The Delta Dart
The all-weather F-106 interceptor evolved from Convair’s F-102 Delta Dagger. Initially designated the F-102B, it received the F-106 designation after undergoing major structural modifications and being fitted with a more powerful engine. The first F-106A took to the air on 26 December 1956, while deliveries to the U.S. Air Force began in July 1959. Production concluded in late 1960, with 277 F-106As and 63 two-seat F-106Bs completed.
The aircraft was equipped with Hughes’ MA-1 electronic guidance and fire-control system. Following takeoff, the system could assume control of the aircraft, guiding it to the appropriate altitude and attack position. It could then launch the Genie and Falcon missiles, disengage from the attack, and direct the aircraft back toward its base. The pilot would retake control for the landing.
The Genie
Developed to prevent the skies over the United States from being overwhelmed by large formations of Soviet bombers, the AIR-2 Genie was designed to intercept its target on a lead-collision trajectory. When the rocket detonated, its comparatively large lethal envelope was intended either to engulf the target directly or force the aircraft to fly into the affected area. Equipped with a 1.5-kiloton warhead, the Genie had a maximum lethal radius of approximately 1,000 feet against an aircraft.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Bill Rutledge, USAF (Ret.), was a former F-106 pilot who never fired a live Genie. However, he did launch an ATR-2A—a training version of the weapon fitted with ballast in place of the warhead while retaining its tracking equipment. Rutledge later described the experience to Ted Spitzmiller, who included his account in Century Series: The USAF Quest for Air Supremacy 1950–1960.
Rutledge recalled that the weapon was an 832-pound rocket powered by a 35,000-pound-thrust motor. As soon as the motor ignited, a contrail appeared immediately in front of his aircraft. A standard F-106 weapons load consisted of four AIM-4 Falcons—two heat-seeking G models and two radar-guided F models—along with a Genie, which served as the aircraft’s primary weapon: a nuclear air-to-air rocket.
According to Rutledge, the fire-control system calculated the correct launch point and heading, set the rocket’s flight time before detonation, and automatically fired the AIR-2A Genie once the pilot had positioned the switches correctly. After launch, the pilot carried out one of several escape maneuvers, depending on altitude, to stay clear of the fireball and the resulting overpressure shock wave.
850-pound rocket
Another former Delta Dart pilot, Daniel R. “Doc” Zoerb, described firing the ATR-2A practice Genie against fast, high-altitude drones. The most demanding target was a Bomarc flying at approximately 70,000 feet and Mach 2.5. He recalled the weapons-bay doors opening, the heavy “clunk” as the 850-pound rocket dropped free, and the roar of its motor igniting—even audible inside the cockpit. The rocket’s rapid acceleration and thick smoke trail made it possible to track visually until its spotting charge detonated. At high altitude, the target was reportedly about 7–8 nautical miles away at launch. During its two-second motor burn, the Genie accelerated to roughly twice its launch speed, increasing from about Mach 1.5 to approximately Mach 3—“a real bullet.”
Zoerb noted that because the Genie carried a nuclear warhead, detonating near an enemy aircraft could damage its electronics, compromise its structure, or make it abandon its mission. An unexpected detonation could also endanger friendly aircraft, with temporary blindness posing the greatest concern. For that reason, F-106 aircrews carried an eye patch in their survival vests, hoping to preserve vision in at least one eye.
The F-106 supercruised before the F-22
The F-106 was also an exceptionally fast aircraft with genuine supercruise capability, as former Delta Dart pilot Mark Foxwell recalled. After visiting the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley, where the F-22’s ability to accelerate beyond Mach 1 with afterburner and then maintain supersonic speed on military power was highlighted, Foxwell pointed out that F-106 pilots had routinely done the same. He would use full afterburner to climb to 49,000 feet and reach Mach 1.5, then reduce to full military power and remain supersonic for 500 miles or more.
Foxwell also argued that the F-106 was a more purpose-built bomber interceptor than modern fighter aircraft. The Delta Dart had been specifically optimized for defending North America against Soviet bombers, a role for which few contemporary aircraft—or modern fighters—were as thoroughly designed. Although aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, and F-22 possessed superior firepower, radar, and computer systems, they were not specifically tailored to the Strategic Air Defense mission. In Foxwell’s view, the F-106 could match or surpass them in speed, range, and endurance. As he put it, the aircraft’s speed and range enabled its crews to “get there the firstest with the mostest”—an advantage he regarded as decisive during the Cold War.
Century Series, The USAF Quest for Air Supremacy 1950-1960, is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photos by Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force
