Designed originally as a carrier-borne interceptor armed only with missiles, its beginnings were so promising that the USAF adopted it as a tactical fighter and was quickly followed by an impressive number of other air forces around the world which explains why certain examples are still in service today. The US Navy and the USMC, at the origin of the project used the machine in its four main versions to which were added all the specialised aerial reconnaissance variants.

The evolution of the Phantom goes back to the summer of 1953 when McDonnel gave one of his engineer teams the task of modernising one of its earlier creations : the F3H Demon. In July 1959, the F4H-1 was officially christened Phantom II as a tribute to the McDonnell FH-1, the first American jet plane designed in 1953 and intended to be carrier-borne from the outset.