page_title: Republic F-105 Thunderchief
section_title: Vietnam War
hierarchical_section_title: Republic F-105 Thunderchief / Operational history / Vietnam War
caption_attribution_description: Location of the Thud Ridge made famous by the F-105 Thunderchief crews during the Vietnam War
context_page_description: The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was an American supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it was the only American aircraft to have been removed from combat due to high loss rates. Originally designed as a single-seat, nuclear-attack aircraft, a two-seat Wild Weasel version was later developed for the specialized Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses role against surface-to-air missile sites. The F-105 was commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews.
  As a follow-on to the Mach 1 capable North American F-100 Super Sabre, the F-105 was also armed with missiles and a rotary cannon; however, its design was tailored to high-speed low-altitude penetration carrying a single nuclear weapon internally. First flown in 1955, the Thunderchief entered service in 1958. The single-engine F-105 could deliver a greater bomb load than some American heavy bombers of World War II such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
context_section_description: In spite of a troubled early service life, the F-105 became the dominant attack aircraft early in the Vietnam War. The F-105 could carry more than twice the bomb load farther and faster than the F-100, which was used mostly in South Vietnam. In a foreshadowing of its Wild Weasel role, the first F-105D combat mission of the war involved an attack on 14 August 1964 against an anti-aircraft artillery site on Plaine des Jarres. This mission was carried out by aircraft of the 36th TFS, 6441st Tactical Fighter Wing deployed from Yokota Air Base, Japan to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. The first Thunderchief lost in the war also occurred during this mission, although the pilot managed to return the aircraft to Korat. The first strike mission took place on 13 January 1965 with the destruction of the Ben Ken bridge in Laos. In early 1965 additional F-105 squadrons were deployed to Korat and Takhli air bases in Thailand. At the start of Operation Rolling Thunder in March 1965, large numbers of F-105Ds were shipped to these bases to participate in intense bombing missions.
  On 3 April 1965, a total of 79 aircraft, including 45 F-105 Thunderchiefs, were sent against the Thanh Hoa Bridge, nicknamed "Dragon's Jaw". The next day, enemy MiGs were encountered during a second run upon the bridge; a total of eight MiG-17s faced 46 F-105s escorted by a MiGCAP flight of 21 F-100 Super Sabres. The MiG-17s evaded the escorts using altitude and cloud cover, instead focusing upon the bomb-laden Thunderchiefs. Two Thunderchiefs were lost to the MiG-17s; a third, thought to be lost to ground fire, was later claimed by the North as downed by a MiG-17. An F-100 claimed the only probable MiG-17 kill. One F-105 piloted narrowly escaped. USAF Chief of Staff General John P. McConnell was "hopping mad" to hear that two F-105s had been shot down by Korean War-era subsonic North Vietnamese MiGs. The Thanh Hoa Bridge proved resistant to aerial bombing; multiple missions were flown to damage the bridge both by F-105s and U.S. Navy aircraft.
  On 24 July 1965, four U.S. Air Force McDonnell F-4C Phantoms took part in an airstrike against the Dien Ben Phu munitions storage depot and the Lang Chi munitions factory west of Hanoi. One was shot down and three were damaged by SA-2 missiles. After two days, President Johnson gave the order: Attack all known SA-2 positions, which had also been discovered outside the 30-mile exclusion zone. On the morning of 27 July, in 48 F-105s were to participate in the strike, Operation Spring High. But the Vietnamese knew U.S. aircraft were coming and set up many 23mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns at the site. These anti-aircraft guns were lethal at close range and the Vietnamese shot down six aircraft, while more than half of the remaining U.S aircraft suffered damage from ground fire. Both SAM sites were devoid of missiles and equipment, and the Vietnamese had substituted white-painted bundles of bamboo for the fake SA-2s. Operation Spring High had destroyed two worthless targets for the loss of six aircraft and five pilots
  In December 1966, the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF)'s MiG-21 pilots of the 921st Regiment claimed to have downed 14 F-105s without any losses.
  On a typical combat mission into North Vietnam, the F-105D carried two 450 US gal (1,700 L) wing-mounted fuel tanks, a 390 US gal (1,500 L) fuel tank in the bomb bay, and five 1,000 lb (450 kg) or six 750 lb (340 kg) bombs, and required inflight refueling going to and sometimes returning from Hanoi 700 mi (1,100 km) distant. F-105s flying in the vicinity of Hanoi would routinely travel around mountainous terrain nicknamed Thud Ridge to evade the air defenses surrounding the city. Colonel Jack Broughton, an F-105 pilot in Vietnam, noted the demands of flying close to Hanoi gave "simply no room for error".
  On 11 August 1967, F-105Ds from 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron with support from F-105 Wild Weasels from 338th Tactical Fighter Squadron made the first of many successful attacks on the Paul Doumer bridge over the Red River. Flying low-altitude missions and
caption: Location of the Thud Ridge (21°16′47″N 105°49′37″E﻿ / ﻿21.27972°N 105.82694°E﻿ / 21.27972; 105.82694) and the MiG airfield on its southern tip
exif: {}