I still don’t know what’s so terrible about reviving and modernizing the E/F-111 + A-10 + B-1 package for CAS. The F-111’s may be in the boneyard but I think they could do some good in “regional stability situations”, especially with upgrades to avionics and weaponry. However, I’d heard there were some undesirable attributes and characteristics of the F-111 but I don’t remember what they were.
Believe the wings had a habit of falling off in the early days! It was pretty much McManure’s AF version of the Edsel.
F-111 is expensive to operate and a nugget killer.
The E/F-111? The B-1? For Close Air Support? You’re kidding, right?
Only the poor Air Force could believe for on second that those beasts would be suitable close air platforms.
The primary requirements for close air are tight integration with the supported ground force, the correct and appropriate effects required, and infallible precision. The Aardvark and the Bone are flying dump trucks and require hundreds of square miles of airspace to maneuver.
CAS aircraft need to perform like the A-10 or the A-4 or the A-6 or the blessed A-1. Tight maneuver, tailored and precise weapon packages and intimate connection to the supported troops. Even the F-4 was marginal for CAS except in the most skilled hands.
We like to see their faces before we call “wings level, clear and hot”.
As a former F-111A maintenance troop from a looooong time ago, if we were to revive any F-111s from the boneyard, my very strong vote would be for the EF-111A, modernized, and brought up to EA-18G countermeasures standards.
The F-15E is more than an adequate replacement for the F-111 in the strike role, so in my view there would not be any advantage to bringing back the F-111F, which would be the only model worth bringing back at all.