[Poohbah]

Why the recall of the US fighters? One poster mentioned it was because they had nukes. Come on, as if this is all they were armed with? What about cannon?

They were F-4B Phantom IIs. No cannon--the Department of Defense had believed all the hype about "push-button beyond-visual-range air combat."

And in those days, once the carrier got east of Malta, it was a SIOP asset, and the alert birds were nuclear-armed.

[americanSoul]

They were F-4B Phantom IIs. No cannon--the Department of Defense had believed all the hype about "push-button beyond-visual-range air combat."

So does that mean some kinda missiles? If so, then they should have been able to hit within visual range also, no?

I just find it hard to believe that all they had was nukes. How would they defend themselves against air attack?