The SAM Mission Too Dangerous for Any Jet - Except the F-105

The F-105 Thunderchief Wild Weasel crews flew the most dangerous mission of the Vietnam War - deliberately provoking North Vietnamese SA-2 sites into firing, then attacking the radar with AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles before the SAMs reached them. Loss rates for Weasel crews far exceeded any other combat role in Southeast Asia. With nearly 400 Thunderchiefs lost - almost half the production run - the F-105 remains the most heavily attrited fighter in American military history. From the first SA-2 shootdown in July 1965 through the development of SEAD doctrine at Korat and Takhli, this video traces the tactical evolution of suppression of enemy air defenses from Vietnam to Desert Storm. We cover the APR-25 radar warning receiver, Fan Song radar engagement timelines, Soviet blink tactics, and how the lessons paid for by Wild Weasel crews directly shaped the HARM missile and F-4G operations that dismantled Iraqi air defenses in 1991. Sources and further reading in the bibliography below. Bibliography: 1. Hobson, C. "Vietnam Air Losses" (2001) 2. Thornborough, A. & Mormillo, F. "Iron Hand" (2002) 3. Davies, P. "F-105 Thunderchief Units of the Vietnam War" (Osprey, 2010) 4. Broughton, J. "Thud Ridge" (1969) 5. Broughton, J. "Going Downtown" (1988) 6. Lamb, M. "Wild Weasel Fighter Attack" (Schiffer, 2002) 7. Michel, M. "Clashes" (1997) 8. Thompson, W. "To Hanoi and Back" (2000) 9. Zaloga, S. "Red SAM: The SA-2 Guideline" (Osprey, 2007) 10. Rasimus, E. "When Thunder Rolled" (2003) #VietnamWar #F105Thunderchief #WildWeasel #SEAD #MilitaryHistory #SA2 #RollingThunder #Thud #RoutePackSix #ColdWar