With the last USAF F-105D's and F-105F's going through the door production continued with a batch of 40 F-105D's (Block-31RE's) and 20 F-105F's with initial deliveries starting in 1965. Republic also proposed an advanced two-seater strike fighter based on the F-105F but with a dedicated WSO rear cockpit instead of the duplicated front cockpit of the USAF two-seaters. With the end of the Thunderchief production line looming and no follow-on project in the immediate pipeline Republic Aviation proposed a minimum change version of the Thunderchief F-105D-31RE to the IAF at an attractive price and this was accepted. In early 1964 the Israeli Air Force (IAF) were looking for a replacement for the Vautour tactical bomber and openly expressed a preference for the Blackburn Buccaneer. With the F-4 Phantom now being procured by the USAF as well as by the USN and USMC and with the TFX (F-111) project promising further cost savings it appeared that the two aircraft had the home tactical fighter market covered and by October 1963 Republic Aviation were formally ordered to stop further development of the F-105 Thunderchief and stop production after the current batch of F-105D's and F-105F's. McNamara and his team of whiz-kids were on a mission to streamline the US defence budget with commonality being their main weapon. Republic Aviation F-105I 'Shalakh' (Osprey) - No.253 'The Negev Squadron', Heyl Ha'Avir.ĭuring the early 1960's Defence Secretary Robert S. Whilst development of the series stopped in 2013 there is still a large 'Strike Fighters' community at work producing new aircraft, skins, weapons and terrains so the series will be around for many years to come. Initially released back in 2002 the series took on a new dimension with the release of the 'Strike Fighters 2' (SF2) series of games in December 2008 and the SF2 series now consists of Even better, there is a thriving 'modding' community where talented peeps create add-on aircraft, aircraft skins, markings, weapons, ships, terrains and a whole lot more thus making the 'what if' potential virtually limitless and increasing the fun coefficient to grin factor 10 - the full banana. These games are ever so cheap and, straight out of the box, enable you to put 'what if' markings on selected post-war aircraft. This thread consists of 'what if' screenshots from the excellent 'Strike Fighters' series of flight simulation games created by Third Wire Productions for the PC.
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