Call me a phantom purist if you will but at some point it becomes a new design and not a Phantom 2. Russ has a work in progress of a phantom 3 which is a redesigned single seat air superiority fighter. he has not shown an update of it in some time.
To me the phantom is a big brute force interceptor and rather than trying to make turn like an F-16 I would build on its strong points and rectify its weaknesses. I have highly modified the F-4S, added P&W 1120 engines, modern hud, modern radar/avionics, weapons laser designator, decoys ect. It is my favorite aircraft to fly in the third wire sky's Bar None. The only enemy aircraft that really scare me when I fly this beast are large flights of SU-27's or getting jumped by modernized Mig-17's
while I'm fighting other opponents. This thing can supercruise , accelerates like a rocket, has a great climb rate, has an improved turn radius, lower fuel consumption and improved BVR/ AHM capabilities. It does everything that the Boeing Super phantom
project promised. Even with all these improvements this plane Fights in the vertical, you just cant bring your nose on target like you can in an eagle. That said I get way more satisfaction out of fighting in my super phantom than I do in the Eagle or the Viper
or Hornet.
What I would like to see is an updated modern cockpit for the super phantom much like an F-18 cockpit and a one piece windscreen and a way to add said windscreen to the F-4 models