F-111 Aardvark: America's Multirole Death Machine

when general dynamics is powerful f-111 first took to the skies in december 1964. it was touted as one of the world's most lethal and well-rounded military aircraft that said not everyone believed the hype since the early 1960s defense secretary robert mcnamara pushed the f-111 as a multi-role cross-service platform that could be used by the air force the navy and the marines at least in the early going the result was a franken-plane that wasn't particularly good at any of these roles the scales at over a hundred and ten thousand pounds that's nearly fifty thousand kilograms when fully decked out for battle f-111s were far too heavy to outmaneuver smaller fighters or stand up to the rigors of carrier takeoff and landing unsurprisingly the navy wanted nothing to do with the f-111b variant and it was ultimately cancelled long before production was even scheduled to begin on the other hand the air force had much better luck in fact its f-111s were blisteringly fast and highly successful reconnaissance aircraft missile jammers and deep penetration bombers the latter of which could haul massive weapons loads at treetop level day and night in nearly all weather and deliver devastating payloads with legendary accuracy [Music] between the late 1950s and the early 1960s both the navy and the air force were in the market for new jets to fill various roles the former needed a high-speed long-range interceptor to protect its carrier battle groups against anti-ship missiles launched from soviet subs and bombers meanwhile the air force had its sights on a versatile aircraft that could carry out fighter ground attack and deep interdiction missions both services already had capable aircraft but they were rapidly becoming obsolete and ex-ford motor company ceo robert mcnamara sought to trim waste and redundancy by commissioning a new plane that would as the old saying goes be everything to everyone hence the now infamous tactical fighter experimental tfx design competition that was launched in late 1961. so at the time it was poised to be the most expensive weapon system in united states history and top manufacturers like boeing lockheed general dynamics and north american aviation were all eager to get in on some of that action after a lengthy process of design submissions and evaluation mcnamara and the rand corporation whiz kids ultimately chose general dynamics proposal over vociferous objections from members of the military selection board in many respects other manufacturers designs were at least as good but general dynamics as f-111 stood out for one big reason at least in theory it offered a far greater cost saving commonality between the navy and air force variants but though was never well liked by either branch mcnamara subsequently committed the ultimate sin at least according to the navy by putting the air force in charge of the project this meant that it would have the upper hand in getting what it wanted put into the aircraft first while in all likelihood the navy would have to grudgingly accept a plane that had been built for a rival service yet despite this glaring point of contention the air force and the navy were able to agree on a few basic design elements both variants would have two engines two crewmen a unique side-by-side heating arrangement and variable geometry wings in some respects the timing could have actually been better until francis carry powers as u2 is downed by a surface-to-air missile over the soviet union in 1960 the air force had been relatively confident in its high-flying but subsonic b-47 bombers but now the new soviet sams could reach at least 60 000 ft and possibly much higher as a result b-47s became obsolete almost overnight thankfully the new soviet missiles had one fatal flaw they weren't nearly as effective at targeting fast low-flying aircraft hence high subsonic or even supersonic low-level penetration was seen as feasible alternatives the defense department prioritized new aircraft that would be capable of penetrating soviet air defenses at high speeds and very low altitudes and operating from short unfinished runways in remote areas [Music] f-111s are most known for their variable geometry wings which were incorporated to compensate for the plane's enormous way while providing improved performance at various speeds and altitudes wings could be swept between 16 and nearly 73 degrees and when fully extended surface area for them nearly tripled conversely when swept back into the delta configuration the reduction in drag made high supersonic flight possible albeit at the expense of maneuverability likewise variable geometry wings allowed for heavier fuel and weapons loads longer ranges and shorter takeoffs and landings on the downside the wings were far heavier more complex and prone to mechanical failures than traditional fixed wings the copper for this added weight f-111 airframes included aluminium titanium and other lightweight steel alloy components due to technical difficulties associated with side-by-side heating f-111s weren't equipped with ejection seats instead in emergencies both pilots were jettisoned upward away from the aircraft in unison in an enclosed one-piece crew capsule power to push these heavy machines to more than twice the speed of sound came from two massive pratt whitney tf-30 afterburning turbo fans each of which produced about 18 thousand pounds of dry thrust to more than 25 000 pounds when the afterburners were lit the air force's f-111a prototype was unveiled in the fall of 1963 but the maiden flight wouldn't take place until late december of the following year at carswell air force base in fort worth texas since general dynamics had limited experience building carrier-based aircraft it continued to work with grumman on the navy's b variant which ultimately made its first flight in the spring of 1965. both varians had a number of technical problems one of which was compressor stall issues caused by inefficient engine inlets this issue was largely solved by improving air flow with nasa's help and the f-111a achieved a speed of mach 1.3 that's about a thousand miles per hour in february 1965. however hairline cracks began appearing in various airframe components during ground fatigue testing especially where the wings attached to the fuselage after years of poor test results and comprehensive design changes the navy ultimately canceled the b variant in 1968 while developing and testing the air force's a model into 1973. f-111s went at least 74 feet long nose tail and with their wings fully swept wingspan was just 32 feet with maximum speeds approaching mach 2.5 f-111s were among the fastest aircraft of the day excluding mig-25s and the sr-71 blackbird [Music] f-111s featured internal weapons bays capable of accommodating two 750-pound conventional bombs or one tactical nuclear bomb for defense and attacking ground targets most variants were equipped with m61 20-millimeter rotary cannons and more than 2 000 rounds of ammunition had they gone into production the navy's b variants would have carried air to air and air to surface missiles externally and in their weapons bays giving them exceptional standoff capabilities even from long ranges cnf variants were equipped with paved tac targeting systems that were housed in rotating pods in the weapons bay when not in use each paved tack unit featured a camera a laser designator and a range finder and a forward-looking infrared sensor or