MILITARY · HISTORICAL MARKER
F-89J “Scorpion”
Robins AFB, Georgia
· Aircraft Collection
Military
1
Northrop's F-89 was a twin-engine, all-weather fighter-interceptor designed to locate, intercept, and destroy enemy aircraft by day or night under all types of weather conditions. It carried a pilot in the forward cockpit and a radar operator in the rear who guided the pilot into the proper attack position. The first F-89 made its initial flight in August 1948, and deliveries to the Air Force began in July 1950. Northrop produced 1,050 F-89s. On 19 July 1957, a Genie test rocket was fired from an F-89J, the first time in history that an air-to-air rocket with a nuclear warhead was launched and detonated. Three hundred and fifty F-89Ds were converted to J models, which became the Air Defense Command's first fighter-interceptor to carry nuclear armament. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center was responsible for all communications and fire control systems on the F-89. The Scorpion on display was delivered to the USAF in February 1955 and delivered to the 63nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. It served with various units before being retired from the 119th Fighter Group (ANG) at Fargo, North Dakota, in 1966.
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