenance cost, did not become truly massive. The RF-8A scouts (and then the upgraded RF-8G) continued to serve in parallel with the RA-5C during the Vietnam War. Funnily enough, the RF-8s served much longer in combat reconnaissance squadrons, having outlived the Vigelant that was supposed to replace them.
For strikes against ground targets, 227-340-kg bombs and 127-mm unguided missiles were suspended on F-8 fighters. Quite often, pilots used 20-mm cannons when attacking. Which, however, was unsafe, since the aircraft entered the effective fire zone of not only large-caliber machine guns, but also small arms. During the hostilities, the Crusader demonstrated very good combat survivability. Aircraft often returned with numerous bullet and fragmentation holes. Even the hits of 23-mm shells received in aerial combat were not always fatal.
If naval F-8 flew mainly from aircraft carriers, then the "Crusaders" belonging to the fighter squadrons of the Marine Corps Aviation, based on the South Vietnamese airbases Chu Lai and Da Nang.
At first, the American command did not take the air defense of the DRV seriously. The proper conclusions were not made even after the RF-8A scouts filmed MiG-17 fighters and the position of the SA-75M Dvina air defense system at the airfields of North Vietnam. Apparently, the Americans believed that not the newest Soviet-made fighters could not compete with supersonic aircraft, and anti-aircraft missile systems could only be effective against targets such as the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft or relatively slow bombers. However, very soon the American pilots had to be convinced of the opposite. On April 3, 1965, F-8 carrier-based fighters and A-4 attack aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Hancock attacked railway and highway bridges 100 kilometers south of Hanoi. The objects were well covered by anti-aircraft guns, which shot down two Skyhawks. After most of the American aircraft were bombed, North Vietnamese MiG-17Fs from the 921st Fighter Aviation Regiment appeared in the air. Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, the four MiGs decisively attacked the Crusader group. The position of the American pilots was complicated by the fact that they did not expect to meet enemy fighters, and instead of air combat missiles AIM-9 Sidewinder carried unguided rockets, and fuel remained only for the return journey. According to Vietnamese data, two F-8s were shot down in the Ham Rong area that day. However, the Americans admit that only one carrier-based fighter was damaged in the air battle. However, the attitude of the US Department of Defense to statistics of its own losses is well known. If a downed aircraft due to critical damage could not land on an aircraft carrier, and its pilot ejected not far from an aircraft carrier warrant, it was considered that the aircraft was lost as a result of a flight accident, and not from enemy fire.
As the hostilities escalated, anti-aircraft resistance intensified, the aircraft were fired upon by anti-aircraft guns not only in the target area, but also on the way to it. Vietnamese anti-aircraft gunners, observing the flight routes of American aircraft, began to organize anti-aircraft ambushes, which affected the growth of losses of American aircraft. So, on June 1, 1965, when returning from a mission, he received a direct hit from an RF-8A anti-aircraft projectile from the 63rd reconnaissance squadron. Its pilot, Lieutenant Commander Crosby, made no attempts to eject, and, apparently, was killed in the air.
Another danger that the Crusader pilots had to face was anti-aircraft missiles. On September 5, a photo reconnaissance officer from the same VFP-63 could not dodge the SA-75M missile defense system near the coast in Thanh Hoa province. After a missile warhead exploded in close proximity to the RF-8A, the flaming wreckage of the aircraft crashed into the sea, and its pilot, Lieutenant Goodwin, is still missing. Several more aircraft received numerous holes, and their pilots ejected over their aircraft carrier in order to avoid accidents. Nevertheless, emergency landings were not uncommon, in some cases damaged aircraft had to be thrown overboard.
In connection with the growth of losses, the American command refused to fly single reconnaissance aircraft. To search for targets, reconnaissance and strike groups began to form, including, in addition to the RF-8A, A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft, F-8 Crusader fighters and ESA-3 Skywarrior electronic warfare aircraft, which could also refuel the group's aircraft on the route. In the event of anti-aircraft fire, the Skyhawks were supposed to suppress enemy batteries, and the F-8s defended against attacks from Vietnamese MiGs. As a result, the loss of scouts was reduced, but at the same time the intensity of flights was reduced, since the formation of a reconnaissance and strike group took a lot of time and was expensive.
