In message , Henry J.
Cobb writes

Anyway the Air Force already tried adopting a Navy jet fighter that
didn't have a gun and they don't want to go there again.

Yes, it was _embarrassing_ when the Navy was so much more able to turn
"met MiG" into "killed MiG" than the Air Force, even when the Air Force
put guns in their F-4s and the Navy was only using those ineffective,
useless, can't-hit-a-thing "missile" gizmos.

It's a large and extremely complicated subject, but your analysis is
badly off the mark: the F-4 was a very competent aircraft and very few
forces who flew it, regretted doing so: with or without gun fit.

--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk