Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "The Vought F8U-3 Crusader III; So Good it Almost Beat the F-4 Phantom!" video.

  1. The F-14, F-15, and F-16 were all originally designed to be single-role, and turned out to be readily adaptable to other roles. Had the Crusader III entered service, I can't imagine it would've taken long to start strapping bombs under the wings too. No, it still wouldn't have been able to carry as many as the F-4 Phantom could. But that doesn't necessarily matter, because being both cheaper and physically smaller, you'd be able to have more Crusader IIIs on each carrier.
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  2. I tend to think that the XF8U-3 would've ended up with plenty of multirole capability anyway had it entered service. The basic Crusader in later models gained a pair of underwing hardpoints for a 2,000lb bomb or a Bullpup AGM. The Crusader III had larger wings (4'3" longer wingspan and 20% more wing area), and as such I imagine it would've been easy enough to add at least 4 underwing hardpoints for the Crusader III.
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