General Dynamics F-111F Aardvark "City of Santa Fe"
Beginning in the early 1960s, the USAF sought a replacement for the F-105 Thunderchief: while the F-105 was a good aircraft, it needed long runways that would be vulnerable in wartime and was not as long-ranged as the USAF might like. Simultaneously, the US Navy noticed that Soviet antiship missiles were becoming more advanced and longer-ranged, which would put their current fleet defense aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II, at a disadvantage. The Navy was especially interested in the AIM-54 Phoenix that provided very long-range capability. Though the two services wanted vastly different aircraft, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered that both seek a common aircraft to save money and development time, as had been done with the F-4; McNamara’s order came over the objections of both USAF and Navy researchers. Nonetheless, the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) project began work in 1961.
Immediately, TFX ran into trouble. The Navy wanted side-by-side seating with a maximum speed of Mach 2 and a fuselage length adequate for carrier operations; the USAF wanted tandem seating with a maximum speed of Mach 2.5 and a long fuselage for better performance. About the only things the two services could agree on was the need for two engines and variable sweep wings, which would satisfy both services’ need for shorter distance takeoffs and landings. Only Boeing and General Dynamics’ proposals reached mockup stage, and McNamara personally ordered the General Dynamics design based on its better commonality of parts, despite the services preference for the Boeing version and the fact that General Dynamics had never built a naval fighter before. The new aircraft was designated F-111, in theory making it the last of the Century Series.
The problems with the F-111 now compounded. The F-111B carrier defense fighter was inadequate in every way, lacked the performance the Navy wanted, and it was too heavy for carrier operations. The F-111B was cancelled in 1967—though its AWG-9 fire control system and the Phoenix missile would live on in the F-14 Tomcat. The USAF’s F-111A had somewhat easier development, flying first in December 1964. Wing cracks and intake issues were addressed, and the F-111A entered USAF service in July 1967, then deployed to Vietnam under Project Combat Lancer in 1968.
Combat Lancer was a miserable failure: of six F-111As sent to Vietnam, three were lost in a month. The F-111 was grounded and in danger of cancellation until the USAF discovered the problem: the “box” that contained the wing sweep mechanism was flawed, as were the tailplanes, which could lock downwards without warning. The latter was traced to a glitch in the terrain-following computer, but the wing box problems were known by General Dynamics before delivery—and ignored to meet contract requirements. The troubles of the F-111 led to derisive nicknames from its crews, such as the “Supersonic Edsel,” “McNamara’s Folly,” and “Aardvark,” due to its long nose and propensity to stick it into the ground. The latter nickname stuck and became the informal name for the aircraft, though it would not be until 1995 that the USAF officially named the F-111 Aardvark.
Following personnel changes at General Dynamics and yet more rework to the design, F-111s returned to Vietnam in September 1972, with some trepidation. This time, however, the F-111 finally proved itself: operating without tanker or jamming support, F-111s would attack North Vietnamese targets alone, at night and often in bad weather, moving so quickly and so low that North Vietnamese air defense could not react in time. Though clearly the Aardvark was no fighter, as a strike aircraft it had few peers. Its terrain-following radar was the best in the world, and it combined high speed penetration with a good bombload.
The USAF began subsequent improvement of the design. The F-111D had an even more advanced fire control system, the first USAF aircraft to use a microprocessor computer, and better Triple Plow II intakes, which spared the Aardvark the catastrophic engine failure that plagued the other user of the TF30 engine, the F-14 Tomcat. The F-111D’s computer was plagued with trouble, so the USAF then fielded the F-111E/F variants, which had simpler fire control but better avionics; the F-111F was optimized for precision attack, equipped with the radar of the FB-111 and the AVQ-26 Pave Tack laser designator.
While the early F-111As were converted to EF-111A Raven ECM aircraft and the F-111D ended up being simply retired rather than fixed, the “simple” F-111E/Fs proved to be superb in USAF service. Australia was the only export customer for the Aardvark, flying F-111Cs from 1973; the United Kingdom cancelled its order of F-111Ks in 1968.
