Designation for 50 Phantom FG1 strike fighters delivered to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. The Royal Navy Phantom was originally to have been based on the US Navy F-4B. In fact, the original designation for the Royal Navy Phantom was to have been F-4B(RN). However, a change in plans led McDonnell to use the F-4J as the basis for the new aircraft, and the designation F-4K was assigned to the project. McDonnell built two YF-4K-26 prototypes and two F-4K-27 production aircraft. Main difference with model was the R.B.168-25R Spey 203 turbofan. The additional power offered by the Spey was thought to be essential in order to provide sufficient power to operate the Phantom safely from smaller British aircraft carriers. In addition, the Spey was able to provide more bleed air for the boundary layer control system, which would permit slower approach speeds. However, the increased power of these engines required that the air intake area be increased by twenty percent and that the lower portion of the aft fuselage be redesigned. This did not prove to be an unqualified success. The larger air flow required larger air intakes, resulting in a 20% larger frontal area and subsequently increased drag. To make things worse, the wider engines required a redesign of the engine bay, ruining aircraft's drag-reducing area rule contours. As a result - aside from a massive increase in costs - the Spey equipped Phantoms were slower (especially at altitude), had a lower service ceiling and a worse rate of climb than the J79 powered versions. On the other hand, due to the turbofan's lower fuel consumption, it had a 15% better range. Radar was the Ferranti AN/AWG-11 (licence built AN/AWG-10) pulse doppler radar. The Phantom FG1 was initially armed with four Raytheon AIM-7 Sparrow missiles (in 1979 replaced by BAe Skyflash missiles) and four AIM-9G Sidwinder missiles, later replaced by the later AIM-9L model. In the strike role, the Phantom FG1 could be armed with the WE177 nuclear bomb and Bullpup air-to-surface missiles. The first British Phantom arrived April 29, 1968 and served with the Royal Navy onboard HMS Ark Royal carriers. Only 24 out of the 52 ordered ever served with the Royal Navy, the other 28 being diverted to the Royal Air force as Phantom FGR2.

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