History
Design and Development
In 1955, Grumman developed a new design based on the F11 airframe, in which the aircraft was to be powered by the new General Electric J79, and it was given the company designation G-98J. They presented the design and proposed to the US Navy to take two F11 Tigers under construction and fit them with a new engine.
The J79 was a state-of-the-art engine scheduled for use on the Navy’s new interceptor under development, the F-4 Phantom. The J79 was about 250 pounds lighter than the J65 used in the existing F11 Tiger, and it produced 2,600 pounds more force without afterburner and 3,3750 pounds more with.
The size of the J79 was the same as the earlier engine, so the proposed redesign was so simple that it did not require a substantial change to the fuselage, with only the inlets needing to be enlarged to accommodate the more powerful engine’s greater airflow requirements. The other major change was the fitting of a larger nose, which was designed to accommodate the AN/APQ-50 all-weather radar, the same used on the early Phantoms.
This proposal proved more promising, and in September 1955, the Navy authorized the completion of the last two aircraft in the initial F11F-1F contract and named them Super Tiger.
Flight Testing
Just nine months after the contract was signed, the first F11F-1F Super Tiger’s (138646) maiden flight took place on May 7, 1956, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. However, with a lower-rated J79, it had to abort because the air blowing into the cockpit was being heated to a dangerous degree. The flaw was rectified, and the Super Tiger took a second flight, achieving Mach 1.2. By the fifth flight on June 5, 1956, the Super Tiger achieved Mach 1.6 at 35,000 feet, with its rate of climb three times of the original F11 Tiger. The Super Tiger with the Wright J65 had had difficulty exceeding Mach 1.1. Several changes were introduced on the Super Tiger during the flight test, including a 13.5-inch extension in the rear fuselage, the addition of 60-degree wing root fillets, and the introduction of a fully-rated J79 engine.
On August 16, 1956, the second F11F-1F Super Tiger (138647) arrived to join the test program with a much better engine air intake duct boundary layer removal system. On May 2, 1957, the second aircraft flew in another flight test with a maximum speed of Mach 2.04. The aircraft set an official world altitude record on April 16, 1958, when it zoom-climbed and reached 76,831 feet.
The performance of the Super Tiger sounded promising, and the aircraft’s performance capabilities were further reinforced. The US Navy and Air Force were extremely interested in flying the Super Tiger to evaluate its flight capabilities. By November 1956, both had flown and concluded that the aircraft was excellent. The Navy report stated the aircraft was outstanding, and they did not find anything flawed about the aircraft.
Grummand also conducted several tests on different stores options, such as fitting AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on the aircraft’s spine, with two being carried in line behind the cockpit. 1,000-lb bombs, drop tanks, Hughes Falcon missiles, and Bullpup missiles were also fitted under the fuselage for flight tests.
Race for International Contracts
Although the performance was impressive, it was a little too late for Grumman since the Navy had ordered the more successful F-8 Crusader, whose performance exceeded the F11 Tigers’ performance that had been serving in the Navy. The Super Tiger was a simple backup aircraft in case of the F-8 Crusader program supposed to have failed, so the Navy ultimately did not order the Super Tiger into production. The USAF, although evaluated the aircraft as an excellent choice, also did not order the Super Tiger, as it was planning to adopt the Starfighters and other Century-series aircraft in the service, which the USAF had pretty much used up its budget.
So, Grumman had to assemble its Super Tiger Sales team and fly to the US’s allies to reach as many international customers as possible. This era was a critical time for the Allies, where they were looking forward to upgrading from their subsonic fighters, like the F-86 Sabres, to supersonic aircraft. Grumman’s sales team had a solid opportunity to pitch their Super Tigers to the international Allied customers. However, Grumman was not alone in this. Lockheed also already had its sales team assembled to contact international allies to purchase F-104 Starfighters. Lockheed was a serious competitor, and Grumman had to overcome such opposition in the marketing competition.
Between May 1956 and October 1959, Grumman’s Super Tigers in the United States would be visited and flown by pilots from six nations for evaluation.
