I always thought the F-105 was an interesting choice to serve as a Wild Weasel plane...it seemed so big and ungainly...
Being a Wild Weasel pilot is a hell of a way to earn a living!
I worked on those at George afb
The F-105 flew air defense suppression as a matter of circumstance. It’s primary mission before Vietnam was nuclear strike. The Weasel mission was developed in the F-100. Unfortunately the F-100 lacked durability and speed - both of which the F-105 had in spades.
The F-105F (later-G) was later used because it was already in theater WRT support and maintenance and was on the way out as a first line fighter bomber in TAC elsewhere.
In short, the F-105 was available and expendable. My scoutmaster went down in one of the first F-105F Wild Weasel missions, he was the GIB.
Capt Ben Newsome RIP.
“I always thought the F-105 was an interesting choice to serve as a Wild Weasel plane...it seemed so big and ungainly...
Being a Wild Weasel pilot is a hell of a way to earn a living!”
Initially, USAF used the F-100 for the counter-radar mission, but it was too slow, too short-legged, and hauled too light a warload. Couldn’t keep up with F-105 strike packages.
Bigger and faster, the F-105 was more easily modified to add a second seat, and could hold more avionics, rendering it more capable against enemy fire-control radar systems. And it could haul a larger warload, not only in terms of weight but in variety of munitions.
Maneuverability was not a factor. The surface-to-air-missiles of those days were not difficult to out-turn - if the aircrew detected them in time.
Many forum members set great store by a warplane’s capability to execute tight turns, but their notions are out of date. “Dogfighting” has almost no importance in modern air combat, and it’s been that way since before the Second World War.