Douglas F6D Missileer

The Douglas F6D Missileer was a carrier‑based, all‑weather interceptor conceived in the 1950s to protect the United States Navy’s carrier strike groups from Soviet bombers and missiles. Developed under the Navy’s Interceptor program, the aircraft first flew on 16 April 1958 and entered the flight‑test phase the following year. Although the Missileer never reached operational service, its design embodied a radical shift toward long‑range, radar‑guided air defense. Powered by a single Pratt & Whitney J57‑19 turbojet, it could cruise at 400 knots for more than four hours, giving it unprecedented loiter time. Its most distinctive feature was the AN/APQ‑72 radar combined with a sophisticated fire‑control system that could track multiple targets and launch up to four AIM‑26 nuclear‑armed air‑to‑air missiles from an internal weapons bay. The aircraft’s large, stable airframe and extensive avionics suite made it a prototype for later Navy fighters such as the F‑4 Phantom II and the modern E‑2 Hawkeye. Though the program was canceled in 1961 after only ten prototypes were built, the Missileer’s emphasis on sensor integration, extended endurance, and networked defense left a lasting imprint on carrier‑based air warfare doctrine.