In 1986, F-111s spearheaded Operation Eldorado Canyon, which crippled the regime of Moammar Qaddafi in Libya, while during the First Gulf War of 1991, Aardvarks completely destroyed oil facilities at Kirkuk, used laser-guided bombs to destroy over 1500 Iraqi tanks, and completed nearly 80 percent of all precision attack sorties of the war—ahead of the newer and more advanced F-15E Strike Eagle and Tornado IDS.
This impressive effort was to be the Aardvark’s last. Though it remained in service until 1996, when it was retired from the USAF, it did not participate in any further combat operations. Replaced by the F-15E Strike Eagle, the F-111 left its mark on history and the USAF. A few ex-USAF F-111Gs were passed on to Australia, who continued to operate the Aardvark until finally it was retired for good in 2010. 563 were built, and 57 have been preserved in museums.
70-2408 is one of the few preserved F-111Fs; most Aardvarks on display are A or E models. This aircraft served most of its career (if not all) with the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, UK, and would serve in two conflicts: Operation El Dorado Canyon in April 1986 against Libya, and the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), where it operated from Taif, Saudi Arabia. When the 48th reequipped with F-15E Strike Eagles, 70-2408 either went into storage or served briefly with the 27th TFW at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. It was retired in the mid-1990s and placed on display at Santa Fe Municipal Airport.
For awhile, 70-2408 was not looking too well, with fading paint and rust on the airframe. It was recently refurbished, and looks much better. It wears the overall gunship gray used by the F-111 fleet in the twilight of its career, and carries "boss bird" markings for the 27th on the tail. The name "City of Santa Fe" is carried on the nose, below a subdued New Mexico state emblem. Under the cockpit is a list of all F-111 crews lost in action.
Finding 70-2408 is a little difficult: surprisingly, it's not at the entrance to the airport proper, but about halfway to the terminal, on a small turnout. I had seen this aircraft on Google Earth, and missed it due to time constraints on my first trip down to Phoenix in July 2020. When I got to make an unexpected second trip down in August and came back through New Mexico, I made sure to make a stop at Santa Fe to get this bird.
August 2020 was also a bad fire season in the American West; just above the nose of the F-111 is a firefighting CH-46 coming in for the day. (I wasn't able to get a picture before it landed.)
General Dynamics F-111F Aardvark "City of Santa Fe"
Beginning in the early 1960s, the USAF sought a replacement for the F-105 Thunderchief: while the F-105 was a good aircraft, it needed long runways that would be vulnerable in wartime and was not as long-ranged as the USAF might like. Simultaneously, the US Navy noticed that Soviet antiship missiles were becoming more advanced and longer-ranged, which would put their current fleet defense aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II, at a disadvantage. The Navy was especially interested in the AIM-54 Phoenix that provided very long-range capability. Though the two services wanted vastly different aircraft, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered that both seek a common aircraft to save money and development time, as had been done with the F-4; McNamara’s order came over the objections of both USAF and Navy researchers. Nonetheless, the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) project began work in 1961.
Immediately, TFX ran into trouble. The Navy wanted side-by-side seating with a maximum speed of Mach 2 and a fuselage length adequate for carrier operations; the USAF wanted tandem seating with a maximum speed of Mach 2.5 and a long fuselage for better performance. About the only things the two services could agree on was the need for two engines and variable sweep wings, which would satisfy both services’ need for shorter distance takeoffs and landings. Only Boeing and General Dynamics’ proposals reached mockup stage, and McNamara personally ordered the General Dynamics design based on its better commonality of parts, despite the services preference for the Boeing version and the fact that General Dynamics had never built a naval fighter before. The new aircraft was designated F-111, in theory making it the last of the Century Series.
The problems with the F-111 now compounded. The F-111B carrier defense fighter was inadequate in every way, lacked the performance the Navy wanted, and it was too heavy for carrier operations. The F-111B was cancelled in 1967—though its AWG-9 fire control system and the Phoenix missile would live on in the F-14 Tomcat. The USAF’s F-111A had somewhat easier development, flying first in December 1964. Wing cracks and intake issues were addressed, and the F-111A entered USAF service in July 1967, then deployed to Vietnam under Project Combat Lancer in 1968.
