‘The standard load for an F-106 was four AIM-4 Falcons and a Genie. The primary weapon was the Genie—a nuclear air-to-air rocket.’ Bill Rutledge, F-106 Delta Dart pilot
By the early 1950s, it had become evident that Convair’s interceptor program would not meet its planned 1954 operational deadline. In response, the U.S. Air Force chose to acquire a simpler temporary interceptor from Convair. This aircraft became the F-102A Delta Dagger, while the original program was redesignated as the F-102B. That project would later develop into the F-106 Delta Dart.
On June 17, 1956, the F-102B was officially renamed the F-106 to reflect major changes in its original mission requirements. Expectations for speed, altitude, and all-weather performance had all been raised. The first prototype flights took place in late 1956 and early 1957. According to the Pacific Coast Air Museum, initial performance fell short of expectations, largely because of delays in engine development and the need to use a replacement power plant. Even so, the aircraft continued to be refined and improved, and in the end, 277 single-seat and 63 two-seat versions were produced and delivered to the U.S. Air Force.
The aircraft served as the main air defense system throughout much of the 1960s and remained in operation far beyond its originally intended service life.
The AIR-2 Genie was designed to counter the threat of large formations of Soviet bombers entering U.S. airspace. It was intended to be fired on a direct collision course with its target, using its comparatively wide blast radius at detonation either to engulf the target or force the aircraft to pass into the explosion. Armed with a 1.5-kiloton warhead, the AIR-2 had a maximum lethal radius of roughly 1,000 feet against an aircraft.
Retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Bill Rutledge, a former F-106 pilot, never launched a live Genie missile, but he did fire an ATR-2A — a training version of the weapon fitted with ballast instead of a warhead while retaining its tracking equipment. Rutledge later shared his recollections of launching the ATR-2A with Ted Spitzmiller, who included them in his book Century Series: The USAF Quest for Air Supremacy, 1950–1960.
“It was amazing, an 832-pound rocket with a 35,000-pound thrust rocket motor. When that rocket motor fired, there was an instant contrail out in front of my aircraft. The standard load for an F-106 was four AIM-4 Falcons (two G models—heat-seeking and two F models—radar-guided) and a Genie. The primary weapon was the Genie—a nuclear air-to-air rocket.”
Rutledge explained that the fire-control system determined the correct launch point and heading, preset the missile’s time to detonation, and automatically fired the AIR-2A Genie as long as the pilot had configured the switches correctly. After launch, the pilot performed one of several evasive maneuvers, depending on altitude, to avoid the fireball and the shock wave from the blast.
Another former Delta Dart pilot, Daniel R. “Doc” Zoerb, also shared his recollections of flying with the ATR-2A: “We fired the (practice) Genie against high-speed, high-altitude drones, the most challenging of which was the Bomarc at about 70,000 feet and Mach 2.5. The experience of feeling the weapons bay doors open, the ‘clunk’ as the 850-pound rocket fell from the bay, and the audible (even in the cockpit) roar as the rocket motor lit was quite an experience, as was the speed and smoke trail that allowed you to maintain visual contact with the rocket till the spotting charge exploded. As I recall, the distance to the target at rocket launch… was about 7 or 8 nm at high altitude. The Genie accelerated to twice the launch Mach (which was circa 1.5 Mach) in a two-second rocket motor burn… a real bullet!”
Zoerb explained that because the Genie carried a nuclear warhead, detonating it near any enemy aircraft could disrupt its electronics, damage its structure, or at the very least discourage it from continuing its mission. Friendly aircraft caught nearby without warning of the launch could also suffer harmful effects, with temporary blindness being one of the greatest concerns. For that reason, F-106 crews carried an eye patch in their survival vests in the hope of protecting vision in at least one eye.
The F-106 was also an exceptionally fast aircraft and even had supercruise capability, as another former Delta Dart pilot, Mark Foxwell, noted:
“I recently visited the 27 Fighter Squadron at Langley, flying the F-22. They touted the Raptor’s supercruise capability, where they use AB to take it well supersonic and then cruise supersonic in military. Well, I/we did that routinely on the Six (as the F-106 was called by its pilots); I would take it in full AB to 49,000 and Mach 1.5, then go to full mil and cruise supersonic for 500 miles or more.”
Finally, Foxwell believes that the F-106 was a bomber interceptor better equipped for its mission than today’s airframes, since the Delta Dart was optimized for anti-Soviet bomber defense above all else in its era, more so than any fighter today. In fact, as he explains, even though the F-15 and F-16 had (and still have) greater firepower, radar, and computer capabilities, and the F-22 does as well, these fighters are not optimized for the strategic air-defense mission.
Century Series: The USAF Quest for Air Supremacy 1950-1960 is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force
