Commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews, the Republic F-105 Thunderchief was a single-seat supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. As a follow-on to the Mach 1 F-100, the F-105 was also armed with missiles and a cannon; however, its design was tailored to high-speed low-altitude penetration carrying a single nuclear bomb internally. First flown in 1955, the Thunderchief entered service in 1958. As the largest single-engine fighter ever employed by the USAF, the single-seat F-105 would be adapted to deliver a greater iron bomb load than the four-engine ten-man strategic bombers of World War II.

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