68-0490

F-4E-40-MC s/n 68-0490 is a McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom tactical fighter-bomber built in 1968 for the US Air Force and later employed by the Southern Alliance Provisional Air Forces against the Lincoln coup government's mercenaries.

Service History
After its service with the USAF at Bitburg AB, Germany, '490 was transferred to the Indiana Air National Guard's 181st Fighter Wing in Terre Haute, Indiana. From 1987 to 1991, the aircraft served the Air National Guard until being reassigned to the 20th Fighter Squadron 'Silver Lobos' at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. The 20th was responsible for training German Luftwaffe crews on the F-4, and served in this role until 1997. '490 was sent to AMARC in January of that year, one of the last USAF Phantoms to be retired. The aircraft remained in the Boneyard until October 2012, retained as part of the Combat Archer target drone program. Set to be used and eventually destroyed as a target, '490 was saved from destruction by the state government of Georgia, which acquired the entire drone lot to equip 'provisional' militia squadrons under the command of the state's Air National Guard.

For the first time since Viet Nam, '490 saw combat service. Assigned to the 13th Provisional Fighter Squadron under Colonel Ross Mulrennan, the aircraft was employed in the low-level strike and close air support roles. Patrick McElvaney and Jaclyn Mulrennan, the Georgia provisional units' only ace crew, scored four of their six kills while flying '490. These consisted of a MiG-21MF 'Fishbed', Yak-40 'Codling', and two F-16As originally intended for the Republic of China Air Force but seized by federal mercenaries.

Modifications
Although delivered as a standard Block 40 aircraft, '490 was given a series of modifications in service with the 13th PFS. Most notably, touchscreen multifunction displays linked to both radar, navigation, and newly-fitted night-vision targeting equipment were fitted in both cockpits, and the ability was granted to allow the firing of AIM-120B/C AMRAAM missiles in active-seeker mode and with guidance from other friendly aircraft.

Notable Operations
Operation PROMOTE DISSENT was the first full-scale operation in which '490 participated. In an effort to destroy hostile communications jamming sites, it and 68-0478 bombed antennae and facilities. Intended to operated under the protection of a flight of 77th Fighter Squadron F-16Cs equipped with HARM missiles, the flight ended up working solo when its escorts encountered mechanical issues and enemy fire, and wound up destroying both assigned targets along with a MiG-29 and an SA-10 'Grumble' SAM system.

Operation SHAY saw '490 and another 13th PFS Phantom supporting CSAR efforts for the crews of two downed F-16s, destroying a Yak-40 that was guiding enemy troops to their positions. The aircraft also directed in USAF 23d Wing HH-60 rescue helicopters and A-10C CAS aircraft after their own ordnance was expended.

However, it was with Operation WHITE EAGLE, the final push into Washington, D.C, that '490's finest hour came. Andrews AFB, with the light damage sustained during the nuclear attack largely repaired, posed a massive threat to Southern Alliance and U.S. military forces advancing on Washington. The small contingent of aircraft at the base had been tripled by the addition of several mercenary aircraft as well as two squadrons of F-16A ADF fighters confiscated from a shipment to Taiwan. At precisely 0630 on the morning of Operation White Eagle, all available aircraft of the 13th PFS, consisting of two F-4Es, crewed by militia, and two MiG-29As, crewed by Russian mercenaries, joined the Southern Alliance effort to utterly crush all enemy air opposition. Including fighters from nearly all Alliance bases, from F-16Cs and A-10Cs to a handful of F-4Es and F-4Ds, with even the elusive squadron of F-22s making an appearance, air superiority over the capital seemed guaranteed...

But it was not to be. ISA elements within the Southern Alliance command structure learned of the operation weeks in advance. Instead of the handful of interceptors expected, the Confederate force ran straight into a massed force of Lincoln coup-loyal fighters. Ranging from F-16As, MiG-29As, and MiG-21MFs, to a flight of MiG-17s and MF-15M 'Fangorn' fighters, most of the coup government's air power was scrambled to intercept. What followed was an air battle on a Biblical scale not seen since the Second World War. A total of fully two hundred aircraft clashed in the skies over Virginia, Maryland, and the nation's capital. The 13th PFS single-handedly destroyed ten enemy MiGs and F-16s. Two kills went to each F-4E, and three to each MiG-29A.