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1980-01-10
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FB-111A BOMBER
Wingspan (unswept): 70 ft.
Wingspan (swept): 33 ft., 11 in.
Length: 73 ft., 6 in.
Height: 17 ft.
Weight: 91,500 lbs.
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-7 turbofans
Engine thrust: 20,350 lbs.
Operating altitude: 57,900 ft.
Top speed: Mach 2.5
Maximum range: 4,100 miles
Date of service: 1967
The General Dynamics F-111 began flight test in 1964, when Defense Depart-
ment Secretary Robert McNamara conceived the idea that the Air Force and
the Navy could both use a tactical fighter-bomber. By time the prototype
made its debut, the two services had grown so far apart that the aircraft
was not able to meet the requirements of both. In 1968, the Navy dropped
out of the project, and the Air Force ordered 141 F-111As. These were
followed by 296 F-111D, E, and F aircraft, all with improved systems.
The two-seat strategic bomber derivative of the F-111, the FB-111, was
first flown on July 30, 1967. The FB-111 was given longer-span wings
and a strengthened undercarriage. Seventy six of the aircraft were
built for the Strategic Air Command.
When the FB-111s entered combat in Southeast Asia in 1967, many structual
defects were found. There were also problems with the then, experimental
terrain-following radar. The F-111 was withdrawn and re-introduced in
1972. It was a changed aircraft and came in so fast and so low that the
Viet Cong called the FB-111 "whispering death" because the first sounds
that could be heard from the aircraft were exploding bombs. Having proved
itself in the last year of the United States involvement in Vietnam, the
FB-111 went on to become the airplane of choice for the Tactical Air Com-
mand unit. The FB-111 gradually earned the respect of its aircrew and won
the nickname "Aardvark".
Described as the "workhorse" of the Persian Gulf War, the Aardvark flew over
4,000 sorties against armored formations, bridges, aircraft shelters, and
weapons production facilities, achieving a mission capable rate of eighty-
five percent. With a Mach 2 speed, the Aardvark is faster than other
American bombers, and when combined with a range exceeding that of American
fighters, makes it a unique and valuable airplane. Its bomber-like cock-
pit features side-by-side seating for the pilot and weapons systems operator.
The FB-111 can carry a 16-ton nuclear or conventional bomb or 13 tons of
bombs and four short range attack missiles carried on pylons located beneath
the wings. The wings can be changed in flight from nearly straight for a
slow level cruise to a delta configuration for high-speed flight.
In addition to its nuclear and conventional bombing capability, the FB-111
can carry up to twelve parachute-retarded rocket-boosted, runway attack
bombs for low-altitude high-speed delivery, and Gator, the United States
Air Force's first air-delivered mine system.