[doorgunner69]

I recall reading years ago about the Israelis refitting F-4 Phantoms with newer engines. Supposedly the old warhorse could suddenly do some amazing things aerobatically.

Never heard anymore about it. Guess a new engine does not make an aging airframe capable of dealing with new capabilities.

[Netz]

Right on. The Israelis did a major upgrade to their F-4 fleet called “Phantom 2000” or in Hebrew, “Koranus”. At the present time, the Phantom has been completely phased out of the IAF. During the War of Attrition (on the Sinai-Egypt front, 1967-1970) F-4’s were used as “flying artillery on deep strikes into the Egyptian heartland. The Egyptian brought in a huge array of SAMs which were used very effectively against the IAF during the 1973 Yom Kippur War...

[sukhoi-30mki]

It’s not as clear-cut as that. The Israelis would have certainly needed the active involvement of McDonnell Douglas if they were to reengine the whole F-4 fleet. And McD was most likely to be lukewarm to such a proposal since they had 2 new aircraft —the F-15 and F-18— to offer for export. A reborn Phantom would have hit sales very hard.