Whereas the naval Crusaders taking off from aircraft carriers cruising off the coast operated mainly over North Vietnam, the Marine Corps fighters fought Viet Cong units in the jungle of the southern part of the country. As mentioned, the US ILC F-8 flew from land based air bases with capital airstrips. Their targets were much closer to their airfields, and therefore the aircraft of the Marines often carried the maximum combat load. Since at first the caliber of Viet Cong anti-aircraft weapons in South Vietnam did not exceed 12, 7-mm losses were small. The accident rate when flying from solid concrete lanes was also minimal. More problems were caused by the regular mortar shelling of the partisans. However, on May 16, 1965, at the Bien Hoa airbase near Saigon, an incident occurred that at once crossed out all the positive statistics of losses.
According to the official American version, the B-57 Canberra exploded during the prelaunch run, carrying a bomb load of 3400 kg. As a result of the explosion and fire, 10 V-57 and 16 F-8 and A-1 were destroyed. 27 people were killed and more than 100 were injured and burned. Whether this was the result of an accident, shelling or sabotage is unknown. Prior to this, the Bien Hoa base was repeatedly subjected to mortar attacks, during which several aircraft were also burned up.
General Westmoreland, who served on the commission that investigated the causes of the explosion, later wrote in his book that Bien Hoa airbase looked worse than Hickam airfield in Pearl Harbor after the Japanese attack. According to the results of the investigation, improper storage of bombs, napalm tanks and fuel was named as the cause of such a large-scale disaster. Too much aviation ammunition was concentrated at the airbase, which was stored close to aircraft parking areas. Subsequently, the protection of the Bien Hoa airbase was tightened and assigned to the American 173rd Airborne Brigade. For aviation ammunition, special storage facilities were built remote from aviation parking lots, and aircraft were placed in bunded caponiers and fortified hangars.
In June-July 1965, several air battles took place between the Crusaders and the MiG-17F. The battles went on with varying success, American pilots reported three downed MiGs. Their losses amounted to two RF-8A and two F-8E.
As the conflict escalated, the Americans sent more and more forces to Southeast Asia. In turn, the USSR and the PRC increased their support for North Vietnam. In October 1965, the Crusaders chalked up the first downed MiG-21F-13. During the air battles, it turned out that the F-8, provided that the pilots were well trained, were quite capable of maneuvering combat with Soviet fighters in turns, which the heavier F-4 could not do.
Unlike the first modifications of the Phantom, the Crusader had guns. However, the pilots complained about the unreliability of the artillery weapons. With sharp maneuvers, the projectile belts often warped, which led to the failure of the guns at the most inopportune moment. Moreover, all four guns were often jammed. For this reason, most of the MiGs were shot down by AIM-9B / D missiles with IR seeker. However, if the Vietnamese pilots detected the missile launch in time, in most cases they managed to miss the Sidewinder. The first American missiles of air combat could not hit air targets maneuvering with an overload of more than 3 G.
In addition to direct air support and repelling MiG attacks, the Crusaders were also involved in the fight against Vietnamese radar and air defense systems. In addition to traditional free-fall bombs and NAR, AGM-45A Shrike guided missiles guided by radar radiation were used for this.
