The Flickr Sead Image Generatr

6-33 Italian Air Force Panavia A-200C Tornado IDS MLU c/n 345/IS038/5048 MM7039
6-74 Italian Air Force Panavia EA-200C Tornado IT-ECR MLU RET8 c/n 492/ECR02/5072 MM7062

Italian Air Force AMX Phase Out, Istrana
51-23 Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000A Typhoon MM7323 c/n IS055
32-10 Italian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II MM7369 (AL-10)
6-43 Italian Air Force Panavia EA-200C Tornado IT-ECR MLU RET8 c/n 520/5077 MM70566

Italian Air Force AMX Phase Out, Istrana
RS-20 Italian Air Force AMX International TA-11B Ghibli (AMX-T ACOL) CSX55034 c/n IT009
51-46 Italian Air Force AMX International A-11B Ghibli (AMX ACOL) MM7197 c/n IX109
51-81 Italian Air Force AMX International TA-11B Ghibli (AMX-T ACOL) MM55043 c/n IT018
51-82 Italian Air Force AMX International TA-11B Ghibli (AMX-T ACOL) MM55044 c/n IT019
51-23 Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000A Typhoon MM7323 c/n IS055
32-10 Italian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II MM7369 (AL-10)
6-43 Italian Air Force Panavia EA-200C Tornado IT-ECR MLU RET8 c/n 520/5077 MM70566

Italian Air Force AMX Phase Out, Istrana
51-23 Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000A Typhoon MM7323 c/n IS055
32-10 Italian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II MM7369 (AL-10)
6-43 Italian Air Force Panavia EA-200C Tornado IT-ECR MLU RET8 c/n 520/5077 MM70566

VAQ-144 Boeing EA-18G Growler running the VR1355 low fly area hear Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.

VAQ-144 Boeing EA-18G Growler running the VR1355 low fly area hear Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.

VAQ-144 Boeing EA-18G Growler running the VR1355 low fly area hear Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.

As was the case with many high-performance fighters, the F-105 Thunderchief had a two-seater conversion trainer variant, the F-105F. This was especially necessary given the flying characteristics of the Thunderchief, which could be daunting to a new pilot. While the “Thud” was fast, it was not as maneuverable compared to other aircraft of the Century Series, which could come as a lethal surprise to pilots used to the F-100 Super Sabres or F-106 Delta Darts. Moreover, its radar was complex and required training. As a result, the last 143 F-105s to come off the Republic assembly line were two-seaters. Except for a three-foot extension of the fuselage to accommodate a second cockpit and a slightly larger tail, they were otherwise identical to the definitive F-105D variant, including performance and armaments. However, their primary role was converting new pilots to the single-seat F-105D; the F-105F was meant to be fully combat capable. Even though visibility from the rear cockpit was very limited, everything in the front seat was reproduced in the second, and the backseater had its own flight controls and radar.

This would prove prescient: as combat losses of single-seater Thunderchiefs climbed in Vietnam, two-seaters were soon pressed into combat duties. Initially, the handful of F-105Fs assigned to Thud units in Southeast Asia were used in the same role as the F-105Ds as attack aircraft. However, having a second person in the back to take some of the load off the pilot soon opened up different roles for the two-seaters.

By far, however, the most ambitious was Project Wild Weasel II. The surface-to-air missile sites in North Vietnam, first detected in April of 1965, had shown their lethality soon after becoming operational. To this point, above 15,000 feet, American aircraft were largely safe from North Vietnamese defenses, but the SA-2 Guideline missile was effective to 50,000 feet and had a slant range enough to force slower aircraft such as the EB-66 Destroyers out of North Vietnamese airspace. Both the U.S. Navy and USAF had attempted to destroy the SAM sites before they became operational, but Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara had refused to allow the strikes, dubiously citing the possibility of killing Soviet and Chinese advisers and broadening the war. Faced with the dilemma of having to attack the SAM sites after they fired and provide early warning to strike packages that SAM radars were locking onto them, the USAF began formally training for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), codenamed Wild Weasel. Initially, the two-seat F-100F Super Sabre had been modified for the SEAD role, but it neither had the speed to survive over North Vietnam nor the ordnance capacity needed for the role. The logical next move for the USAF was to modify the F-105Fs, as it had everything the Wild Weasels required to do their job and survive.

