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A heavy fighter-bomber, sometimes referred to as the “Thud”, built by the Republic aircraft company and designed for tactical bombing. It was the mainstay of the U.S. bombing force in the early part of the [[Vietnam War]]. The F-105 could carry up to 12,000 lb of bombs or a nuclear payload, and carried an internal Vulcan 20 mm cannon that fired at a rate of 6000 rounds/minute. The internal gun set it apart from most other American fighters of the era, such as the [[F-4|Phantom]], which carried only missiles. It was powered by a single Pratt & Whitney turbojet engine that allowed it a top speed of over Mach 2 in level flight.<ref>Fast Movers, by John Darrell Sherwood, St. Martin’s Press, 1999</ref>
A single-seat, heavy fighter-bomber, sometimes referred to as the “Thud”, built by the Republic aircraft company and designed for tactical bombing. It was the mainstay of the U.S. bombing force in the early part of the [[Vietnam War]]. The F-105 could carry up to 12,000 lb of bombs or a nuclear payload, and carried an internal Vulcan 20 mm cannon that fired at a rate of 6000 rounds/minute. The internal gun set it apart from most other American fighters of the era, such as the [[F-4|Phantom]], which carried only missiles. It was powered by a single Pratt & Whitney turbojet engine that allowed it a top speed of over Mach 2 in level flight.<ref>''Fast Movers'', by John Darrell Sherwood, St. Martin’s Press, 1999</ref>
In response to the losses in [[Operation Rolling Thunder|Rolling Thunder]] to North Vietnamese SAM batteries, some Thuds were modified as SAM-site killers, with a second seat in the back and missiles that homed in on enemy radar. The pilots of these planes were called Wild Weasels.
==References==
==References==
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==Links==
==Links==
[[Category:Aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft]]
[[Category:United States Air Force]]
[[Category:United States Air Force]]
[[Category:Vietnam War]]