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Greetings! I’d like to re-introduce and suggest the General Dynamics F-111B for the US aviation tech tree. The F-111B was marvelous for its time yet had a short-lived history in the US Navy service. Designed to respond to the US Navy’s new requirement and replace the naval F-4 Phantoms, it incorporated new TF-30 engines, AWG-9 and Phoenix weapons systems, and swing-wing configuration. Ultimately, it faced development and political issues and was replaced by the newer F-14 Tomcats in the late 1960s, inheriting advanced features from the F-111B.
History
Tactical Fighter Experimental ProgramHistory of the F-111B development began back to Secretary of Defense McNamara’s controversial Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) program in 1961.
The TFX program was established to meet the USAF’s and USN’s requirements for new aircraft for their disparate roles: a supersonic, ground-hugging strike aircraft invisible to enemy radar and capable of dodging surface-to-air missiles; a carrier-based interceptor capable of engaging Soviet bombers hundreds of miles away before they deploy long-range anti-ship missiles.
The TFX program decreed the US Air Force and US Navy to use identical airframes with respective purposes to meet their requirements. Secretary McNamara personally selected the F-111 as the bi-service fighter for this program. He had closely supervised this program since the beginning of his term.
Design and DevelopmentOn September 29, 1961, the TFX program sent Request For Proposals to Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, Northrop, Grumman, McDonnell, Douglas, North American, and Republic. Boeing and General Dynamics submitted the promising proposals; however, an additional three rounds of updates to the proposals had to be conducted before the final decision. Afterward, Boeing was picked by the selection board, but Secretary McNamara overruled and selected General Dynamics’ proposal in November 1962 due to its proposal of the F-111 airframe sharing more commonality between Air Force and Navy versions. Compared to Boeing’s proposal, only their versions shared less than half of the major structural components, which the Air Force and Navy military operators favored because two structurally different planes would not be compromised to meet contrast service performance requirements. Nonetheless, General Dynamics signed the TFX contract in December 1962.
Thus, the TFX program had given birth to the F-111 Aardvark series. The F-111A was designated to the Air Force’s TFX version, and the F-111B was designated to the Navy’s TFX version.
General Dynamics lacked experience developing the carrier-based aircraft, so it partnered with more experienced Grumman to develop the F-111B. The F-111B was said to be the most sophisticated design during the 1960s. It became the first aircraft to incorporate afterburning turbofan engines with capabilities of flying at Mach 2 and cruising in an extreme range thanks to its fuel efficiency along with variable-sweep wing and AWG-9 Pulse-Doppler radar to detect the targets at extremely long range for new AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, ranging up to 100 miles or about 161 kilometers.
Flight TestingThe F-111B launched its first flight in May 1965, registered with Serial Number 151970 and powered with TF30-P-3 engines, and its flight test revealed some problems: underpowered performance in sustained maneuvers, flight control malfunctions, and poor cockpit visibility. Nevertheless, the variable-sweep technology proved remarkable on the aircraft. The engineers upgraded the power plant from TF 30-P-3 to TF30-P-12, providing the F-111B with more thrusts. The only two F-111Bs that were upgraded with the TF30-P-12 engines were Serial Number 152714 and Serial Number 152715, designated as the pre-production variant.
In July 1968, the fifth F-111B with Serial Number 151974 was built and flew for its carrier trials, boarding the USS Coral Sea. The trials were proving to be successful without grave problems. However, the Navy and its pilots had shown a general dislike of the aircraft since it was too large and heavy for sustained maneuvers in close-range dogfight.
Four F-111Bs were involved in ongoing Phoenix missile testings. Unfortunately, the flight tests were not without costs: two F-111Bs were destroyed, and one F-111B was severely damaged. The F-111B’s last flight started from California to New Jersey in mid-1971 with Serial Number 151792. The seven F-111Bs flew 1,748 hours over 1,173 flights in total.
F-111B’s ReplacementThe lifetime of the General Dynamics F-111B program was abruptly cut short when Secretary of Defense McNamara resigned in February 1968, making the program more unpopular. Along with resistance from the Navy fighter pilots and officers, Congress declined extra funds for the F-111B program. The Navy canceled the planned purchase of 705 F-111Bs into the production stage and shifted its focus on the F-14 Tomcat program, marking the final nail in the coffin for the F-111B.
The F-14 Tomcat inherited critical features of AN/AWG-9 radar, Phoneix missiles, variable-sweep wing, and afterburning turbofan engines from the F-111B. The F-14 Tomcat proved its greater dogfighting capability since it was lighter and more agile than the F-111B at the cost of the increased price. Ironically, the F-14 was the largest and heaviest US fighter to take off and land from an aircraft carrier.
While the F-111B did not reach the final production stage, the land-based F-111 variants continued their service within the USAF for many years and with the Royal Australian Air Force until 2010.
