“
just like its nominal predecessor, the F-111
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Somewhere in my book collection, I have a small book on failed aircraft.
I remember that after all the work on the F-111, one military officer
said (in so many words) “All the thrust in Christendom couldn’t
turn the F-111 into a fighter!”.
True or not, it was an interesting comment.
True or not, it was an interesting comment.
True. Manual wing sweep, poor visibility due to the side-by-side seating and no rearward view, very basic air-to-air radar with no doppler look-down capability and could only track one target at a time, and a gun that replaced one of the internal bomb bay doors.
It was a low level penetrator for the Air Force, and was going to be a standoff AIM-54 launch platform for the Navy.
Regardless of weight issues, the Navy was never going to accept the F-111B as a fleet defense aircraft, nor should they.