F-4E-2020 x2 - Turkey

Turkey is one of the last bastions of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom and two of them will be gracing the static display of this year's Air Tattoo. Turkey, along with Greece, are the last operators in Europe of this large twin-engined fighter jet which was developed as a carrier-borne fighter for the US Navy. According to Flight International, Turkey operates 49 of the 'E' variant, having withdrawn from service its RF-4E tactical reconnaissance in 2015. The F-4E-2020 are upgraded models, with improvements made by Israel Aerospace Industries. The aircraft provided for RIAT 2019 are from 111 Filo based at Eskişehir.

Photo Kev Daws