ARMED FORCES: It Shoots

The Air Force chose the Thunderjet. After looking long & hard at all the new models, the airmen decided that the standard U.S. fighter plane for 1948 would be Republic’s P-84. Surnamed the Thunderjet, the P84 is probably the world’s fastest fighter in tactical service.* Combat-loaded, the Thunderjet’s speed is more than 600 m.p.h. Its sound in flight is an ear-cracking whoosh.

In firing tests, its six new .50 caliber M-3 guns pumped out lead 50% faster than the standard M-2 guns of World War II. The problem of firing high-powered machine-guns at near-sonic speeds had been licked.

For the jet pilot, the increased rate of fire is of crucial importance. During the war, German pilots found that the very speed of their jet planes in effect reduced their firepower, since there was much less time to pour bursts into an enemy plane. This partly offset the jet’s advantage over conventional fighters.

The decision made, the Air Force placed a $15 million order with Republic for 550 more Thunderjets, thus establishing Republic as one of the world’s major makers of fighter planes. The U.S.A.F., which already has one group (the 14th, at Bangor, Me.) equipped with P-84s, expects to get delivery of the rest by July. Production of Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars, the U.S.A.F.’s other jet fighter, is already being tapered off. Manufacture of reciprocating-engine planes, such as Republic’s Thunderbolt, North American’s Mustang and Twin Mustang, has been cut back to little more than production of spare parts.

*The Navy’s experimental Douglas Skystreak holds the world’s speed record—650.6 m.p.h.