A primer of the United States Air Force aircraft/missile Technical Coordination Program

DISAM Journal, Winter, 2003 by Forrest Smith

F-4 Technical Coordination Group

The McDonnell Phantom was one of the most successful postwar fighters. It was the second most prolific American jet fighter to be built, outnumbered only by the North American Sabre. Total U.S. production was 5057, with another 138 being built under license in Japan. The Phantom was in continuous production for twenty years (from 1959 until 1979). During the Vietnam War, 72 Phantoms were coming off the production line every month. The F-4 Phantom 2, made its first flight in 1958.

The oldest TCG is the F-4. It was created in 1976 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Under the leadership of Major Jim Downs, a country-by-country survey was initiated. As a result of these surveys, a TCG staff was developed consisting of the following:

* An Equipment Specialist in Electronics, Electrical Systems, Structural Systems, Mechanical Systems, and Weapons Systems

* An Electrical/Electronic Engineer, Mechanical Systems Engineer, and;

* A Structural Engineer.

For further support, the group also included a financial manager, technical order maintenance group and a small administrative staff numbering twenty-five. The program was the prototype TCG and still operates under the same essential concept for continued success with high emphasis on customer service!

Originally nine countries joined the program: Iran, Israel, Greece, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Spain, Korea and the United Kingdom. The first liaison officers were in place because there was an International Logistics Section at the time the TCG was formed, which included the country managers for each country.

Following the Camp David Peace Treaty, signed in March 1979, the US moved quickly to assist Egypt both economically and militarily. The LOA, signed in September 1979, implemented the Peace Pharaoh Program for the sale of F-4s to Egypt. Membership to the F-4 TCG was included on the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA).

Currently, the F-4 TCG has five member countries, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Japan and Korea. The current operation is supported with a staff of fourteen, assisted by the OEM, Boeing Aerospace (originally McDonnell Aircraft Company) through a Recurring Engineering Services (RES) contract, provides logistics, technical and engineering support for a international fleet of 450 Phabulous Phantoms. Four of the member countries have organic program depot maintenance capability to support their aircraft and at least three countries have expressed a desire to fly the Phantom II until the year 2020.

Sustainment membership in the F-4 TCG is normally fulfilled using follow-on "G" or "Q" cases with lines that cover the following:

* Internal services;

* Contracted services, and;

* Studies and surveys, and overseas travel.

Costs of the program are based on number of aircraft in the member's inventory.

Although the F-4 TCG does not have a dedicated website, a special F-4 site was created and is maintained by Nick Tselentis from Hellenic Air Industries (HA1). The site can be found at http://members.lycos.co.uk/cyclonet/. All of the buttons on the left margin link to some very interesting history, pictures and other information. Note that one button is a special dedication to the F-4 TCG at Hill Air Force Base, Utah