F-89H "Scorpion"
New features to the F-89H included the E-9 fire control system, redesigned wing tip pods, each carrying three Falcons (Hughes GAR-1, -2, -3, or -4 air-to-air missiles) and 21 folding fin aerial rockets (FFAR), and up to six more FFARs carried under the wings.
The first recipient of the F-89H was ADC's 445th FIS at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan in March, 1956. This was more than 2 years after the date originally set for operational employment of the Falcon-equipped F-89. The F-89H was the final production version of the Scorpion, as the F-89J was simply a modified F-89D.
A total of 156 F-89Hs were accepted between 1955 and 1957.
The delay in converting the F-89 to missile armament doomed the F-89H to a short operational life because the F-102A, which also mounted Falcon missiles and offered performance superior to that of the F-89H, was nearly ready by the time the F-89H became available. The F-89Hs began reaching the ANG in November 1957, first replacing F-89Ds of the Guard's 123d FIS at Portland, Oregon. Only 21 F-89Hs remained in the ADC inventory by the middle of 1959, and these had disappeared by the following September.
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