Editing Convair F-102 Delta Dagger (section)

===Further development===
[[File:Convair TF-102A Delta Dagger on lakebed.png|thumb|upright|left|A TF-102A, illustrating the widened cockpit]]

The production F-102A had the Hughes MC-3 FCS, which was later upgraded in service to the MG-10; it was used to locate enemy targets, steer interception courses, and control weapons deployment.<ref name = "Becker p.77">Becker 2012, p. 77.</ref> The F-102 was the first USAF fighter to be designed without a gun, instead relying on missiles as its primary armament.<ref name = "Becker p.76"/> It had a three-segment internal weapons bay under the fuselage for [[air-to-air missile]]s. Initial armament was three pairs of [[AIM-4 Falcon|GAR-1/2/3/4]] (''Later re-designated as AIM-4'') Falcon missiles, which included both [[infrared homing]] and [[semi-active radar homing]] variants. The doors of the two forward bays each had tubes for 12 [[Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket]]s (for a total of 24 "FFAR", with initially 2&nbsp;in (51&nbsp;mm) being fitted and later 2.75&nbsp;in (70&nbsp;mm) replacing them.<ref name = "Becker p.7677">Becker 2012, pp. 76-77.</ref> The F-102 was later upgraded to allow the carrying of up to two [[AIM-26 Falcon|GAR-11/AIM-26]] Nuclear Falcon missiles in the center bay.<ref name = "Becker p.8485">Becker 2012, pp. 84-85.</ref> The larger size of this weapon required redesigned center bay doors with no rocket tubes. Plans were considered to fit the [[AIR-2|MB-1 Genie]] nuclear rocket to the design, but although a Genie was test fired from a YF-102A in May 1956, it was never adopted.<ref name="Pea p34"/><ref name = "Becker p.85">Becker 2012, p. 85.</ref>

[[File:Convair F-102A MC-3 fire control system mock-up 060922-F-1234S-038.jpg|thumb|Hughes MC-3 fire control system and radar antenna]]
The F-102 received several major modifications during its operational lifetime, with most airframes being retrofitted with [[infra-red search and track]]ing systems, [[radar warning receiver]]s, transponders, backup [[artificial horizon]]s, and improvements to the [[fire control system]].<ref name="Taylor">"Taylor 1995, pp. 92–93.</ref><ref name = "Becker p.7879">Becker 2012, pp. 78-79.</ref> A proposed close-support version (never built) would have incorporated an internal [[Gatling gun]], and an extra two [[hardpoint]]s for bombs, supplementing the two underwing pylons all production F-102s were fitted with for [[drop tank]]s (the use of which reduced the craft to subsonic performance<ref>{{cite web|last1=Baugher|first1=Joseph F.|title=Convair F-102A Delta Dagger|url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/f102_1.html|website=JoeBaugher.com|publisher=Joseph F. Baugher|access-date=8 February 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105182346/http://joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/f102_1.html |archive-date=2010-11-05 }}</ref>).  To alleviate this, bigger internal fuel tanks and an [[in-flight-refueling]] probe were fitted.<ref name="Taylor"/> 

In response to a USAF request for a specialized twin-seat trainer, Convair begun development of the TF-102A in April 1952.<ref name = "Becker p.79">Becker 2012, p. 79.</ref> The side-by-side seating design, popularized in the 1950s (and used with the American [[Cessna T-37]], British [[Hawker Hunter]] T.7 and [[English Electric Lightning]] T.4, among others), would require a redesign of the cockpit and a nose almost as wide as that of a Convair 340 commercial airliner. Development was put on hold despite being authorized on 16 April 1953 until issues with the fighter model were sufficiently addressed; the first firm order for the TF-102A was issued in July 1954, and a maiden flight made on 8 November 1955.<ref name = "Becker p.7980">Becker 2012, pp. 79-80.</ref> The new nose introduced buffeting, the source of which was traced to the bulbous canopy. Vortex generators were added to the top of the canopy to prevent the buffet which had started at about Mach 0.72.<ref name = "Schmidt p.95">Schmidt 1997, p. 95.</ref><ref name = "Becker p.81">Becker 2012, p. 81.</ref> The intake ducts were revised as the inlets were repositioned. Despite the many changes, the aircraft was combat-capable, although this variant was predictably slower, reaching only subsonic speeds in level flight.<ref>Gunston 1981, p. 26.</ref> A total of 111 TF-102As were eventually manufactured.<ref name = "Becker p.8182">Becker 2012, pp. 81-82.</ref> 

The numerous inherent design and technical limitations of the F-102 led to a proposed successor, initially known as the F-102B "Ultimate Interceptor". The improved design, in which the proposed Curtiss-Wright J67 jet engine was eventually replaced by a [[Pratt & Whitney J75]], underwent so many aerodynamic changes (including variable-geometry inlets) that it essentially became an entirely new aircraft and hence was redesignated and produced as the F-106 Delta Dart. Convair would also use a delta wing design in the Mach&nbsp;2 class [[Convair B-58 Hustler]] bomber.