F-105F "Thunderchief"
The F-105F had a number of new features. These included a higher tail fin and a 31 inch longer fuselage to accommodate a second cockpit. The heavier (by 2,000 lb) F-105E retained many features of the D, including the air refueling probe drogue and boom receptacle of later ones. A transfer system in the F-105E allowed each crew member to monitor or control all or any of the aircraft's subsystems.
Republic received $8 million to convert the last 143 single place F105Ds in production to dual place F-105Fs. The first flight was in 1963, and the majority of the squadron was sent to Korea. The F-105F was in active service until the mid 70s.
The first flight of the F-105F took place earlier than expected on 11 June 1963. The aircraft reached a speed of 1.15 Mach.
The F-105F entered operational service with TAC's 4th Tactical Fighter Wing on 23 December 1963 at Seymour Johnson AFB.
As a development of the F-105D, the F-105F did not require an extensive testing program. Category I tests, initiated in mid 1963, were completed in July 1964; Category II tests, 1 month later.
Because of similarity between the two aircraft, the F-105F experienced all of the F-105D's problems. Both received the safety modifications and improvements dictated by their common SEA mission. In addition, like the F-105D and several other tactical aircraft, the F-105E was modified to increase its capability to attack as well as avoid the North Vietnamese SAM and AAD radar sites. The radar homing and warning modification, started in late 1965, primarily involved the replacement of the AN/APS107 with the improved AN/APR-25-26.
Eighty six of the RHAW equipped F-105F aircraft were included in the Wild Weasel program initiated in 1965 to improve the Air Force's electronic warfare capability. The modification, first applied to the F-100F, was extended to the F-105F in January 1966, because of the appearance of a growing number of Russian built SA-2 Guideline missiles in North Vietnam. Thirteen modified F-105Fs, deployed to SEA in the summer of 1966, were joined by 10 others in the ensuing 3 months. The Wild Weasel III modification (F-105 aircraft, only) was completed in March 1968, 1 month after completion of an additional modification which enabled 14 of the 86 aircraft to launch Standard Arm Mod 0 missiles. Almost concurrently, a new modification was directed, which at first only involved 16 other Wild Weasel F-105Fs. Beginning in November 1968 these aircraft were modified so they could fire the new AGM 78B missile, an improved version of the Standard Arm. In spite of engineering difficulties, the modification of the 16 aircraft was completed in June 1969. In September of the same year this modification (plus other improvements) was programmed for 60 Wild Weasel F-105Fs that would be redesignated F-105Gs.
The aircraft did extensive and diversified work overseas. For example, five of the first 16 Wild Weasel F-105Fs, scheduled for SEA in the summer of 1966, arrived there in mid April. Another six (from the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing) left Nellis AFB for Osan AB, Korea, on 28 January 1968, following North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo. Again, 12 F-105Gs (modified F 105F Wild Weasels from TAG's 23d TFW) joined in Constant Guard I, the first of several USAF deployments to SEA in the spring of 1972. These aircraft left McConnell AFB for Korat in April.
The Air Force took delivery of the last F-105F in January 1965.
The Air Force accepted 143. More than one third of this total were brought up to the F-105G configuration.
One F-105E was accepted in FY 63, 83 in FY 64, and 59 in FY 65.
The Flyaway Cost Per Production Aircraft was $2.2 million-airframe, $1,524,000; engine (installed), $290,000; electronics, $251,000; armament, $154,000; ordnance, $21,000.
The Air Force lost many of its F-105Fs. The modification and redesignation of about 60 others nearly exhausted the entire inventory. In mid 1973, only 17 F-105Fs still flew with the Air Force, 12 with the Guard. Forty eight F-105Gs (reconfigured F105Fs) were in the active inventory. The Air Force intended to transfer these aircraft to the Reserve Forces beginning in mid 1975 if F-41s were available for replacement.
F-105G
The F-105G was a modified F-105F. This aircraft featured an internally mounted jamming system, an AGM-78 Standard anti-radiation capability, a new combat event recorder, and other improvements. The Air Force planned an F-105G fleet of 60 but missed its goal by several aircraft (about 1/3 of the 143 F-105Fs produced were modified to F-105Gs).
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