Standard armament for the fighter became the American staple of 6 x 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) Browning M3 Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) and all were installed at the upper nose section. In addition to this, the little fighter could carry upwards of 6,000lb of ordnance, mainly in the form of mainly rockets and conventional drop bombs under the wings. Fuel tanks could be affixed at each wing root for increased operational ranges as needed.
The first F-84F Thunderstreak was taken into American service on December 3rd, 1952 but, like other Thunderjet / Thunderstreaks before them, the type suffered from several issues including handling. An "all-moving" tail was introduced to help with controlling and items like this are what delayed the formal introduction of the F-models until 1954.
As built, the F-84F held a single crewman under a lightly framed canopy aft of the nose intake. Overall length of the airframe reached 43.4 feet with a wingspan of 33.7 feet and a height of 14.4 feet. Empty weight was near-14,000lb against an MTOW of 28,000lb. Maximum speed was 695 miles-per-hour with a range out to 810 miles (twin drop tanks fitted), a service ceiling of 46,000 feet (requiring cockpit pressurization), and a rate-of-climb equal to 8,200 feet-per-minute.
Beyond its major global operator being the USAF, the primary recipient of the new jet-powered fighter became many of America's NATO allies in Europe. This included the Belgian, West German, and Netherlands air forces which began receiving the type as soon as the early part of 1955 (about 852 of the total Thunderstreak production lot found their way to NATO forces in Europe). The final Thunderstreak was delivered during August of 1957. After their usefulness had expired, ex-West German F-84s were sold off to allies Greece and Turkey while the USAF sent their own expiring stock to recipients in Europe and, more locally, to the Air National Guard (ANG). The latter received their Thunderstreaks beginning in July of 1964 and operated them into November of 1971.
Beyond this, the F-84F line produced a pair of XF-84H prototypes fitted with Allison XT40-A-1 turboprop engines and tested under the name of "Thunderscreech" - though these prototypes were not advanced. The YF-84J mark, of which two were built to the standard, were given enlarged nose intakes for better airflow to their General Electric J73 turbojet engine. Flown to a speed of Mach 1.09 on April 7th, 1954, this F-84F potential production standard aircraft was also not advanced.
Beyond the stated operators of the Thunderstreak line, customers also included Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, and Taiwan. Italy flew their Thunderstreaks into 1974. A number of the aircraft remain preserved all over the world at various indoor and outdoor displays - with most survivors located in the United States.
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