In 1949, a plan to increase the performance of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet was developed. A swept-wing version was designed to increase the speed and range. At low-altitude, the speed was much better than the previous F-84E. However, overall performance was still lacklustre so the USAF wanted a better engine to improve the climb and high-altitude performance. Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire engines were selected and eventually Curtiss-Wright would build them under license as the J65. After constant setbacks during production, deliveries finally rolled in until 1957 when over 2,000 F-84F Thunderstreaks were built. Pilots enjoyed the Thunderstreak as it was robust and flew well in turbulent conditions. However, it required a high landing speed and certain manoeuvres were far too dangerous to perform. They were gradually replaced by the F-100 Super Sabre until the Berlin Crisis reactivated many Thunderstreaks. They would eventually find their way into the Air National Guard until the early 1970s when they were finally retired in US service.
Introduced in Update "Hot Tracks", the F-84F is a decent aircraft with some flaws. Although the Thunderstreak is relatively fast, it struggles to reach that speed in an acceptable amount of time. Carrying bombs also greatly diminishes the acceleration so players should carry a light fuel load to offset the weight. The six nose-mounted 12.7 mm machine guns are sufficient for ground attack, but attacking enemy aircraft can be frustrating due to the lack of sufficient stopping power. Overall, the F-84F Thunderstreak is a fairly decent strike aircraft but performance limitations and its battle rating hinder its effectiveness.
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Belt | Belt filling | Armor penetration (mm) at a distance: | |||||
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10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1000 m | 1500 m | 2000 m | ||
API-T/AP/AP/I | 30 | 27 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 6 | |
AP-I/AP-I/API-T/I/I | 28 | 26 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 4 | |
API-T/I/AP/AP/AP-I/AP-I | 30 | 27 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 6 | |
API-T | 28 | 26 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 4 | |
AP-I/I/AP-I/I | 28 | 26 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 4 |
Name | Weight | Slot | ||||||||
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125.6 kg | ||||||||||
7 × | 93.3 kg | |||||||||
117.9 kg | ||||||||||
240.9 kg | ||||||||||
446.8 kg | ||||||||||
893.6 kg | ||||||||||
401.4 kg | ||||||||||
3 × 3 × | 376.8 kg |
Flight performance | |
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Survivability |
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Weaponry | ||
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