Development of the F-84 Thunderjet project began as early as 1944, when the Republic company proposed a new turbojet fighter aircraft intended to replace the P-47 Thunderbolt in day time operations. Following its maiden flight in 1946, the F-84 was commissioned for service in 1947 and was tasked with fulfilling the fighter-bomber role. However, due to engine reliability issues and numerous structural problems, early models of the aircraft were nearly phased out of service and production after a review of the US air force deemed them incapable of performing their intended role. Despite this, Republic’s engineers focused their efforts on addressing the flaws of the aircraft, determined they would get it right. A year and several variants later, in 1949, it seemed like the D model of the F-84 was finally shaping up to be the aircraft the US air force wanted.

However, meeting the requirements set by the air force, making the aircraft operational, didn’t mean it couldn’t be improved further to perform better. Thus development on the F-84 Thunderjet continued, and in 1951, around the start of the Korean War, the definitive G variant of the F-84 was constructed. The G model brought with it an improved J35-A-29 engine, allowed for in-flight refueling and introduced an autopilot to the navigation systems. Apart from that, one of the most significant modifications made to the F-84G was the ability to carry the Mark 7 nuclear bomb, making it also the first USAF fighter-bomber capable of packing such firepower. On the other hand, the numerous performance improvements over time gave the F-84G superb handling characteristics, also making it one of the first jets to be used by USAF flight demonstration teams. The F-84G also marks the final model of the F-84 with straight wings, subsequent models were built with a swept wing design and were renamed to “Thunderstreak”.

In total, around 4,500 F-84 Thunderjets were built across all its modifications. The G model made up for a considerable part of all F-84s, with approximately 3000 units built. Nearly 2000 F-84Gs were built for France, Italy, Belgium, Turkey and other NATO countries under the MDAP military assistance program. Non-NATO countries like Yugoslavia, Iran, Thailand and Taiwan also received small numbers of F-84Gs for their air forces. Thunderjets saw their peak in service with countries all over the world during the 1950s, being slowly phased out of use throughout the 60s with some countries and being completely taken out of service by the end of the 70s.