Editing Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (section)

===In Soviet service===
In mid-1943, the Soviet high command showed an interest in the P-47B. Three P-47D-10-REs were ferried to the [[Soviet Air Forces]] (VVS) via Alaska in March 1944. Two of them were tested in April–May 1944. Test pilot Aleksey N. Grinchik noted the spacious cockpit with good ventilation and a good all-around view. He found it easy to fly and stable upon take-off and landing, but it showed excessive rolling stability and poor directional stability. Soviet engineers disassembled the third aircraft to examine its construction. They appreciated the high production standards and rational design well-suited to mass production, and the high reliability of the hard-hitting Browning machine guns. With its high service ceiling, the P-47 was superior to fighters operating on the Eastern front, yielding a higher speed above {{convert|30000|ft}}. The [[Yakovlev Yak-9]], [[Lavochkin La-5]]FN, [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]G, and [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]]A outperformed the early model P-47 at low and medium altitude, where the P-47 had poor acceleration and performed aerobatics rather reluctantly.

In mid-1944, 200 P-47D-22-REs and P-47D-27-REs<ref>Hardesty 1991, p. 253.</ref> were ferried to the USSR via Iraq and Iran. Many were sent to training units. Less than half reached operational units, and they were rarely used in combat.<ref name="Gordon 449">Gordon 2008, p. 449.</ref> The fighters were assigned to high-altitude air defense over major cities in rear areas.

Unlike their Western counterparts, the VVS made little use of the P-47 as a ground-attack aircraft, depending, instead, on their own widely produced—with 36,183 examples built during the war—special-purpose, armored [[ground-attack aircraft]], the [[Ilyushin Il-2]]. At the end of the war, Soviet units held 188 P-47s.<ref name="Gordon 449"/>