The F-111 was the first operational Air Force aircraft to have variable-geometry, or swingwings. This allowed for slower speeds for good takeoff and landing characteristics and better high-speed qualities with the wings swept back. The F-111 had a controversial history. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara mandated that the Air Force and Navy fly the same airplane. Seven Navy F-111Bs were built, but the type was deemed unsuitable for carrier operations. The Navy version was canceled, and the F-14 was built instead. Initially known as TFX, the F-111 was designed to replace the F-105. As an early operational test, six F-111s were sent to Vietnam, but three of the aircraft were lost to noncombat accidents and the type was withdrawn. The F-111 used a terrain-following radar system. The FB-111 was the nuclear-capable version. These aircraft were converted to F-111Gs in 1987. On April 15, 1986, F-111 crews stationed at RAF Lakenheath, UK, along with Navy A-6 crews, carried out a retaliatory raid (Operation Eldorado Canyon) against Libya in response to state-sponsored terrorism. During the Persian Gulf War, F- 111s were used to great effect in a role for which they were never intended—"tank plinking," or hunting down and destroying individual vehicles. It was also the only airplane that could carry the GBU-28/U deep-penetrating bomb. The F-111 was retired in July 1996, although the EF-111A is still in service. The F-111 was nicknameless until the crews' unofficial name, Aardvark, was bestowed officially on the day it was retired.
| Contractors: | Fort Worth Division of General Dynamics |
| Grumman Aerospace | |
| Locations Built: | Fort Worth, Tex. |
| Bethpage, N. Y. | |
| Number Built: (USAF) | 562 (531) |
| First Flight: | December 21, 1964 |
| First Flight Model: | F-111A |
| First Flight Location: | Fort Worth, Tex. |
| First Flight Pilot: | Dick Johnson and Val Prahl |
| Models/Variants: | F-111A, D, E, F, G. FB-111A. EF-111A Raven |
| Powerplant: | Two Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-103 turbofans of 18,500 lb thrust each with afterburner. (Two Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-7 turbofans of 20,350 lb thrust each with afterburner on FB-111A.) |
| Wingspan: | Wings extended: 63 ft 0 in (70 ft 0 in on FB-111A). Wings swept: 31 ft 11 |
| Length: | 73 ft 6 in (75 ft 6 in with pitot boom) |
| Height: | 17 ft 11/2 in. |
| Weight: | 92,657 lb gross |
| Armament: | One General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20-mm cannon and one B61 free-fall nuclear bomb with a selectable yield between 100 and 500 kilotons or two B61s internally and up to 31,000 lb of bombs, missiles, or fuel tanks on four underwing hardpoints. (Two AGM-69 Short-Range Attack Missiles, each with a W-69 nuclear warhead with a yield of 170 kilotons internally, and up to four AGM-69 on underwing hardpoints or provisions for up to 31,500 lb of conventional bombs on FB-111.) |
| Accommodation: | Two (pilot and weapon system officer, side by side, in an escape module) |
| Cost: | $8.2 million |
| Max. Speed: | 1,452 mph |
| Range: | Approx 3,800 mi. |
| Ceiling: | 51,000 ft. |
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