The F-84, USAF's first post–World War II fighter, began rolling off the production lines in June 1947. It was the first Air Force jet fighter capable of carrying a tactical nuclear weapon and the last subsonic straight-wing fighter-bomber. The F-84 pioneered the use of aerial refueling for fighters. The Thunderjets entered service in Korea in December 1950, were assigned to escort B-29s, and later were increasingly used for ground operations. F-84s were used on two significant raids on dams, on May 13 and 16, 1953, causing the loss of all electrical power to North Korea. In Korea, F-84 pilots flew 86,408 missions, dropped 50,427 tons of bombs, and managed to shoot down or damage 105 MiG-15s. On August 20, 1953, 17 F-84Gs, refueling from KC-97s, were flown nonstop 4,485 miles from Turner AFB, Ga., to RAF Lakenheath, UK, in the longest nonstop mass movement of fighter-bombers in history to that point and the greatest distance ever flown nonstop by single-engine jet fighters. The first sweptwing model, the F-84F, originally designated YF-96A, was first flown on June 3, 1950. Four Air National Guard F-84F units were recalled to active duty during the Berlin crisis of 1961–62. The straight-wing F-84G was the first airplane used by the Air Force's aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. F-84s were used in two different programs to provide protection for B-36 Peacemakers. One aircraft, the YRF-84F, was designed with a nose-mounted hook to attach to a trapeze suspended from the bomb bay of a B-36; another version featured a wingtip-to-wingtip attachment. Both of these programs were discontinued when aerial refueling was found to be much more practical. In addition to being used by the US Air Force, many were supplied to Allied nations participating in the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. The last straight-wing F-84s were retired from the Air National Guard in 1957. The last Guard F-84Fs were retired in 1971.
| Contractors: | Republic Aviation Corp. |
| General Motors Fisher Body Division | |
| Locations Built: | Farmingdale, N. Y. |
| Kansas City, Mo. | |
| Number Built: (USAF) | 7,524 (4,009) |
| First Flight: | February 28, 1946 |
| First Flight Model: | XP-84 |
| First Flight Location: | Muroc AAF, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: | Maj. Bill Lien |
| Models/Variants: | F-84B, C, D, E, G. F-84F Thunderstreak. RF-84F Thunderflash |
| Powerplant: | One Wright J65-W-3 nonafterburning turbojet of 7,220 lb thrust |
| Wingspan: | 33 ft 7 in. |
| Length: | 43 ft 5 in. |
| Height: | 15 ft 0 in. |
| Weight: | 28,000 lb gross |
| Armament: | Six .50-cal. machine guns and up to 6,000 lb of bombs (incl nuclear) or rockets underwing |
| Accommodation: | Pilot only |
| Cost: | $667,608 |
| Max. Speed: | 685 mph |
| Range: | 1,650 mi. |
| Ceiling: | 44,300 ft. |
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