“The F-111 ended up being a fine aircraft..”
It did. Unfortunately, for the Australian Air Force, not ours.
I respectfully disagree. Over its 31 year operational career with the US Air Force, the F-111 in most configurations proved to be a very good strike aircraft. It received a bad reputation due to the association with the TFX program. The aircraft was not a failure in its ultimate role with the Air Force, rather the bureacrats failed to see that you can’t put a square peg in a round hole. In the end it was a good Air Force platform...not a sufficient platform for the Navy. The difference with the F-35 is that nobody in the military is demanding an end to the multi-service aircraft concept this time. The military needs to buck up and tell Congress this dog don’t hunt...just like the Navy did with the F-111B. Don’t make the common mistake that the F-111 was a bad airframe for the ultimate role it ended up serving...and once they ironed out the early production/design issues.
The F-111 was the one aircraft the Russians feared.