flir all of this allowed f-111s to not only find targets but to take them out with amazingly accurate laser-guided munitions air force variants were generally equipped with anapq-113 attack and anapq-110 terrain follow radars for weapons deployment and navigation ordnance carried externally were stored on four pylons on each wing but though pylons are stationary on traditional aircraft on f-111s the inner two pylons rotate to keep missiles and bombs parallel to the fuselage when the wings were moving all told between internal weapons bays and external pylons f-111s could carry more than 30 000 pounds of munitions but since the fixed pylons could not be used with the wings in the fully swept position combat loads were generally much lighter even so one f-111 could carry the bomb load of two and a half mcdonald douglas f4 phantom 2s [Music] the first production f-111s were delivered to nellis air force base in nevada in mid-july of 1967. these aircraft were initially used exclusively for crew training and the first units equipped with f-111s didn't achieve operational status until almost a year later after preliminary testing six f-111s from the 474th tactical fighter wing were sent to vietnam in march of 1968 where they underwent additional real-world evaluation more than four dozen night missions were flown during the deployment but though the f-111s proved effective against stubborn targets in the north three aircraft and crews were lost in the early going and it was never determined whether they were downed by enemy aircraft surface-to-air missiles aaa fire or mechanical issues based on the losses comet operations were temporarily halted two months later however routine inspections turned up serious problems with the wings hydraulic systems later it was determined that these issues alone may have been to blame for at least some of the losses especially since they were present on most of the f-111s in southeast asia due to this and other issues that required immediate attention most f-111s were out of service until the fall of 1972. those that have been upgraded were eventually restationed at tackley air force base where nearly four dozen took part in operations linebacker and linebacker two primarily flying low-level penetration missions thanks to their revolutionary or weather terrain following radars f-111s often flew as low as 200 feet at 550 miles per hour because of their distinctive engine sounds and lethal accuracy north vietnamese soldiers nicknamed them whispering death they were difficult targets for gunners on the ground but at such high speeds and low altitudes there was little room for error to make sure they lived to fight another day f-111 crews generally abided by the following mottos speed is life and one pass then whole arse f-111s also carried out bombing missions over neutral cambodia in support of khmer republic forces in early 1973 though these actions ceased with the signing of the case church amendment officially f1 elements flew more than four thousand combat missions in southeast asia with only six losses directly attributable to enemy action after the war in vietnam aardvarks wouldn't see action again until operation el dorado in 1986 when more than two dozen aircraft carried out strikes against libyan targets it was during this operation that 18 f-111s flew or what would become the longest combat mission in history taking off from raf lackenheath and raf upper hayford two flights of f-111s joined up before making the 6 400-mile round-trip between the uk and libya averaging just less than 500 miles per hour the mission took approximately 13 hours and resulted in one aircraft lost somewhere over the mediterranean likely to an enemy fighter air force f-111s also played significant roles in operation desert storm in 1991 during which they had far higher success rates than other similar aircraft more than 60 f-111s took part in the operation and collectively dropped 80 percent of all bomb tonnage usually with devastating results all told f-111s were credited with destroying more than 1400 tanks and armored vehicles almost exclusively with laser-guided munitions but though f-111s were in service for more than three decades between the late 60s and late 90s they weren't officially christened aardvarks because of their resemblance to the long-nosed african anteaters until the air force's retirement ceremony in the summer of 1996. one of two dozen f-111s ordered by australia in 1963 the first would intend to service with the raaf until december of 1973. the raf bought both bomber and reconnaissance variants the most famous of which was a c model that experienced a serious in-flight issue that required a less than conventional landing in the summer of 2016. shortly after takeoff from raf base amboley the plane's port side main landing gear actually fell off the tower immediately alerted rookie airmen flying officer peter kamar and navigator flight lieutenant luke warner of the pressing problem for the next two hours planners decided the best course of action without having the crew eject and destroying the multi-million dollar aircraft after that it was determined that the best course of action was to have the crew dump excess fuel and attempt a belly landing using a built-in tail hook to decelerate quickly though not identical to those on carrier-based aircraft f-111 tail hooks were used to anchor them to the ground while performing engine tests making the approach the crew left the working landing gear components in the up position so the plane would have a relatively smooth surface on which to land on the ground crew strung a tensioned cable across the tarmac and as the plane touched down the hook miraculously snagged onto it on the first pass in a hail of sparks and screeching metal the plane came to a stop a few hundred feet later due to the likelihood of severe structural damage the aircraft was never repaired but both pilots survived with only minor injuries despite the mishap in 1992 the australian government decided to purchase 18 ex-u.s air force f-111s to extend their aircraft service lives the raf retired its remaining f-111s in december of 2010. while in service eight australian aardvarks had been lost in crashes with 10 fatalities [Music] f-111s were the first production aircraft equipped with variable geometry wings while in service they were joined by other well-known swing wing aircraft like soviet mig-23 floggers tupolev tu-22m backfires panavia tornadoes rockwell b-1 lancers and of course the only aircraft ever to be named after tom cruise the iconic f-14 tomcat despite inter-service rivalry cost overruns and other development issues f-111s would go on to establish the best safety record of all century series fighters in addition to variable geometry wings f-111s pioneered afterburning turbofan engines state-of-the-art target acquisition systems and terrain follow radars that allowed them to fly lower and faster and deliver their payloads more accurately than any other aircraft in their class in fact their legacy is nothing short of amazing considering that before production began veteran test pilot george mart called the f-111 the worst aircraft had ever flown ultimately f-111s were replaced by f-15e strike eagles for medium range precision strike missions while the supersonic bomber role has been assumed by the b-1b lancer [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 15min 6sec (906 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 22 2022