While F-102A production continued at full speed, Convair investigated the possibility of building an improved and more powerful version of the Delta Dagger. Initially, the new plane was given the name F-102B, but in reality it turned out to be so different that it soon took on a new name:F-106 Delta Dart. The prototype flew for the first time on December 26, 1956 and, at the end of the tests, given the exceptional characteristics of the machine, the United States immediately put the device into production and called it F-106A.
Although the F-106A had the same wing as the F-102, it had some modifications, the most important of which related to the structure of the fuselage, which contained the new Pratt &Whitney J75 turbojet engine with 11,130 kg of thrust, half more powerful than the Delta Dagger's J57. But the new engine and the exceptional increase in performance created other aerodynamic problems which, in order to be solved, forced the engineers to carry out very extensive work on the structures of the aircraft. They perfected the on-board electronic systems and increased their power, and when the Delta Dart began to come online in July 1959, it proved to be Air Defense Command's most powerful and modern fighting machine. Production continued until the end of 1960 and, in addition to the 277 F-106A, also included 63 examples of a second two-seater model, the F-106B.
The United States produced these aircraft to fulfill the role of operational training aircraft, in addition to their use as an “all-weather” interceptor:they retained all the capabilities of the single-seaters. Technicians repeatedly upgraded the avionics, armament and onboard equipment of the F-106s, which were still in frontline service in 1976. Among other things, and for the first time, many of these aircraft saw equipped with a rotary cannon of 20 millimeters type Gatling, with multiple mouths.
dates
commissioning date :1958
date of end of use :1988
Constructor :USA
Users :USA
Categories :Hunter
Technical and Performance Data
Wingspan :11.66 m
Length :21.58 m.
Height :6.18 m
Weight:
Maximum Weight :15,876 kg
Max Altitude :16,765 m
Range :925 km
Maximum speed :2,454 km/h at an altitude of 12,190 m
Motorisation (engines or reactors)
hunt-instruction Year:Engine:Pratt &Whitney J75-P-17 turbojet 11,130 kg thrust
Armaments
1 rotary cannon of 20 millimeter Gatling type, with multiple mouths
4 AA missiles