the only thing wrong with the phantoms(besides the splitting fuel tank problem) was the early ones, which lacked a gun. the govt. fixed that.
Technically the government <US Navy> broke it in the first place

The original design was supposed to
mount 4 20mm cannon, but the squids decided to go all missile instead. To give them their due, they stuck to
their no gun policy, even after the E model became available in 1967
