The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" is a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also fills the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s and first entering service in 1967, the United States Air Force (USAF) variants were officially retired by 1998. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the sole remaining operator of the F-111.

The F-111 pioneered several technologies for production military aircraft including variable-sweep wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and automated terrain following radar for low-level, high-speed flight. Its design was influential, being reflected in later Soviet aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-24, and some of its advanced features have since become commonplace. During its inception, however, the F-111 suffered a variety of development problems, and several of its intended roles, such as naval interception through the F-111B, failed to materialize.

In USAF service the F-111 has been effectively replaced by the F-15E Strike Eagle for medium-range precision strike missions, while the supersonic bomber role has been assumed by the B-1B Lancer. In 2007, the RAAF decided to replace its 21 F-111s in 2010 with 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RAAF General Dynamics F-111C "Aardvark" strike aircraft that was known as the "Combat Lancer", then deployed to Takhli RTAB, Thailand, during 1968. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 12-1/4-inches
Length: 10-1/2-inches

Release Date: October 2023

Historical Account: "Combat Lancer" - In the fall of 1967, PACAF began deployment planning for its first General Dynamics F-111As, the initial Air Force version of the TFX (for "Tactical Fighter Experimental"), the most controversial of all of the McNamara era's joint-service "commonality" airplanes, intended as "cost effective" alternatives to aircraft procured via traditional acquisition processes.

The F-4, OV-10, and A-7 programs demonstrated that if properly conceived and executed, commonality could work, but, as told by Richard P. Hallon in his book Rolling Thunder 1965-68, with the TFX, McNamara had attempted the impossible - building a successful airplane by merging inherently contradictory requirements: a Navy requirement for a long-loiter fleet air defense fighter with a large and powerful radar and new long-range missiles; an Air Force requirement for a supersonic-dash nuclear and conventional strike aircraft; and the Kennedy administration's requirement that the resulting design also be capable of operating off austere airfields, reflecting its fixation on counterinsurgency (COIN).

Key to meeting all these was a large variable-geometry wing that fully extended to generate the lift necessary to achieve long-range and long-loiter, but swept sharply back to reduce drag, permitting supersonic dash. In 1963, Congressional investigators found that the McNamara team had rejected the recommendations of service and NASA professionals when it selected General Dynamics over a more highly regarded Boeing design.

Once in flight testing the TFX revealed serious performance and safety deficiencies, many requiring redesign. The F-111B carrier-based variant, greatly overweight and dangerously under-powered, never entered fleet service, forcing the Navy to develop a substitute, the Grumman F-14A Tomcat, which first flew over a dozen years after the F-4 had taken to the air.