F-106 Delta Dart

The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date. It was gradually retired during the 1980s, with the QF-106 drone conversions of the aircraft being used until 1998. The F-106 emerged from the USAF's 1954 interceptor program of th... more

The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date. It was gradually retired during the 1980s, with the QF-106 drone conversions of the aircraft being used until 1998. The F-106 emerged from the USAF's 1954 interceptor program of the early 1950s as an advanced derivative of the F-102 Delta Dagger known as the F-102B, for which the United States Air Force placed an order for in November 1955. The aircraft featured so many modifications and design changes it became a new design in its own right, redesignated F-106 on 17 June 1956. The F-102's delta wing had to be redesigned with an area ruled fuselage to exceed supersonic speed in level flight. To exceed Mach 2, the largely new F-106 featured a more powerful J-75 afterburning turbojet with enlarged intake diameter to... less