Actually, the F4 purchase was running concurrent to the order for F111s, it was being ordered as a Hunter replacement. The nominal replacement for the F111 was the Buccaneer mark 2. However, with a transition toward the new NATO strategy of "Flexible Response" more of the Phantoms ended up in the Strike role and, of course, because the Navy didn't need as many of theirs for the new CVF Carriers they were originally expecting, the R.A.F. got some of those an' all and formed the first F4 A.D. unit out of them.
FB
