KenV:
Lockheed's YF-12 was intended to replace the F-108 using the same Hughes AN/ASG-18 radar/fire control system and GAR-9 (later AIM-47) missile as F-108 but at much less cost.
This is not really correct. The YF-12 started some time after the F-108 had been cancelled and there was never a production order.
The F-106 was also optimized for the top right hand of the envelope but was fairly quickly replaced by the F-4 Phantom.
That's not really correct either. The first USAF F-4s and RF-4s substituted for F-105s and RF-105s. There was a proposal at the time for an F-106 restart, but like the YF-12 it fell victim to the virtual disappearance of the threat and the failure of the Sovs to build a supersonic intercontinental bomber. The Six itself wasn't replaced until the 1980s.
I'm not sure why France decided to go that route with the Mirage 2000.
France was well inside Backfire range. In any case, the M2000 was a different beast aerodynamically from the F-106 or M-III and a decent multi-role airplane.
A downgraded simplified version of the F-108 eventually became the A-5 Vigilante.
I know it says that in Wikipedia but the A3J-1 flew before the F-108 passed its mock-up review.
The fighter mafia folks insisted that ancient MiG-19 aircraft routinely beat the F-4 in a dogfight.. This was mostly true due to fighter operations doctrine and fighter pilot training, not aircraft performance.
It was the MiG-17, and it had a lot to do with aircraft characteristics because dogfights were happening at high subsonic speeds. The Fighter Mafia was not formed at that time - they formed as a reaction to the USAF's insistence that the next fighter had to be high-fast and agile.
Witness the caterwalling [sic] when the F-35 was revealed to have less turn performance than the F-16.
And after all the misinformation, the usual unnecessary dig against people who disagree with Ken.