Under Project Wild Weasel II, the F-105F received radar warning equipment and specialized sensors designed to detect the emissions of North Vietnamese radar, especially Fansong SAM guidance radars and Firecan antiaircraft gun directors. The crews were handpicked for Wild Weasel training, with the backseater usually a navigator specially trained in detecting and breaking out different radar signals. Wild Weasel F-105Fs usually carry ALQ-89 ECM pods to jam North Vietnamese radars and two AGM-45 Shrike antiradar missiles. During a “typical” SEAD mission, one or two Weasels would scout ahead of the main force, waiting for SAM radar controllers to “come up,” switching on their Fansongs. If a threat to the force was detected, the Weasel could fire a Shrike at the radar. If the Fansong remained on, the Shrike would home in and destroy it; if the radar was switched off, it was no longer a threat. Once a SAM site was spotted—usually when it launched—the Weasel could direct accompanying F-105Ds to strafe and bomb it.

It was an extremely dangerous job: not only were the Weasels literally asking to get shot at—experienced crews often baited SAM sites into firing on them first rather than the force—the SAM sites were usually heavily defended by antiaircraft guns; there was also the usual hazards of flying over North Vietnam, the most heavily guarded spot on earth during the Vietnam years. It became a game of cat-and-mouse between veterans, the Wild Weasels versus the SAM crews, the latter quickly learning the limitations of the Shrike and knowing the limited number of F-105Fs. Casualties were heavy: of the initial batch of 12 F-105Fs and their crews that arrived in Southeast Asia in June of 1966, only two remained by October. Wild Weasel crews suffered heavy casualties for the duration of the Vietnam War: attrition rates were high enough that completing a 100-mission tour over North Vietnam was considered highly problematic.

Surviving F-105Fs were modified beginning in 1967 to F-105G Wild Weasel III standards. This incorporated improved radar warning receivers, internal ALQ-105 ECM equipment that replaced the pods, and the capability to launch the AGM-78 Standard ARM; unlike the Shrike, which would fly into the ground if the radar signal was switched off, the Standard ARM would memorize the radar’s location and destroy it even if the radar was turned off. The F-105Gs proved very effective, but the simple fact was that the USAF was running out of Thunderchief airframes. As a result, though the F-105G would serve the balance of the Vietnam War, it was phased out after 1973 in favor of the F-4G Phantom II. Out of 143 F-105Fs built, 38 of which were lost in combat. Most of the remaining survivors were scrapped after American involvement in Vietnam ceased, but there are 32-two-seater “Thuds” that still survive in museums today.

Like all F-105Gs, 62-4427 started out as an F-105F and spent the first half of its career as a conversion trainer with the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina, and the 57th Tactical Weapons Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada. In 1972, she was modified to F-105G standards and was sent to Vietnam as part of Operation Linebacker, serving with the 23rd TFW at Korat RTAFB, Thailand. She returned home later that year and finished her career with the 35th TFW at George AFB, California, training future "Wild Weasels"—hence the "WW" tail code. She was retired from service in 1980 and donated to the Pima Air and Space Museum in 1984.

BuNo 62-4427 is another fantastic cosmetic restoration done by Pima and wears the standard USAF Southeast Asia camouflage but with later subdued tail codes. Pima has even chosen to give the aircraft the best version of shark mouths carried by the F-105s, which makes her look positively predatory.

Secretaria SEAD

Italian Air Force AMX Phase Out, Istrana
RS-20 Italian Air Force AMX International TA-11B Ghibli (AMX-T ACOL) CSX55034 c/n IT009
51-46 Italian Air Force AMX International A-11B Ghibli (AMX ACOL) MM7197 c/n IX109
51-81 Italian Air Force AMX International TA-11B Ghibli (AMX-T ACOL) MM55043 c/n IT018
51-82 Italian Air Force AMX International TA-11B Ghibli (AMX-T ACOL) MM55044 c/n IT019
51-23 Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000A Typhoon MM7323 c/n IS055
32-10 Italian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II MM7369 (AL-10)
6-43 Italian Air Force Panavia EA-200C Tornado IT-ECR MLU RET8 c/n 520/5077 MM70566

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD

Secretaria SEAD