Bill Silvey wrote:


It was somewhere during the late 'sixties/early 'seventies, as
part of the almost never-ending quest for an F-106 replacement.
`Considered
putting it back into production' is a bit of a stretch, but at
the time North American Rockwell proposed a derivative of the Vigilante,
with a third engine inserted between (and slightly above) the
two already installed, fed by two dorsal intakes. I have an artist's
impression of the thing (in Planes of Fame 19) in USAF markings
and armed with 6 Phoenix-like missiles (no less) under the fuselage.
If built it would have been quite a beast.


Aha, Hughes Missile Systems strikes again. During that timeframe
I'm going to take a WAG and say that this was mayhap the AIM-45
(not -54) precursor to the Phoenix. Or perhaps it was Phoenix
itself.

Were they thinking about a whole redesign (e.g., redesigned for
land-versus-carrier
use undercarriage, without tow bar etc.) or just painting USAF on
the fins?


I've found an artist's impression on the following page:
http://www.vectorsite.net/ava5.html
(close to the bottom)
It seems like it's a rather extensive redesign.
Apparently two versions were proposed: one in the late `sixties
involving a rocket engine in place of the Vigilante's weapons' /camera
bay and the one I referred to and which is pictured in the above
mentioned page,
fitted with three J-79 engines. This dates back
to 1972 and at least according to the web site, the missile intended
for it was the actual AIM-54 Phoenix, and not one of its older
siblings/ predecessors.

Regards,
Ralph Savelsberg