The German team arrived in February 1957 and first flew the Super Tiger. The aircraft was subjected to being a serious competitor for the German Air Force contract for a new fighter. On the second flight, one of the German pilots came back on land and complained that he could not exceed Mach 1 and accused Grumman of dishonesty regarding the Super Tiger’s performance. However, it was found that the German pilot did not retract the flaps and slats after taking off the Super Tiger into the air. He flew at 700 knots, 405 knots over the structural limits for the flaps and slats. Surprisingly, no damage was made to the aircraft after landing safely, and it was a close call for Grumman. After clarification and further evaluations, the German team changed their opinion about the Super Tiger and regarded it as the best of all the airplanes they had evaluated. However, in October 1958, the F-104G Starfighter was selected for the German Air Force.
The British and the French also evaluated the Super Tiger in 1957-1958, but both these had their domestic aircraft on the way to enter service. Grumman was stricken with misfortune when the French pilot damaged the first Super Tiger prototype in a botched takeoff beyond the repairs. It left Grumman with only the second prototype for demonstrations to other international customers.
The Swiss team arrived in 1957-1959 to fly and evaluate the Super Tiger, with a search for the production of their supersonic aircraft. However, the Swiss Air Force ultimately selected the French Mirage III out of political interest, even though the Super Tiger was their preferred choice.
In 1958, a team of Royal Canadian Air Force pilots visited the Super Tiger to seek a candidate to replace the Sabre Mk.6 with the RCAF. They performed flight tests of the Super Tiger and concluded that the aircraft was an excellent tactical fighter. They recommended the Super Tiger as a suitable replacement for the Sabre to be flown by the pilots who could easily convert from the Sabre aircraft very shortly. However, the Canadian government unlimitedly went with the Starfighter instead.
Grumman had a final possible purchaser of the Super Tiger on the table -the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. In March 1958, The Japanese team visited to test various aircraft in the United States as placement for their F-86F Sabre, and the Super Tiger was not on their radar. One USAF official top staff intervened and encouraged them to try out Grumman’s Super Tiger. After the Japanese team evaluated the aircraft, they concluded it was the best choice for Japan’s needs. It publicly announced in April 1958 that Grumman’s aircraft was its preferred option. Once again, the Japanese team assessed the Super Tiger as the best choice over the F-104 since the Super Tiger was easier to learn and fly and had better agility and more long range. The pending arrangements were in the talking, and it was the time when it was closer to sealing the deal between Grumman and the Japanese, on the verge of signing on the dotted line. However, in November 1960, the Japanese government announced that they chose the F-104J Starfighter instead.
Lockheed secured most of the foreign orders of the F-104 Starfighter, and Grumman lost all chances of landing a foreign order and ultimately abandoned further development on the F11F-1F Super Tiger.
Epilogue
Only two Super Tiger aircraft were built without a production order being placed. The first and damaged aircraft (138646) was used for fire training practice until it was destroyed in the 1980s, and the second, record-breaking aircraft (138647) is still around and is on display at the China Lake Museum in California.
The failure to secure a foreign order was attributed to Grumman’s lack of experience in the international marketing pitch, where Super Tiger’s marketing team was only composed of a handful of test pilots and engineers. In contrast, Lockheed’s marketing team was entirely of salesmen who understood the market better. In the end, Grumman had a combination of bad timing, bad luck, and a fierce competitor.
Politics-wise, from 1975 to 1976, Lockheed was found to have bribed senior government officials in multiple countries from the 1950s to 1970s, including some in the German and Japanese governments at the time of the F-104 decision being taken. This bribery scandal highlighted the real tragedy of Grumman’s failed marketing with its Super Tiger. Had at least one foreign nation purchased and employed the Super Tiger, it might be regarded as the best American export fighter designed for exports compared to the F-104 Starfighter, where the German Air Force and other countries that bought it suffered a high loss rate with the use of the Starfighters. With the test reports and assessment that confirmed the Super Tiger a better choice over the Starfighter, the Super Tiger was considered the best “Might Have Been” or “possibly the best fighter not to get built’ aircraft.
