meanwhile in the joint american-german fighter project, a decision is made to use the same engines and avionics as the f-4 phantom ii and build a rudimentary fly-by-wire system, similar to that seen in Avro's CF-105. The design team decides to emphasize the air superiority role of the joint fighter now since the phantom fills the fighter-bomber role.
the west german luftwaffe begins replacing their thunderstreaks with phantoms, a modified variant with an internal 20mm rotary cannon and leading edge slats