The Republic XP-72 was based upon the P-47 airframe and was designed by Alexander Kartveli's fighter team as a 'Super Thunderbolt' around the 2237kW Pratt & Whitney R-4360-13 Wasp Major radial engine. The powerplant was, simply, the most powerful piston engine to reach production in any country during World War II. Intended primarily to be faster than the Thunderbolt, the XP-72 was viewed in part as a remedy for the Third Reich's high-speed V-l buzz bomb. The USAAF planned to use the fighter to intercept buzz bombs, taking advantage of its ability to reach 6000m in just under five minutes. An armament of six 12.7mm guns would have been carried.
The first of two examples flew at Farmingdale on 2 February 1944 using a large four-bladed propeller. The second XP-72 flew in July 1944 with the intended Aeroproducts six-bladed contra-rotating propeller. The second aircraft, however, was lost on an early flight.
With priority shifted to long-range escort fighters, this promising interceptor was not needed. The other XP-72 airframe is thought to have been scrapped at Wright Field around VJ-Day.
