For their second 'Air Vanguard' book, Osprey has chosen the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. The F-105 was developed as a nuclear strike aircraft with no real air to air mission. As such, it fit into the current way of thinking by USAF planners. It was to be fast at low level so it could get in there, drop its ordnance and get out. One of the somewhat unique features of the aircraft was an internal bomb bay that was large enough to carry the nuclear bombs of the time. Eventually, this was used to carry additional fuel as the F-105's J-75 engine proved to be rather thirsty. The design was also seen as being good for standard strike missions and so the F-105 was used mostly for that purpose. Not to say that they still were not on nuclear alert, as those based in the Far East (Japan and Korea) as well as those in Germany were very much trained for that mission, but as often happens, its main time in combat was dropping standard iron bombs.

Initial F-105s were somewhat lacking in terms of a decent strike radar system and while some 80 F-105Bs were produced, the majority of the around 850 airframes were the improved F-105D with the rest being two seat F-105F aircraft. These two seat planes were fully combat capable and though designed more as conversion trainers, most ended up being converted to F-105F and F-105G 'Wild Weasel' anti-SAM aircraft.

The F-105B was never really involved in the war in Vietnam. For that, the main USAF bomber was the F-105D. It was this aircraft version that saw all the combat and about half of the 105D production run was lost during that conflict. F-105 pilots had to learn to deal with North Vietnamese defenses and it was a constant battle to upgrade the aircraft's defensive ECM/ESM suite during the war. Initially they had nothing, but early losses to NVA SAMs made it imperative that something be done. In addition to the defensive electronics carried by the 105, a determined effort to provide SAM-busting aircraft led to the EF-105F and F-105G Wild Weasel. This was not an easy mission as the range of the Shrike and Standard HARM missiles was much less than the SA-2s they were trying to destroy. While the 105s missiles could take out the SA-2 guidance radar, it took a dedicated strike to eliminate the site itself.

Eventually the F-105 was replaced by the more modern F-4 Phantom II once the war was over and surviving 105s were passed along to the ANG and Reserves. These soldiered on until the early 1980s when the type was finally retired from service.

Author Peter Davies covers the aircraft's initial design and development as well as its introduction into unit service. Much of the book is dedicated to its combat record, as well it should. In this part of the publication we get the majority of pilot stories. Though designed as a bomber, the F-105 also shot down its share of MiGs during the conflict and we get some of those tales as well. Chock full of photos, most of them in full color and the superb art work of Adam Tooby, it makes for a well rounded title. The only thing this is missing are the nice color profiles of the initial book, but since most of the photos are in color, this is really not all that much missed. In line with the previous title, this one has a back page foldout that provides a cutaway of the F-105. I do hope this remains a feature of this series.

In all, a book I can highly recommend and I very much look forward to others in this series.

October 2012

For more on the complete line of Osprey books, visit www.ospreypublishing.com. In the US, it is Osprey Direct at 44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101., where you can get a catalogue of available books.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.