The increase in combat losses and the specific conditions of Southeast Asia required the improvement of avionics and the security of aircraft, as well as a reduction in maintenance costs and a reduction in the time for a repeated combat sortie. In 1967, LTV-Aerospace, which included Vought and Ling Temco Electronics, began modernizing the remaining F-8Bs. After modernization, these vehicles received the designation F-8L. Since the resource of most F-8B fighters was coming to an end, only 61 aircraft were upgraded. Also, 87 F-8Cs passed through the repair enterprises, which received the designation F-8K. Like the F-8L, these vehicles were primarily transferred to the Marine Corps aviation, where they were operated at coastal airfields. More serious changes were made to the design of the F-8D (F-8K) and F-8E (F-8J) intended for flights from aircraft carriers. The fighters were equipped with more powerful J57-P-20A engines and a wing with a boundary layer control system. Since the fleet was in dire need of photo reconnaissance personnel. The RF-8A was also upgraded, after which they were designated RF-8G. In total, the ILC and the fleet received 73 updated reconnaissance aircraft.
It cannot be said that the modernization of the "Crusaders" made it possible to reduce losses. In addition to the maneuverable MiG-17F, the Vietnamese in increasing numbers used supersonic MiG-21F-13 and MiG-21PF, armed with R-3S missiles, in battles. The tactics of using Vietnamese fighters were also improved. They began to avoid being drawn into battle with numerically superior opponents and actively practiced surprise attacks, followed by a rapid retreat. Often, American fighters chasing MiGs ran into massive anti-aircraft fire. After the loss of several of its fighters under similar circumstances, the American command issued an order prohibiting the pursuit of MiGs at low altitude in areas where anti-aircraft batteries could be located. In addition, Vietnamese pilots sometimes interacted very well with the calculations of the SA-75M air defense system, leading the Crusaders and Phantoms that were pursuing them into the zone of destruction of anti-aircraft missiles.
However, it must be admitted that the F-8 was a very strong enemy in aerial combat. With the proper loss of training, their pilots managed to achieve good results. The Crusaders took part in air battles until the fall of 1968 and proved themselves quite worthy. An indirect confirmation of this is that the F-4 pilots, who by the mid-70s had become the main striking force of carrier-based aircraft, noted that the Crusader had a significant superiority in maneuvering air combat training. In terms of the ratio of enemy fighters downed and lost of its own, the F-8 was significantly superior to the F-4. According to American data, F-8 pilots shot down 15 MiG-17s and four MiG-21s. In turn, the Vietnamese claim to have destroyed at least 14 Crusaders in aerial combat, two of which were scouts. It is not known how many American pilots were catapulted from downed fighters over the sea, and were picked up by search and rescue helicopters. According to official US data, the US Navy and ILC lost 52 F-8 fighters and 32 RF-8 photo reconnaissance aircraft in Southeast Asia.
As more Phantoms, Skyhawks and Corsairs arrived, the F-8 fighters on the decks of American attack aircraft carriers gave way to them. By the time the Vietnam War ended, the F-8s remained in service with only four squadrons deployed on the USS Oriskany and USS Hancock aircraft carriers. But the squadrons of the Marine Corps Aviation "Crusaders" based on coastal airfields were in operation longer. Moreover, an interesting picture was observed, the Marine pilots mainly flew on the old F-8L and F-8K, and the more recent machines were removed from the armament of the Navy deck squadrons and sent for storage in Davis-Montan. In 1973, when Israel was on the brink of military defeat, the USS Hancock aircraft carrier was urgently sent to the Red Sea. The Crusaders on board were to fly to Israeli air bases and take part in hostilities. Given that the Israeli Air Force did not previously have fighters of this type, as well as pilots ready to fly them, the Americans would have to fight. However, by the time the aircraft carrier arrived at its destination, the Israelis managed to turn the tide of hostilities, and no direct US intervention in the Arab-Israeli war was required.
In 1974, the operation of the F-8H in the last four combat deck squadrons ended, and the aircraft were sent to the reserve. At the same time, the old aircraft carriers were withdrawn from the fleet. A small number of F-8s were used at coastal airfields for training purposes, and to designate enemy aircraft during exercises. Several F-8s were handed over to various aviation firms, NASA and the Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB. These machines participated in various kinds of research in the role of flying stands and were used to accompany prototypes in the air. The planes deposited in Davis-Montan were there until the end of the 80s. These "Crusaders" served as a source of spare parts for fighters operating in France and the Philippines. Some of the recoverable aircraft were converted into QF-8 remote-controlled targets, which were used in the combat training of naval air defense systems and pilots of deck interceptors.
