KnightHawk Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Apologies if this has already been posted. Did a search and couldn't find any results. Anyone know about F-105F operations in the Vietnam War? From 2 aspects really - did they ever operate in NMF or BMF silver finish and did they ever operate in a non SEAD role ie not Wild Weasel and on regular bombing missions alongside F-105D? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Not sure how many were in the combat zone in the look-alike aluminium finish but they certainly flew in camo as Combat Martin GCI jamming platforms (the backseat being replaced by black boxes) and, albeit in the Weasel antenna configuration, as Ryan's Raider night-time interdiction bombers. HTH Tony thierry laurent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wegener Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I don’t think they operated over VN in the aluminium finish but don’t have any books accessible for a few hours. Will check when I get back later. As I recall they were only used for SEAD duties there as the D was adequate for the conventional bombing role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Some F-105Fs were used in regular missions, on Aug 28 1965 F-105F 63-8282 was shot down, the pilot Capt Wesley Schierman was taken POW, the back seat was empty. Jari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I have never seen any doped F-105F used in combat in SEA. The ones that were used were either in standard camo, either in limited use wraparound camo (such as the Ryan's raiders bombers mentioned by Tony). If you want to build a non-SEAD F-105F used in SEA, a Ryan's raiders' one is a nice idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Well, it looks I'm getting older as I just found one in my files that was seemingly not in CONUS when the pictures were shot! However, if that was shot in SEA, this is a rare exception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 The F in Thierry's pics may have been used for theatre familiarisation flights or similar. Agree that a Ryan's Raider is your best option: just bombs and ECM pods Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 There is a 2 seater in the background about to get a load of bombs in this pic: http://www.vfa305.org/F105lineup.jpg Jari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wegener Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 After rummaging in various books I found a statement that the cam scheme replaced the aluminium finish in mid-1965. The first record I can find of the F being deployed on ops in VN was later that year (November, I think), with the Commando Nail programme starting in April 1967. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 You can find a listing of F-105Fs here: http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-105.html a bit of cross referencing should find which ones ended up in SEA. Jari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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