One of the most futuristic planes of its time, the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, was hard to overlook. It was crafted by combining ideas that were ridiculously ahead of their time, which made it elegant, formidable, and basically the first of its kind in the 1960s. The Aardvark wasn’t just a fast jet—it was the sun’s fusion of pure speed, rudimentary avionics, and flexibility jokingly dubbed “the Swiss Army Knife of the sky,” capable of quite literally replacing the entire air fleet. Despite being a product of politics and concessions, the F-111 matured into a machine that profoundly impacted the air forces of today.
The concept was developed in 1962 as part of the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) program. The idea was pretty simple; the Pentagon was looking for a single aircraft to perform deep strike, air superiority, and even nuclear missions. Sequentially, the concept would save maintenance and spare parts costs, and even simplification of pilot and crew training would be possible. The reality, however, was far from this ideal. The Navy was seeking a lighter and more agile aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier, while the Air Force was demanding considerable range and high payload capacity for the same aircraft.
In the end, the Navy withdrew, citing problems with the weight and coming in on the carrier, but the Air Force went on with it. It then followed the development of the F-111A for tactical bombing and FB-111A for delivering nuclear weapons over a long distance. It was General Dynamics that won the bid, and by 1964, the first production models were made ready for display.
The uniqueness of the F-111 has been its variable-geometry wings. The pilots could push them back to over 70 degrees to reach the fastest supersonic runs, or bring them forward to just 16 degrees for takeoff, landing, and slow-speed flight. With this, the Aardvark acquired the features the others lacked—being able to fire over 2.2 Mach, and then flying at treetop level to bypass enemy radar. Not only is it possible to take off from shorter landings or overfly the oceans without air-to-air refueling, but the speed and stealth of the aircraft also remain intact.
The aircraft was nothing short of a technological marvel. The terrain-following radar equipped aboard this aircraft enabled it to fly at very low altitude, even at night or in bad weather, and it would automatically adjust its altitude for safety. The avionics integrated navigation, targeting, and communications in a manner that was quite different from others. For crew safety, the escape pod method, which was detachable and not like the ejection seat, thus giving the pilots a higher chance of survival in an emergency (over land or water), was used.
The power plant consisted of two Pratt & Whitney TF30 afterburning turbofans, each of which was rated at over 25,000 pounds of thrust. As a result, the F-111 could easily reach over 2,500 nautical miles if it were running on just its internal fuel. Moreover, it was capable of carrying a very hefty arsenal – as many as 24 conventional or nuclear weapons, including guided bombs and short-range nuclear missiles. Besides that, the deep pylons, which hinged, even helped with proper alignment at external stores regardless of how the wings were angled.
Just as most jets of the time were specialized in doing only one thing or the other, the F-111 was still a very versatile multi-role aircraft. It could be a bomber, nuclear strike platform, reconnaissance jet, or electronic warfare plane—and in each, it did its job exceedingly well. Not only that, it was respected by friends and dreaded by foes.
The limited but impressive combat history of the F-111 was the source of its reputation. In the Vietnam War, the F-111 was turned to as the instrument of deep strikes on heavily defended targets, oftentimes at night, and thus was called “Whispering Death”. The F-111Fs participated in one of the longest fighter missions ever in Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986 when they flew 6,400 miles to attack Libya, after which they took off for another sortie. During the Gulf War, they were used for precision night strikes and destroyed over 1,500 armored vehicles and vital infrastructures – in some instances even outperforming the tank-busting A-10.
The EF-111A Raven, which was a specially designed variant, totally changed the basic concept of the model. The Grumman-modified one abandoned bombing in favor of electronic jamming. With its officer on the job of electronic warfare occupying the right-hand seat, the Raven was the closest ally of the strike aircraft during Desert Storm as it employed both radar and missiles to deceive the enemy. Only one EF-111A was lost in a defensive maneuver that caused an immediate change in the way the training was conducted, but the Ravens, on the whole, were indispensable in succeeding missions.
The impact of the F-111 was also present in the designs that came after it. The F-14 Tomcat, Panavia Tornado, and even a few Soviet planes were all borrowing the swing-wing technology of the F-111. In addition, its avionics and the ability to strike at low altitudes set the bar for other planes like the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35 Lightning II to continue improving on them.
On top of it all, however, the F-111, tough its ups and downs and political fights, was the very definition of a mainstay in the air capabilities of the US and Australia for almost 40 years. Its combination of speed, range, payload, and survivability was a testimony to the fact that plentyazing could be as good as specializing in one thing. The Aardvark has long since been retired, but the breakthroughs and the wins that it brought to light are still among the top things that today’s highly advanced warplanes have in common.
