It's been a bit of a modeling drought for me...I moved this summer and packed up my modeling area back in July. Good news is the new house has an entire spare room that I have taken over as my dedicated modeling room. It's nice to finally have my very own model room!
Anyway, for the first build in the new house I wanted to ease back in with an easy kit, and since I'm in a classic jet mood I went with Tamiya's nice 1/48 F-84G. I wanted something different so decided it would be serving with the IDF in the late 60s.
Following the 1956 Suez War Israel sought to increase its ability to take out armor from the air. Several platforms were considered but political and economic factors led to the IDF acquiring 28 recently retired F-84Gs from France in early 1957.
Initially these F-84s were equipped with bombs and rockets, but with back channel and definitely-not-sanctioned-by-the-US-government assistance from Republic Aviation the IDF began testing a cannon armed Thunderjet in the anti-tank role. A young engineer at Republic had ideas for a cannon armed tank busting aircraft that would be a stable low altitude platform able to absorb a great deal of damage. He was able to gain enough attention in Farmingdale to advance his ideas through a channel that would both be funded externally and deniable if it failed...
The result was an F-84G that was modified to carry two 20mm cannons in the nose in place of the four .50 caliber machine guns and more importantly two 30mm cannons in modified external fuel tanks. French DEFA cannons were used in the modification, but with the large volume of the external tank, each gun carried 750 rounds of ammunition instead of the normal 100-200 rounds carried by an internal cannon.
In IDF service the cannon-armed F-84G was named the Raam, the Hebrew word for the sound of thunder. The aircraft entered service in late 1957 with 115 Squadron, the "Flying Dragon Squadron". A second squadron stood up in early 1958 when 110 Squadron received the Raam. The F-84G served with the IDF until Summer 1974 when it was replaced by the SEPECAT Jaguar in the close support role.
This model depicts a heavily utilized and war-weary 115 Sqn aircraft in June 1967 at the end of the Six Day War. This Raam is unique in being the only one to achieve an air-to-air victory, as indicated by the kill marking under the left canopy rail. In the Six Day War the IDF's F-84s were used in both the anti armor role and for airfield attack. This aircraft was conducting a strafing attack on a Syrian airfield on the second day of the brief war, when it's pilot was surprised to find a Syrian MiG-19 become airborne in front of him as he rolled in for his strafing attack. He raised the nose slightly and without even switching to 20mm guns, unloaded a 2 second burst of 30mm cannon fire at the MiG, destroying the aircraft before its landing gear was even fully raised.
This aircraft was heavily damaged in 1972 due to a landing gear malfunction, but the forward fuselage and cockpit section is currently preserved at the Israeli Air Force Museum at Hatzerim Airbase in the Negev desert.
