Canada's Nuclear-Armed Cold War Interceptor: the story of the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo

when soviet or unidentified aircraft approached canadian airspace in the 1960s and 70s they were met by an iconic cold war interceptor armed with both conventional and nuclear weapons they were a formidable foe in their day although not designed or built in canada the mcdonald's cf-101 voodoo has earned its place as a trusted and reliable member of the canadian livery the voodoo was originally designed by the american mcdonald company starting in 1951 and is based on their vf-88 design it was in response to a strategic air command requirement for a long-range bomber escort fighter but this was cancelled the voodoo was then adapted to fill a tactical air command requirement for a strategic fighter bomber the f-101a took its first flight on the 29th of september 1954 and was delivered to the attack starting in 1957 where it served until 1972 in nuclear strike and reconnaissance rolls [Music] the f-101b was a departure from the original design in order to fill a united states air force requirement for a long-range interceptor it was meant to supplement the disappointing f-102 delta dagger until the f-106 delta dart was ready for service the f-101b would take advantage of the common hardware developed for different aircraft competing for the same contract the forward fuselage was modified to carry the f-102s hughes mg-13 fire control radar and the cockpit was modified to carry a second crew member to operate it called the airborne intercept navigator the voodoo was equipped with a datalink system enabling full integration with norad's ground-based radars interception commands could be sent to guide them straight to their targets the f-101b was equipped with powerful pratt and whitney j57 p55 engines and large afterburners which dramatically increased the performance over the a model it had a great rate of climb could reach operational speeds of mach 1.72 and altitudes in excess of 17 800 meters the weapon system was refined for the interceptor role the guns were removed and a rotating pallet was installed in the weapons bay initially it was designed to carry four huge falcon missiles two aim for a semi-active radar homing missiles on one side and two aim 4b infrared guided missiles on the other later this was modified to carry two 1.7 kiloton air-2 genie nuclear air-to-air rockets on one side and two aim 4c infrared guided missiles on the other [Music] the new interceptor entered service with the united states air force in january of 1959 the same year as the competing f-106 delta dart in the end 479 f-101bs would be built before the production line was closed in 1961. canadian involvement with the voodoo began in 1959 shortly after the avroera was cancelled canada was in need of a fast interceptor to fulfill its new norad commitments their existing fleet of cf-100 canucks were becoming obsolete in the face of improved soviet aircraft an off-the-shelf replacement was needed and the americans offered up their newest interceptor the f-101b voodoo operational voodoos would be taken from american squadrons and be replaced with the f-102 delta dagger much to the dismay of american pilots the diefenbaker government negotiated the deal which included cost offsets these offsets included taking over the staffing and funding of 11 pine tree line radar stations located within the canadian borders by june of 1961 a deal was struck and the usaf began transferring 56 f-101bs and 10 f-101f trainers to form five rcaf squadrons one major stumbling block was the adoption by canada of american nuclear weapons canada would now be operating the bomark missile honest john ballistic missile and genie air-to-air rockets all equipped with powerful nuclear bombs the debate was still ongoing at the time of the transfer and so the initial cf-101s were equipped with the all-falcon missile loadout 1963 saw the quiet delivery of the nuclear weapons to arm the bomark missile squadrons the honest john and starfighter units in europe and the genie weapons for the voodoo squadrons canada operated no more than 108 genie rockets until it was retired alongside with the voodoos the official stance of the government during this time was to neither confirm nor deny the existence of nuclear weapons on canadian soil or operated by canadian troops the voodoo compares quite favorably to the arrow it replaced and the delta dart it was competing with while it didn't have the speed and service ceiling of the delta dart nor the thrust to weight ratio and weapons carrying capacity of the arrow it could efficiently deliver its weapons and fulfill canada's interceptor needs the voodoo had a much larger range than the others making it a good choice for long-range arctic patrol missions the first operational squadron was the 425 at rcaf namao in alberta in october of 1961. it initially acted as a conversion squadron until those duties were taken over by the number three all-weather otu in bagotville quebec during 1962 the 409 squadron at rcaf comox british columbia 4-1-4 squadron at rcaf north bay ontario 4-1-0 squadron at rcf uplands ontario 4-2-5 squadron at rcaf bagotville quebec and 4-1-6 squadron at rcf chatham new brunswick were all operating the voodoo budget cuts in 1964 led to the 410 and 414 squadrons being disbanded in 1967 the 414 squadron was reformed and would eventually fly a unique electronic warfare version of the voodoo the ef-101b electric voodoo was a standard f-101b equipped with the electronic jamming equipment of the eb-57e canberra it was leased to the canadian military and it served with the 4-1-4 squadron until it was returned to the united states in 1987. each squadron maintained at least two aircraft on five-minute quick reaction alert the voodoos were positioned at the end of the runway for a quick takeoff pilots and airborne interception navigators slept close to their planes with all their flight gear laid out in front of them ready for the call to wake up and take to the air after eight years of hard service the surviving cf-101s were traded with the americans for 66 replacements between 1970 and 1972 as part of operation p-swings this batch of voodoos had lower flight hours than the originals and had been upgraded with an infrared search and tracking system and an enhanced fire control system the big and noisy voodoos became popular airshow attractions flying single ship demonstration flights or sometimes in multi-ship formations in 1984 one voodoo from each of the three remaining squadrons were painted as a special show aircraft the reynolds museum in watasco in alberta proudly displays the links one canada paint job of the 4-1-6 squadron the voodoo began to show its age and starting in 1977 canada began looking for a new fighter to replace both it and the cf-104 starfighters as both had been deemed obsolete by that time the voodoos were kept in service until 1984 when they began to be withdrawn from service and replaced by the highly capable cf-18 hornet the last flight of the voodoo was on april 9th 1987 and with it came the end of a generation of century series fighters during its long history in canadian service at least 14 voodoos were lost in crashes killing over a dozen crew members it served to support norad and protect the northern approaches into the north american heartland during the height of the cold war although it was neither designed nor built in canada the reliable voodoo remains a canadian cold war icon and was well loved by its ground crews and pilots [Music] you

Channel: Polyus

Views: 109,040

Keywords: RCAF, Canada, Military, Aviation, Aircraft, Nuclear Strike, Nuclear Deterrence, canadair, caf, canadian armed forces, royal canadian air force, cold war, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, CFB, interceptor, close ground support, air support, thermonuclear, nuclear war, Avro Arrow, Delta Dart, USAF, Voodoo, McDonnell, Genie, Interception, NORAD, military aircraft

Id: -Pu0wYb2ql0

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 14 2020