Despite a turbulent beginning, the McDonnell F3H Demon was a relatively successful fighter and ground attack aircraft which helped bridge the gap between first generation jets like the Banshee and the modern F-4. Unlike its predecessors, the Demon incorporated a swept wing and afterburning engines although the aircraft was not able to achieve supersonic speeds at first. Engine problems at the start led to the aircraft being woefully underpowered and as a consequense, it had poor overall stability to the point that the first batch of Demons never flew! Fortunately, a new Allison J71 engine was eventually installed and the resulting aircraft proved far superior and orered into production as missile-armed fighters and strike platforms. The F3H flew with up to 11 US Navy squadrons before being retired in 1964 in favor of the F-4 and without ever having seen combat.

The prototype XF3H-1 had its maiden flight on 7 August 1951 and was ordered into production as the F3H-1N which unfortunately never even flew due to the aforementioned engine liabilites. A revised variant became the F3H-2N which also included missile armament in place of guns (a few F3H-1Ns were converted to -2N standard). Other types included the F3H-2M with Sparrow missiles and the definitive F3H-2 strike fighter with considerable attack capabilities. Post-1962 redesignation of Demon variants resulted as follows: F-3B (F3H-2), MF-3B (-2M), and the F-3C (-2N).