McDonnell Douglas F-4EN Phantom II - Hävittäjälentolaivue 31, Ilmavoimat, 1974
During the late 1960's McDonnell Douglas realised that the fast-falling unit price of the Phantom could open up more export opportunities for the F-4 especially in downgraded and/or lightweight versions. A study into a single-seat export version of the new baseline F-4E called the F-4EF was initially proposed for the West German Luftwaffe before they sensibly adopted the two-seat F-4F and McDonnell Douglas then re-focused their efforts on a spin-off version of the F-4F for export with limited offensive capability and designed for air defence only. Designated F-4EN (believed to have initially stood for F-4E for neutral countries but subsequently changed to F-4E for Nordic countries) McDonnell Douglas initially pitched the F-4EN to Finland and were rewarded with a contract for 72 aircraft the first of which entered service with HävLLv 31 in 1972.