General Dynamics | ||||||||||||||||||||||
F-111 Aardvark
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F-111F Photo: Robert Deering 10/18/2012 National Museum of the USAF Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO) Dayton, Ohio |
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The F-111 was a
long-range, all-weather strike aircraft
capable of navigating at low level to
destroy targets deep in enemy territory. The
versatile F-111 Aardvark entered the U.S.
Air Force inventory in 1967,and the fighter
version was retired in 1996 (the electronic
warfare
EF-111A
served until 1998). The aircraft was
originally conceived in 1960 to combine the
USAF requirement for a fighter-bomber with
Navy's need for an air-superiority fighter,
though the Navy eventually cancelled its
program. Primarily a bomber, the F-111 featured a sweep wing varying between 16 degrees and 72.5 degrees, with side-by-side seating for a pilot and weapons systems officer. The F-111's wings are straight for take-offs, landings or slow speed flight; by sweeping its wings rearward, it could exceed twice the speed of sound (Mach 2). The F-111F was equipped with an all-weather AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack infra-red targeting designator/reader carried in a pod-mounted turret under the fuselage. It could track and designate ground targets for targets for laser, infra-red and electro-optical bombs. The F-111F was one of the most effective Allied aircraft in Operation Desert Storm (1991), flying more than 2,400 sorties against Iraqi strategic sites, vehicle formations and hardened bunkers. In all, 566 F-111s of all series were built; 106 of them were production F-111Fs. |
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