The initial winner of this competition had been the F-102 Delta Dagger, but early versions of this aircraft had demonstrated extremely poor performance, being limited to flying at subsonic speeds and relatively low altitudes. The F-106 was the ultimate development of the USAF's 1954 interceptor program of the early 1950s. A handful of F-106s were operated by NASA for experimental purposes, such as the Eclipse Project, through to 1998. Many withdrawn aircraft were promptly converted into target drones and redesignated QF-106 under the Pacer Six program in this guise, the aircraft continued being used up until 1998. Numerous F-106s would be operated for a time by the Air National Guard. The F-106 was gradually withdrawn from USAF service during the 1980s as the arrival of newer air superiority fighters, particularly the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, had made the role of dedicated interceptors increasingly redundant. In one high-profile incident over Montana on 2 February 1970, an unmanned F-106 recovered from a flat spin after its pilot had ejected, landing relatively intact in a snow-covered field it was recovered and continued to be flown for numerous years afterwards. Convair proposed various improved models of the F-106, typically focused on the radar, communications, and other avionics, but none of these schemes would be pursued by the service.
During the 1960s, a competitive evaluation between the F-106 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II determined the latter to be marginally superior, yet the type continued to be operated for a further two decades on account of extensive demand for the F-4 in other roles. It was never used in combat nor were any export opportunities secured. After flight testing demonstrated less performance gains than anticipated, the USAF ultimately only ordered 350 of the planned 1,000 F-106s once planned.īecoming operational in June 1959, the F-106 was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the USAF through much of the Cold War era it ended up being the final specialist interceptor to be used by the service to date.
On 26 December 1956, the first prototype performed its maiden flight. Major differences from the F-102 included the adoption of the more powerful Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojet engine, heavily redesigned air inlets along with a variable-geometry inlet duct to suit a wide range of supersonic speeds, application of the area rule to the fuselage shaping, and a general increase in size. The F-106 was designed without a gun or provision for carrying bombs, instead carrying its AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missiles within an internal weapons bay, its clean exterior was beneficial to supersonic flight. It was a development of the F-102 Delta Dagger, and thus was originally designed as the F-102B prior to being redesignated by the United States Air Force (USAF). The F-106 was designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor" as a consequence of the 1954 interceptor program of the early 1950s. The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was an all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair.
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