Page 87 - History of War - Issue 30-16

GENERAL DYNAMICS F-111 AARDVARK

he F-111 was a multipurpose “A joy to l y,” as it was extremely fast and gave
American i ghter-bomber that was a smooth ride, assisted by its variable sweep
capable of supersonic speeds wings. These allowed the pilot to l y from slow
and achieved one of the safest approaches to supersonic speed at sea level.
T operational records of any aircraft This impressive performance was enabled
in USAF history. It was originally designed in the by a sophisticated radar system that l ew
early 1960s with Tactical Air Command wanting the plane at a constant altitude following the
an aircraft that could operate from shorter Earth’s contours. Consequently, F-111s could
runways. However, the task was complicated l y in valleys or over mountains, day or night,
by the secretary of defence, Robert McNamara, regardless of the weather conditions and if
who directed the USAF and US Navy to develop a any of the system’s circuits failed the aircraft
common aircraft. Both services initially welcomed automatically initiated a climb.
the joint i ghter but there were continuous Accordingly, F-111s were perfect for low-level
problems with i xing the plane’s weight, engine pinpoint strikes on heavily defended targets,
and drag issues as well as escalating costs and l ying in so fast that the enemy didn’t know
the Navy backed out. Nonetheless, once the about an attack until the bombs exploded.
teething problems had been i xed, the F-111 was One F-111 crewman who was shot down over
an outstanding aircraft. Vietnam recalled how a Vietcong guard quickly Above: This F-111 was based at Upper
Heyford US Air Base in Oxfordshire,
Nicknamed ‘Aardvark’ because of its long- slashed his hand sideways and exclaimed to
England, and is now housed in the
nosed appearance, its pilots described it as, him, “You F-111… whoosh!” American Air Museum as part of
Imperial War Museum, Duxford
GENERAL DYNAMICS
F-111 AARDVARK

MANUFACTURER:GENERALDYNAMICS(USA)
INITIALYEAROFSERVICE:1967
CREW:2
LENGTH:22.4M(73.49FT)
WIDTH:19.2M(62.99FT)
HEIGHT:5.22M(17.13FT)
ENGINES:2XPRATT&WHITNEYTF30TURBOFAN
MAXIMUMSPEED:2,655KM/H(1,650MPH)
MAXIMUMRANGE:6,760(4,200MPH)
ARMAMENT:M61VULCANINTERNALCANNON&
MISSION-SPECIFICORDNANCE

Four F-111s of the Royal
Australian Air Force during a
refuelling exercise in 2006.
The RAAF was the last
operator of the F-111s and
retired them in 2010

“F-111S WERE PERFECT FOR
LOW-LEVEL PINPOINT STRIKES

ON HEAVILY DEFENDED
TARGETS, FLYING IN SO FAST

THAT THE ENEMY DIDN’T KNOW
ABOUT AN ATTACK UNTIL THE

BOMBS EXPLODED”

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