The RF-8G photo reconnaissance aircraft lasted the longest in service with the US Navy. In 1977, some of the aircraft were modernized. During the upgrade, the J57-P-22 turbojet engine was replaced by the more powerful J57-P-429. The aircraft received built-in radar warning equipment, containers with electronic warfare equipment and new cameras. Although the last carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft left USS Coral Sea in the spring of 1982, service with the coastal reserve squadrons continued until 1987.
For the mid-70s, "Crusaders" of the latest serial modifications were quite combat-ready fighters and the rapid decommissioning of these machines is primarily due to the fact that American admirals were mesmerized by the capabilities of the multifunctional F-4 Phantom II. At the same time, the F-8 was objectively a stronger air fighter in the "dump for dogs". Despite the fact that at the end of the 60s, military theorists hastened to proclaim the abandonment of maneuverable air combat, this has not happened so far.
Confirmation that the Crusader was a good combat aircraft is the interest shown by foreign buyers. In the mid-60s, the F-8 was considered by the lords of the British Admiralty as a candidate for deployment on British aircraft carriers, but later the Phantom was preferred. However, British aircraft carriers were a bit tight for heavy two-seat fighters.
In 1962, the French decided to purchase 40 F-8E (FN). The Crusaders were supposed to replace the hopelessly outdated licensed British Sea Venom fighters on the Clemenceau and Foch aircraft carriers. Despite the fact that at this time relations between the United States and France, which was trying to pursue an independent foreign policy, were not cloudless, the Americans went on to sell fighters that were quite modern for those times. This was partly due to the fact that the American admirals had already cooled to the "Crusader" by relying on a faster, more lifting and multifunctional "Phantom".
Aircraft designed to be based on French aircraft carriers underwent revision, and in many ways they were more advanced machines than those already operated by the US Navy. To improve takeoff and landing characteristics, the French F-8s were equipped with a boundary layer control system and had more advanced wing mechanization and an increased tail assembly. The F-8FN was equipped with a fairly modern AN / APQ-104 radar and an AN / AWG-4 armament control system. In addition to the AIM-9B missiles, the F-8FN's armament could include the Matra R.530 missile with IR or semi-active radar seeker.
At the initial stage of operation, the French "Crusaders" had a light gray color, the same as in the US Navy. Towards the end of their career, F-8FNs were painted in dark gray.
In 1963, a group of pilots was sent from France to study in the United States. The first thirteen Crusaders arrived at Saint-Nazaire on November 4, 1964. The rest of the aircraft were delivered in early 1965. At first, the "Crusaders" were very actively exploited in the French Navy. As of April 1979, they have spent over 45,400 hours in the air and made over 6,800 deck landings. In the late 80s, when it became clear that the "Crusader" would not be replaced in the next few years, it was decided to carry out work to extend their service life. For this, 17 least worn-out aircraft were selected. Most of the work was carried out in aircraft repair shops at Landvisio airbase. During the overhaul, the corroded cable harnesses were replaced. The hydraulic system was revised and the fuselage was reinforced. The restored "Crusaders" were equipped with a new navigation system and equipment for warning about radar exposure. After that, the overhauled vehicles received the designation F-8P.
Although the French quite often sent their aircraft carriers to "hot spots", the F-8FN did not have a chance to engage. These aircraft were present on board the aircraft carrier Foch in the fall of 1982 off the coast of Lebanon. In 1984, French Crusaders made demonstration flights near Libyan territorial waters. In 1987, they patrolled the Persian Gulf, protecting tankers from attacks by Iranian speedboats and aircraft. It was there that a training air battle of a pair of American F-14 Tomcat with a lone F-8FN took place. If by the characteristics of the radar and long-range missile armament, the Tomkets had an overwhelming superiority over the Crusader, then in close combat the French pilot managed to unpleasantly surprise the Americans. From 1993 to 1998, F-8FNs regularly patrolled the armed conflict zone in the Balkans, but did not participate directly in air strikes on targets in the former Yugoslavia.
