The F-89 was a twin-engine, all-weather fighter-interceptor designed to locate, intercept, and destroy enemy aircraft by day or night under all types of weather conditions. It carried a pilot in the forward cockpit and a radar operator in the rear who guided the pilot into the proper attack position. The first F-89 made its initial flight in August 1948 and deliveries to the Air Force began in July 1950. Northrop produced 1,050 F-89s.
On 19 July 1957, a Genie test rocket was fired from an F-89J, the first time in history that an air-to-air rocket with a nuclear warhead was launched and detonated. Â Three hundred and fifty F-89Ds were converted to J models which became the Air Defense Command’s first fighter-interceptor to carry nuclear armament.
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center was responsible for all communications and fire control systems on the F-89. Â The Scorpion on display was delivered to the USAF in February 1955 and delivered to the 63rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. Â It served with various units before being retired from the 119th Fighter Group (ANG) at Fargo, North Dakota in 1966. Â It was delivered to the Museum in 1983 for display.