As the world entered the supersonic age, the US Air Force had to assume that the Soviet Union was designing jet bombers, possibly supersonic ones. The subsonic interceptors then in service, such as the F-89 Scorpion, would not be able to reach jet bombers. Accordingly, the USAF issued a requirement in 1949 for what was simply called the “1954 Interceptor,” as that was the expected in-service date. Unlike earlier aircraft, however, the new aircraft would be designed around the fire control computer (the Hughes MX-1179) and would incorporate all-missile armament. Of 18 proposals sent to the USAF, the service chose Convair’s Project MX-1554 in late 1951. This proposal incorporated then radical delta wings, a powerful Wright J67 turbojet, and an internal missile bay that was also equipped with rockets, along with the MX-1179 fire control system.
Problems arose with both the engine and fire control system, however, and the USAF decided to go ahead with production of what was now the F-102A Delta Dagger, the third aircraft of the Century Series of fighters in the 1950s. The F-102A was considered as interim until the more advanced F-102B could come online later; emphasis was getting a supersonic interceptor into service as soon as possible, even if it used a less powerful Pratt and Whitney J57 and a simpler M-9 fire control computer. The first YF-102 flew in October 1953.
It was a failure. The YF-102 could not even reach supersonic speeds, its ceiling was below that of even the F-89, and the prototype crashed only a week after its first flight. Convair went back to the drawing board, this time using the recently discovered area rule principle, changing the fuselage from a conventional round shape to a more streamlined “coke bottle,” lengthening and narrowing the nose, and adding shock blisters around the engine. The redesigned YF-102A flew in December 1954, and was able to meet the USAF’s requirements, though it was still slower and had a lower ceiling than the USAF would have liked. Since the F-102A was again only supposed to serve as an interim for the F-102B, which would later become the F-106 Delta Dart, the USAF was willing to overlook the shortfall in performance. The first F-102 entered service in 1956.
In service, the “Deuce,” as it became known, got mixed reviews. The fire control system (the MG-3; the F-102 was never to receive the Hughes MX-1179 it was designed for) was improved with an infrared turret forward of the cockpit, and it had comparatively heavy armament in the form of four AIM-4 Falcons and 24 rockets carried in the weapons bay doors. The aircraft were also re-winged with a more efficient design in 1957. Later F-102s had the rockets removed to allow carriage of two AIM-24 Nuclear Falcons. All this aside, the delta winged design proved to be tricky to get used to, and the F-102 suffered a high accident rate. TF-102A conversion aircraft were built, which involved a radical redesign of the Delta Dagger from the intakes forward, as the TF-102 had side-by-side seating. This adversely affected performance, giving the TF-102 its moniker of “Pig.” Nonetheless, the F-102 was to perform yeoman service throughout the late 1950s and 1960s as an interceptor, supplementing the earlier F-101 Voodoo and its replacement, the F-106. As the Delta Dart entered service, F-102s were relegated to Air National Guard units, where the Deuce would serve until 1976.
F-102s would see wartime service as well. As North Vietnam had a number of Ilyushin Il-28 Beagles in service, F-102s were deployed in detachments to USAF bases in South Vietnam to guard against a surprise attack. These aircraft were drawn from both active duty units and Air National Guard units under Operation Constant Guard. As the Il-28 threat never materialized, the F-102s were used as escorts for B-52s on Arc Light sorties over South Vietnam (again unnecessary, as North Vietnamese MiGs lacked the range for operations that far south), and escort for USAF missions in Laos or EB-66 jammer aircraft supporting Rolling Thunder sorties. In this capacity, the F-102 would see at least one air-to-air combat with MiG-21s, but came off second best with the loss of aircraft and pilot. Other F-102s were used as ground support aircraft, a role to which the Deuce was completely unsuited, for a brief time and with poor results—though the F-102’s infrared sensors gave it all-weather capability that at that time was matched only by the F-4D Phantom II. Truly lacking a role, the F-102 detachments were withdrawn from Southeast Asia in 1968.
F-102s were exported to Turkey and Greece in the mid-1960s, and these were used in the 1974 Cyprus Crisis; none were reported lost on either side, though rumors persist of Turkish F-102s either shooting down or being shot down by Greek F-5A Freedom Fighters.
All F-102s, foreign and domestic, were withdrawn from service by 1979. In the US, nearly all were converted to QF-102 drones and expended as targets, ending in 1986. Of approximately 900 Delta Daggers produced, at least 35 remain today in museums.
This F-102, 56-1368, was first delivered to the USAF in 1957, serving with the 327th FIS at George AFB, California. It flew with the Oregon ANG's 123rd FIS from 1965 to 1971, when it was retired. It went on display at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, but in 1998 was donated to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. It is painted in standard overall ADC Gray and carries the earlier markings of the 123rd FIS based at Portland International Airport. The four-leaf clover behind the cockpit was the personal marking of Brigadier General Patrick O'Grady, the Oregon ANG's commander while the squadron was in the Deuce.