Prior to the adoption of the Rafale M, for a long time, the Crusader remained the only French carrier-based fighter. Operation of the F-8FN in the French Navy ended 35 years after it entered service in 1999.
In the mid-70s, the Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos was concerned about the need to replace the outdated and extremely worn out F-86 Sabre fighters. I must say that the Americans had their own interest in strengthening the Philippine Air Force. The armed forces of this country fought incessant war in the jungle with various leftist groups of the Maoist persuasion. In the Philippines, there were two large bases of the US Navy and Air Force, and the Americans hoped that in the event of the supply of modern fighters, the ally would help them in providing air defense.
In 1977, an agreement was signed, according to which 35 F-8H fighters taken from the Davis-Montan storage base were delivered to the Philippines. The terms of the contract turned out to be more than preferential, the Philippine side had only to pay LTV-Aerospace for the repair and modernization of 25 aircraft. The remaining 10 cars were intended for disassembly for spare parts.
The training of Filipino pilots was like that of the Marine Corps Aviation airfields. In general, the development of new machines was successful, but at the same time, in June 1978, due to engine failure in flight, the TF-8A "spark" was broken, an American instructor and a Filipino cadet successfully ejected. In the late 70s, F-8Hs began to carry out combat duty at Basa Air Base in the northern part of Luzon Island.
The Philippine Crusaders repeatedly rose to intercept Soviet long-range scouts Tu-95RTs, whose crews were interested in the American naval base Subic Bay. Prior to decommissioning in January 1988, five F-8Hs were crashed in flight accidents, killing two pilots. The relatively short service life of "Crusaders" in the Philippines is explained by the fact that in the last years of Marcos' rule the country was mired in corruption, and very little money was allocated for the maintenance and repair of combat aircraft. The fighters put into storage in 1991 were badly damaged during the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, after which they were cut into metal.
Talking about the "Crusader" it is impossible not to mention its more advanced, which did not go into the series of modifications XF8U-3 Crusader III. The creation of this machine within the framework of the project, which received the corporate designation V-401, began in 1955. After reviewing the project, the Navy ordered three prototypes for testing. In fact, the new aircraft using the layout of the serial fighter was built around the Pratt & Whitney J75-P-5A engine with a nominal thrust of 73.4 kN (131 kN afterburner). The power of this turbojet engine was 60% more than that of the Pratt Whitney J57-P-12A engine installed on the first production modification of the Crusader. Also at the design stage, it was envisaged to install an additional liquid jet engine running on kerosene and hydrogen peroxide. However, after the accident at the ground stand, this option was abandoned.
Since the new engine was much larger, the geometric dimensions of the aircraft increased significantly. Due to the increase in specific air consumption, the air intake was redesigned. To ensure optimal engine performance at speeds close to 2M, the lower part of the front air intake has been enlarged and moved forward. In order to stabilize constant pressure in the air intake channel at high angles of attack, air intake flaps appeared on both sides of the fuselage in front of the center section to maintain constant pressure in the channel, which should have ensured stable engine operation in all modes. Since the aircraft was designed to fly at a speed of more than 2 M, Vought engineers equipped it with two large fuselage keels in the aft fuselage. The keels were supposed to serve as additional stabilizers at supersonic speeds. During takeoff and landing, the keels were transferred to a horizontal plane using a hydraulic system and formed additional bearing surfaces. The aircraft received a boundary layer control system and more efficient wing mechanization. The flight data of the Crusader III fighter has increased significantly. The carrier-based fighter with a maximum take-off weight of 17590 kg had a fuel tank volume of 7700 liters. This provided him with a combat radius in the configuration for air combat - 1040 km. The ferry range with outboard fuel tanks was 3200 km. Acceleration characteristics for the 50s were very impressive, the rate of climb - 168 m / s.
