Overview
Hello again people of Warthunder! Today I wish to suggest a long awaited vehicle, the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, an multi-role aircraft that saw extensive use in the Vietnam and Gulf War.
Basic Information
Designation: F-111 (Military), TFX (Manufacturer)
Name: “Aardvark”
Role: Medium-Range Multi-role aircraft
Crew: 2
Manufacturer: General Dynamics
Total built: 563
Service Life: 1967-1998 (USAF)
Specifications
Specs - Dimensions
Length: 73 ft 6 in (22.40 m)
Wingspan:
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Spread Wingspan: 63 ft (19 m)
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Swept Wingspan: 32 ft (9.8 m)
Wing Area:
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Spread Wing Area: 657.4 sq ft (61.07 m²)
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Swept Wing Area: 525 sq ft (48.8 m²)
Height: 17 ft 1.5 in (5.220 m)
Specs - Flight Performance
Engine(s): 2x Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-100 afterburning turbofan engines, 17,900 lbf (80 kN) thrust each dry, 25,100 lbf (112 kN) with afterburner
Maximum Speed:
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1,650 mph (2,656 km/h) at altitude
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(915 mph (1,472 km/h) / Mach 1.2 at sea level
Service Ceiling: 66,000 ft (20,000 m)
Rate of Climb: 25,890 ft/min (131.5 m/s)
Max Range: 3,210 nmi (3,690 mi, 5,940 km)
Empty weight: 47,200 lb (21,410 kg)
Max Takeoff Weight: 100,000 lb (45,359 kg)
Specs - Armament
Specs - Armament - Offensive Armament
- 1x 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling Cannon in weapons bay (seldom fitted), 2,084 rounds
Specs - Armament - Suspended Armament
Total Hardpoints: 11
- 8x under-wing
- 1x under-fuselage between engines
- 2x in weapons bay
Missiles:
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AIM-7 Sparrow Air-to-Air Guided Missile
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AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air Guided Missile
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AIM-54 Phoenix Air-to-Air Guided Missile
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AIM-120 AMRAAM Air-to-Air Guided Missile
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AGM-130 Air-to-Ground Guided Missile
Unguided Bombs:
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500lb (227 kg) Mk. 82 General-Purpose bomb
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750lb (340 kg) Mk. 117 General-Purpose bomb
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1000lb (454 kg) Mk. 83 General-Purpose bomb
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2000lb (907 kg) Mk. 84 General-Purpose bomb
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2000lb (907 kg) BLU-109 Hardened-Penetration bomb
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BLU-107 Durandal Runway-Cratering Bomb
Guided Bombs:
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500lb (227 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II Laser-Guided bomb
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2000lb (907 kg) GBU-10 Paveway II Laser-Guided bomb
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2450lb (1111 kg) GBU-15 Paveway II Electro-Optical bomb
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4800lb (2200 kg) GBU-28 Laser-Guided bomb
Specs - Additional Information
Avionics: GMR and TFR
Usage in Battles
The F-111 would play similar to the MiG-23/27, using speed and it’s variable wings to its advantage, staying either very low or very high, using boom and zoom tactics to kill opponents.
Pros:
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great speed
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good acceleration
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variable wings allow good manueverability at any speed
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decent variety of Armaments
Cons:
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poor turn rate
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can lose speed quickly if not careful
History
The USAF and USN both sought out new aircraft in 1961, wanting he aircraft to carry heavy armaments and fuel loads, be able to fly at high supersonic speeds, have twin engines and two seats, and use variable geometry wings. In June 1961, The Tactical Fighter Experimental, or TFX program, was opened, despite USAF and USN efforts to keep their respective programs separate.
By December, proposals were received from several companies such as Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell, North American and Republic. Originally Boeing was the winner however General Dynamics was chosen due its better commonality to requirements.
In September 1963, the F-111A mockup was inspected, after several design issues. On October 15, 1964, the first test F-111A was rolled out of General Dynamics’ facility in Fort Worth, Texas, taking it’s first flight on On December 21.
Entering service, several problems needed to be corrected, and the USN would abandon it’s F-111 project. The Australian Air Force would acquire a handful of F-111s known a C models.
After early testing, a detachment of six F-111s from the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing were sent in March 1968 to Southeast Asia for Combat Lancer testing in the Vietnam War. During its deployment, 55 night sorties were flown against targets in North Vietnam, with two aircraft being lost, and the loss of a third F-111 on April 22 halted the F-111s combat operations, with the squadron returning to the United States in November.
F-111s would return to the Vietnam War in September 1972, now stationed in Thailand. F-111s participated in the final month of Operation Linebacker and later flew 154 low-level missions for Operation Linebacker II against the North Vietnamese, who called the aircraft “Whispering Death”. They also supported regional operations against other communist forces such as during Operation Phou Phiang III during the Laotian Civil War in Laos. By the end of the war, F-111s flew more than 4,000 combat missions in Vietnam with only six combat losses.
F-111s continued to bombing missions in Cambodia in support of Khmer Republic forces until August 15, 1973 when US combat support ceased, then providing support during the Mayaguez Incident.
On February 14, 1986, two F-111s from New Hampshire were sent to Oklahoma to pick up a heart for transplant, making an odd use of the aircraft.
On April 14, 1986, 18 F-111s conducted air strikes against Libya under Operation El Dorado Canyon. Soon after, 22 F-111s flew what is now known as the longest fighter combat mission in history, spanning 13 hours. Of the F-111s used in Libya, one was lost over Libya, crashing into the Mediterranean Sea.
F-111s lastly participated in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, earning a unmatched record at the time for completed missions for every failure, with 3.2 successful strike missions for every unsuccessful one, the record being better than any other U.S. strike aircraft used in the operation. The group of 66 F-111s used dropped almost 80% of the war’s laser-guided bombs, credited with destroying more than 1,500 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles.
Being expensive to operate, the F-111s were reportedly “nine percent of Tactical Air Command’s fleet but ate up a whopping 25 percent of the maintenance budget”. The F-111 was in service with the USAF from 1967 through 1998. At a ceremony marking the F-111’s USAF retirement, on 27 July 1996, it was officially named Aardvark, its long-standing unofficial name. The USAF retired the last F-111 variant, the EF-111, in 1998.
Additional Photos
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/RAAF_F111.jpg
https://www.19fortyfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/F-111-Aardvark.jpg
https://nationalinterest.org/sites/default/files/main_images/RF-111C_belly_view_2008.jpg
https://images.dailykos.com/images/556572/story_image/f-111-00000003.jpg?1529692058
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-29c4894e508632ed461b51fe0f33525d-lq
Sources
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark - Wikipedia.
GENERAL DYNAMICS F-111 Aardvark | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
General Dynamics FB-111A Flight Manual (Later).pdf | DocDroid
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