USAF 4925 TG (A) Republic F-84F Thunderstreak

Additional Information:

The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was a swept-wing turbojet-powered fighter-bomber built by Republic Aviation in 1948. The RF-84F Thunderflash was the photo reconnaissance version of the aircraft. The design was originally intended to be a relatively simple upgrade to the F-84 Thunderjet ,the first jet fighter capable of carrying a tactical nuclear weapon, to make it more competitive with the F-86 Sabre by the use of a swept-wing and tail. Given the small number of changes, it was assigned the next model letter in the F-84 series, F. The prototypes demonstrated a number of performance and handling issues, which resulted in marginal improvement over the previous versions. Production was repeatedly delayed and another run of the straight-wing Thunderjets were completed as the G models.

The last production F-84E’s were fitted with a swept tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading edge sweep and a J35-A-25 engine producing 5,300 pound-force of thrust. The aircraft was designated the XF-96A. It first flew on June 3, 1950 and although the airplane was capable of 693 mph the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor. Regardless of the testing the aircraft was ordered into production in July of 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak.

The F-84F was retired from active service with the US Air Force in 1964 and replaced by the North American F-100 Super Sabre. The RF-84F was replaced by the RF-101 Voodoo in some USAF units and was relegated to duty in the Air National Guard (ANG). The last RF-84F Thunderflash retired from the ANG in 1971.

The 4925th Test Group was a United States Air Force unit that was last assigned to the 4901st Support Wing (Atomic), at Kirtland Air Force Base, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Designated the 4925th Test Group (Atomic) on 1 July 1951, the unit was known as the “The Megaton Blasters”, and was responsible for the developmental flight testing of all USAF nuclear weapon delivery systems including conducting live test drops from 1951 through 1956. Following 1956 the 4925th focused on operational methods and equipment for delivering nuclear weapons. It was shut down on August 31, 1961 after it was inactivated by the Air Force Systems Command. The components of the 4925th’s mission were distributed among other units.

A Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, 52-6571, was assigned to the 4925th Test Group (A) at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque New Mexico in 1952 to receive weapons suitability tests.

There had been many other F-84F’s that have landed at Kirtland AFB during the aircrafts service. Two photos below shows an RF-84F Thunderflash photo reconnaissance version with camera’s mounted in the nose.

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