Combat Lancer was a miserable failure: of six F-111As sent to Vietnam, three were lost in a month. The F-111 was grounded and in danger of cancellation until the USAF discovered the problem: the “box” that contained the wing sweep mechanism was flawed, as were the tailplanes, which could lock downwards without warning. The latter was traced to a glitch in the terrain-following computer, but the wing box problems were known by General Dynamics before delivery—and ignored to meet contract requirements. The troubles of the F-111 led to derisive nicknames from its crews, such as the “Supersonic Edsel,” “McNamara’s Folly,” and “Aardvark,” due to its long nose and propensity to stick it into the ground. The latter nickname stuck and became the informal name for the aircraft, though it would not be until 1995 that the USAF officially named the F-111 Aardvark.
Following personnel changes at General Dynamics and yet more rework to the design, F-111s returned to Vietnam in September 1972, with some trepidation. This time, however, the F-111 finally proved itself: operating without tanker or jamming support, F-111s would attack North Vietnamese targets alone, at night and often in bad weather, moving so quickly and so low that North Vietnamese air defense could not react in time. Though clearly the Aardvark was no fighter, as a strike aircraft it had few peers. Its terrain-following radar was the best in the world, and it combined high speed penetration with a good bombload.
The USAF began subsequent improvement of the design. The F-111D had an even more advanced fire control system, the first USAF aircraft to use a microprocessor computer, and better Triple Plow II intakes, which spared the Aardvark the catastrophic engine failure that plagued the other user of the TF30 engine, the F-14 Tomcat. The F-111D’s computer was plagued with trouble, so the USAF then fielded the F-111E/F variants, which had simpler fire control but better avionics; the F-111F was optimized for precision attack, equipped with the radar of the FB-111 and the AVQ-26 Pave Tack laser designator.
While the early F-111As were converted to EF-111A Raven ECM aircraft and the F-111D ended up being simply retired rather than fixed, the “simple” F-111E/Fs proved to be superb in USAF service. Australia was the only export customer for the Aardvark, flying F-111Cs from 1973; the United Kingdom cancelled its order of F-111Ks in 1968.
In 1986, F-111s spearheaded Operation Eldorado Canyon, which crippled the regime of Moammar Qaddafi in Libya, while during the First Gulf War of 1991, Aardvarks completely destroyed oil facilities at Kirkuk, used laser-guided bombs to destroy over 1500 Iraqi tanks, and completed nearly 80 percent of all precision attack sorties of the war—ahead of the newer and more advanced F-15E Strike Eagle and Tornado IDS.
This impressive effort was to be the Aardvark’s last. Though it remained in service until 1996, when it was retired from the USAF, it did not participate in any further combat operations. Replaced by the F-15E Strike Eagle, the F-111 left its mark on history and the USAF. A few ex-USAF F-111Gs were passed on to Australia, who continued to operate the Aardvark until finally it was retired for good in 2010. 563 were built, and 57 have been preserved in museums.
70-2408 is one of the few preserved F-111Fs; most Aardvarks on display are A or E models. This aircraft served most of its career (if not all) with the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, UK, and would serve in two conflicts: Operation El Dorado Canyon in April 1986 against Libya, and the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), where it operated from Taif, Saudi Arabia. When the 48th reequipped with F-15E Strike Eagles, 70-2408 either went into storage or served briefly with the 27th TFW at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. It was retired in the mid-1990s and placed on display at Santa Fe Municipal Airport.
For awhile, 70-2408 was not looking too well, with fading paint and rust on the airframe. It was recently refurbished, and looks much better. It wears the overall gunship gray used by the F-111 fleet in the twilight of its career, and carries "boss bird" markings for the 27th on the tail. The name "City of Santa Fe" is carried on the nose, below a subdued New Mexico state emblem. Under the cockpit is a list of all F-111 crews lost in action.
Finding 70-2408 is a little difficult: surprisingly, it's not at the entrance to the airport proper, but about halfway to the terminal, on a small turnout. I had seen this aircraft on Google Earth, and missed it due to time constraints on my first trip down to Phoenix in July 2020. When I got to make an unexpected second trip down in August and came back through New Mexico, I made sure to make a stop at Santa Fe to get this bird.
August 2020 was also a bad fire season in the American West; just above the nose of the F-111 is a firefighting CH-46 coming in for the day. (I wasn't able to get a picture before it landed.)