Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak is an American fighter - bomber aircraft, which in the 1950s was the main strike aircraft of the NATO countries. It was developed as the upgraded version of the F-84E Thunderjet with swept wings, like in the North American F-86 Sabre fighter. The prototype, designated YF-96A first flew on June 3rd, 1950. Test flights had proved, that new, more powerful engine was necessary. The British Bristol Siddiley Sapphire, built in the USA as Curtiss YJ-65-W-1 was chosen. The outbreak of the Korean war revealed the need of new strike aircraft, capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapon. To obtain Congress funding more easily for the development of existing design than a totally new one, the designation was changed to F-84F. The development was plagued with many engine and airframe problems and the first production aircraft entered service in the USAF as late as 1954. Their service was rather short, because the long birth process , combined with rapid development of turbojet aircraft caused, that in the moment of the beginning of its service, the F-84F was no longer a modern aircraft and before the end of the decade it was replaced by aircraft with more advenced equipment and higher performance. Till 1957 a total number of 2348 were built – 2111 by the Republic plant at Farmingdale and 237 by General Motors at Kansas City. The RF-84F Thunderflash photo reconnaissance version was also developed.
The F-84F and RF-84F aircraft were delivered within the Military Assistance Program to European NATO countries. The largest operator was Germany, which operated 450. France purchased 328 aircraft, Belgium 197, the Netherlands 180 and Italy 150. In early 1960s the F-84F were replaced by the supersonic F-104G Starfighter. The subsequent operators were Turkey, which obtained 125 aircraft from Germany and the Netherlands and Greece, which obtained 91. The last F-84F were retired by the Turkish Air Force in 1982.
The only country which used the F-84F and RF-84F in combat was France. During the Suez Crisis in October 1956 France sent to the theatre two squadrons, which operated from the Lydda base in Israel and Akrotiri on Cyprus. Their biggest success was destroying 20 Egyptian Ił-28 bombers in a base near Luxor on November 5th. The French lost one aircraft and pilot. The F-84F took also part in Turkish - Greek clashes over Cyprus, but no information about these operations is available.
Displayed aircraft, number FU-35 was donated by the Belgian Air Force.
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Wingspan: | 10.05 m (32.8 ft) |
Length: | 13.1 m (42,6 ft) |
Take-off weight: | 12,700 kg (27,998 lb) |
Maximum speed: | 1118 km/h (604 kt) |
Service ceiling: | 13,500 m (44,300 ft) |
Range: | 3,724 km (2,010 NM) |
Armament: six 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Browning M3 machine guns (four in the nose and two in the wing roots) and 2,720 kg (6,000 lb) of ordnance (bombs, rockets or fuel tanks) on four underwing pylons. Some USAF aircraft were capable of carrying Mark 7 nuclear bomb with the yield of 1 kiloton |
Powerplant: Wright J-65-W-3 turbojet engine, rated at 32 kN (7,220 lb) or W-7 rated at 34 kN (7,800 lb) |
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