F-111B Subvariants
The first three F-111Bs were initial prototypes, and F-111B # 4 and # 5 were prototypes with lightened airframes. F-111B # 6 and # 7 had lightened airframes and improved TF30-P-12 engines and were built to near production standards, and they were approximately 2 feet longer due to an added space between the cockpit and radome.The first five F-111Bs had Triple Plow I intakes, and the last two F-111Bs had Triple Plow II intakes. The first three aircraft included individual ejection seats, and the remainder included an escape crew capsule as the whole ejection.
| F-111B # | Serial # | Description | Location or Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 151970 | Prototype with heavy airframe, TF30-P-3 engines. | Scrapped in December 1969 after flight tests. |
| 2 | 151971 | Prototype with heavy airframe, TF30-P-3 engines. | Involved in Hughes missile testing. Lost in a crash on September 11, 1968. |
| 3 | 151972 | Prototype with heavy airframe, TF30-P-3 engines. | Involved in jet blast testing at NATF, NAES Lakehurst, NJ. Was damaged and retired. Likely scrapped. |
| 4 | 151973 | Prototype with lightened airframe, TF30-P-3 engines | Destroyed in double engine failure crash on 21 April 1967. |
| 5 | 151974 | Prototype with lightened airframe, TF30-P-3 engines | Crash landed at NAS Point Mugu, CA in October 1968. Scrapped at NAS Moffett Field, CA in 1970. |
| 6 | 152714 | Pre-production version, TF30-P-12 engines | Involved in Hughes missile testing. Retired in 1969 and stored at a scrapyard in Mojave, California. |
| 7 | 152715 | Pre-production version, TF30-P-12 engines | Retired and stored at NAWS China Lake, CA. |
Specifications
General Dynamics F-111B (Pre-Production Variant)General Characteristics
- Crew: 2 (Pilot and Weapons System Operator)
- Length: 68 ft 9.5 in (20.97 m)
- Height: 17 ft 7.7 in (5.38 m)
- Wingspan, Spread, 16°: 70 ft (21.34 m)
- Wingspan, Swept, 72.5°: 33 ft 11 in (10.34 m)
- Wing Area, Spread: 655.5 sq ft (60.9 sq m)
- Wing Area, Swept: 550 sq ft (51.1 sq m)
- Powerplant: 2 x Pratt and Whitney TF30-P-12 afterburning turbofan jet engines
→ 40,000 lbf (177.93 kN) thrust A/B @ sea level
→ 24,000 lbf (106.75 kN) thrust dry @ sea level- Empty Weight: 46,000 lb (20,865 kg)
- Gross Weight: 68,000 lb (30,844 kg)
- Recommended Max. Takeoff Weight: 76,000 lb (35,380 kg)
- Internal Fuel: 3,756 US gal. (14,218 L); 25,542 lb (11,585 kg)
- External Fuel: 900 US gal. (3,407 L) with 2 x 450-gal. drop tanks
Performance w/ 6 Phoenix Missiles @ A/B
- Thrust-to-Weight Ratio: 0.59
- Sea Level Max. Speed: ~780 mph (1,065 km/h)
- Combat Altitude Speed: ~1,450 mph (2,334 km/h) @ 40,000 ft (12,192 m)
- Stall Speed: ~131 mph (212 km/h)
- Spread Wing Loading: 102.2 lb/sq ft (499 kg/sq m)
- Rate of Climb: ~21,300 fpm (108 m/s)
- Time to Altitude:
- 20,000 ft (6,096 m) in ~1.2 minutes
- 30,000 ft (9,144 m) in ~2.2 minutes
- Service Ceiling: ~44,900 ft (13,686 m)
- Combat Radius: ~547 miles (880 km) for 2.4 hours
- Combat Range: ~2,106 miles (3,389 km)
Weapons System
Avionics:
- AN/AWG-9 Pulse-Doppler radar
Guns:
- 1 x 20-mm M61A1 (2,084 rounds)
- 20-mm Mark 4 Mod 0 gunpods
Hardpoints:
- 3 x under left wing
- 3 x under right wing
- 2 x in the weapons bay
Air-to-Air Missiles:
- AIM-9D Sidewinder
- AIM-9G Sidewinder
- AIM-54A Phoenix
Air-to-Ground Low-Drag Bombs:
- MK 81 (250 lb)
- MK 82 (500 lb)
- MK 83 (1,000 lb)
- MK 84 (2,000 lb)
Air-to-Ground High-Drag Bombs:
- MK 81 (250 lb) Snakeye
- MK 82 (500 lb) Snakeye
Incendiary Bombs:
- MK-77 Mod 2
- MK-79
Rockets:
- LAU-3A/A
- LAU-10/A
- LAU-32A/A
Drop Tanks:
- 2 x 450 Gal Wing Tanks
Cockpit
F-111B Album
F-111B with Phoenix Missiles
Conclusion | Why it should be in the game
The F-111B is a unique aircraft that could provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between the naval F-4 Phantom and the F-14A Tomcat in the naval aircraft line of the United States aviation tech tree. Players would get to play the rare Aardvark variant capable of carrying long-range missiles with sophisticated radar. It is also configured to take off and land from an aircraft carrier. If it makes it into the game, it should represent a pre-production variant of F-111Bs with Serial Numbers 152714 and 152715.
- General Dynamics F-111B Standard Aircraft Characteristics (1st July 1967)
- General Dynamics F-111B Flight Manual (15th May 1968)
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/13_sep2018-cancelled-f111b-1-180969916/
- F-111 Aardvark
- UNDERWAY F-111B
- Tailhook Topics: Search results for F-111B
- General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B - Wikipedia
Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃
