Affectionately called “Thud” by its crews the Thunderchief was the first supersonic tactical fighter-bomber developed from scratch rather then from an earlier design. The F-105 was selected over the F-107 for production in a fly-off competition. The F-105F is a slightly larger two-seat version of the F-105 introduced in 1963. Both cockpits are virtually identical and the aircraft can be flown from either one. The addition of the second crewman was intended to reduce the workload on the individual crewmen. The F-105F was adapted to the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), or “Wild Weasel” mission in 1965. This mission involves the very dangerous job of attracting the attention of enemy air defenses, in particular that of radar-guided surface-to-air missiles so that the aircraft can locate and destroy the ground radars. The F-105G is a modified and improved F-105F that was introduced in 1967. The F-105G were retired from the Air National Guard in 1983.
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