Since critics of the serial "Crusader" rightly pointed out its inability to carry medium-range missiles AIM-7 Sparrow with a semi-active radar seeker, the Crusader III provided such an opportunity from the very beginning. The promising fighter received an AN / APG-74 radar and an AN / AWG-7 fire control system. Since the fighter was designed single-seat, combat work and missile guidance to the target should have been facilitated by a large-sized display and AN / APA-128 missile guidance equipment. Some of the flight data and information about the targets were displayed by the display system on the windshield. AN / ASQ-19 equipment was used to receive information from radar patrol aircraft and shipborne radar systems. The data were displayed after processing on the AXC-500 onboard computer. A very sophisticated avionics made it possible to track 6 targets and simultaneously fire at two, which at that time was impossible on other single-seat interceptors. The initial version of the armament included three AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range missiles, four AIM-9 Sidewinder with IR seeker and a battery of four 20-mm cannons.
The XF8U-3 first broke away from the Edwards Air Force Base on June 2, 1958. The tests were accompanied by various failures. The lower keel control system was especially troublesome. During the tests, the first prototype landed twice with the keels lowered, but both times the plane did not receive much damage. At the same time, the Crusader III showed great potential. At an altitude of 27,432 m, using 70% of the engine thrust, it was possible to accelerate to a speed of 2, 2 M. However, after this flight, a melting of the windshield was found on the ground. The increase in the maximum flight speed required the refinement of this element of the cockpit. Replacing the front transparent acrylic panel with heat-resistant glass allowed it to accelerate to 2, 7 m at an altitude of 10 668 m.
In September 1958, a second prototype flew to Edwards AFB. It was supposed to carry out the development of radar equipment and weapons. Comparative tests of the promising Vought fighter with the McDonnell-Douglas F4H-1F aircraft (the future F-4 Phantom II) demonstrated the superiority of the XF8U-3 in close air combat. It seemed that a cloudless future awaited the Crusader III, but it was not possible to bring the radar-guided missile control equipment to the required level of reliability and confirm the design characteristics of the radar. Although the F4H-1F lost in the "dog fight", the presence of a second crew member on board made it possible to dispense with a less complex and expensive weapon control system.
The unstable operation of very complex electronic equipment and the protracted fine-tuning of the computing complex greatly delayed the testing of the second prototype XF8U-3. In addition, the AN / APG-74 radar mounted on the XF8U-3 showed worse results compared to the AN / APQ-120 radar mounted in the massive F4H-1F nose cone. The pilot of the Crusader III could detect a target at a distance of 55 km, and the operator of the Phantom-2 armament steadily observed it from 70 km. The undoubted advantage of the McDonnell-Douglas aircraft was its large payload (6800 kg), which made it an effective carrier-based fighter-bomber and made it possible to place up to 6 AIM-7 SDs on the hardpoints. Since it was not possible to solve all the problems with the weapon control system, Vought urgently created a two-seat modification with an increased number of weapon suspension pylons. But since the plane still lost to its competitor in terms of carrying capacity, this proposal did not find support.
At the cost of heroic efforts on the third prototype XF8U-3, they nevertheless confirmed the initial design characteristics of the radar and missile guidance equipment, and in December 1958, the possibility of a salvo launch of missiles from a radar seeker at two different targets was demonstrated in practice. However, the equipment installed on the updated Crusader was extremely difficult to operate, and the admirals did not dare to mess with the still crude system. In addition, the F4H-1F was more in line with the idea of a multifunctional aircraft, capable of theoretically equally successfully conducting missile combat at medium distances and delivering missile and bomb strikes against ground and surface targets. In December 1958, Vought was officially notified that the XF8U-3 Crusader III had lost the competition. By that time, five prototypes had been built. These machines were used by NASA and the Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB for research where high flight speeds were required. In the first half of the 60s, all XF8U-3s were decommissioned and scrapped.
