Israeli Modification to F-4 Inboard Pylon

I came across a very interesting piece of information recently, and it took me quite a while to track it down and verify it.  But finally, I purchased Double Ugly's fantastic books Israeli Phantoms vol 1 & 2 and found pictures and information to verify what I had heard.

It seems that the IAF had problems carrying the Popeye missile or the Rafael Tadmit when the AN/ALE-40 Chaff and Flare dispensers were mounted on the pylon sides.  The fins interfered with the AN/ALE-40 operation.  So they made a new pylon that would move the MAU-12 ejector rack forward so the fins would clear the AN/ALE-40.
Sounds simple enough, but they couldn't leave the MAU-12 in the forward position when carrying conventional munitions because it moved the center of gravity too far forward.

So this was their solution:

A pylon that was longer and mounted the MAU-12 farther forward for the missiles, but that also had the ability to move the MAU-12 back to the original (normal) position for other weapon loads.  So here are what the pylons would look like with the MAU-12 in either position.


Here is the MAU-12 in the forward position for carrying the Popeye or Tadmit weapons.



Here is the MAU-12 in the aft (or normal) position for all other weapons.

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References:

1. Drawings (c) by Kim Simmelink
2. Israeli Phantoms - The 'Kurnass' in IDF/AF Service - 1969-1988, by Andreas Klein & Shlomo Aloni
3. Israeli Phantoms - The 'Kurnass' in IDF/AF Service - 1989 until Today, by Andreas Klein & Shlomo Aloni

Revisions:

10/26/2013 - Original Post