Stupid idea. The few times it was tried the F-4s accelerated away and left the hawks needing FC control, which we could have given without all the complexity of getting them together and limiting the F-4 performance in the first place.
The only real real role was as point defence of an airfield under tower control for any “leakers”. The hunters were much more fun, though Teeside never really forgave us for the grooves they left in the pan and taxiways....
Almost as ridiculous as the wartime role of the 85/100 Canberras. Go out with a Nimrod and be sent silent to investigate a suspicious surface contact. If they didn’t come back it was a bad guy.....