Old flame ... the F-111. Source: The Daily Telegraph
Posted on 08/04/2009 10:44:39 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
F-111 - the RAAF's white elephant in the sky
By Ian McPhedran From: The Daily Telegraph
THE RAAF's venerated F-111 strike aircraft, known fondly as the "Pig", has become the world's most maintenance-intensive war plane.
By the time the remaining 18 F-111s retire late next year, taxpayers will have forked out hundreds of millions of dollars just to keep the 1960s jets in the air.
It takes maintenance crews 180 hours work for every hour that an F-111 jet stays aloft.
By comparison, support crews require only 30 hours for every hour that the world's most expensive fighter plane - the USAF F-22 Raptor stealth jet - spends in the air.
Australia is the only country operating the long-range, supersonic, two-seat F-111 strike aircraft and as such bears the entire cost of operating the planes. With its huge payload and long-range, the jet has had major deterrent value for Australia over the past 40 years but its systems are so out of date it would not last long in a modern war.
Meanwhile, the air force has started a push to have half of the Pigs' replacement aircraft, the Super Hornet, upgraded as electronic attack planes. Known as the "G" model or Growler, the electronic warfare aircraft have been wired for the array of jammers and counter measures that can render radars and weapons ineffective.
At the launch of the RAAF's first Super Hornet in St Louis, air force chief Mark Binskin said he was keen to equip the Amberley-based Super Hornets with Growlers.
"I would like to acquire it, it is that final part of the air combat capability," Air Marshal Binskin said.
Old flame ... the F-111. Source: The Daily Telegraph
Brought to you by McManara/Johnson. It was supposed to be a “universal” fighter-bomber for all services. Not supported by the military. Never successful.
I always seemed to like the high maint jets in the U.S. investory - B-58, F-111, B-1 to name a few.
IIRC, Khadafi might disagree on the F-111s success.
Yep I remember when working at GD for the F-16 and the doomed A-12 program that we stll would get TSAR’s and TFAR’s on the old old F-111 and this was back in the early 1990’s. Wow I can’t believe they are still flying them . . . I’m a stay-at-home-MOM now and haven’t kept up with the AF equipment very much.
McNamara
It was supposed to be a “universal” fighter-bomber for all services.
Navy and Air Force
Never successful.
BS
THE LIBYAN STRIKE:
HOW THE AMERICANS DID IT
Australian Aviation, July, 1986
by Carlo Kopp
© 1986, 2005 Carlo Kopp
At 01.00 hours on the 15th April, 1986 F-111Fs of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing thundered over the Libyan capital of Tripoli at 200ft in a precision strike which demonstrated both the resolve of the Reagan administration in dealing with state sponsored terrorism and also the capabilities of a new generation of weapon systems.
The strike was not entirely unexpected, the shootout between Libyan missileers and the US Navy two weeks earlier followed by the Libyan backed disco bombing in Berlin had set the stage for the strike, a precedent which set several additional precedents.
USAFE was alerted to the planned strike on the 11th April, preparations were concealed within a NATO exercise called Salty Nation which saw 16 KC-10 tankers deploy to RAF Mildenhall, with another 8 deploying to RAF Fairford with some 6 KC-135s reinforcing the existing 14 strong Mildenhall KC-135 units.
The joint air strike was under Navy command and would involve both TAC F-111 aircraft and Navy strike aircraft with the Navy also providing defence suppression aircraft.....[looooong>>>
http://www.ausairpower.net/Eldorado-Canyon.html
It was pretty good in this role: 
Yes...made Kadafi’s stronghold look like a Berlin Disco!
“It takes maintenance crews 180 hours work for every hour that an F-111 jet stays aloft.
By comparison, support crews require only 30 hours for every hour that the world’s most expensive fighter plane - the USAF F-22 Raptor stealth jet - spends in the air.”
Horseshit! When the F-111s retired from the USAF, their average flying cost ran a whopping 10% greater than the F-15, and the F-15 is cheaper to maintain than an F-22.
I think some here are conflating the RAF’s F-111 (pictures above) with the US’s F-111 (the black angled-looking stealth fighter - really a light bomber). Same designation, two VERY different planes!!!
If it were never successful, then why did the Airforce keep it longer than any one of the other "Century Series" aircraft?
Why did the Airforce convert some of them into EF-111 escort jammers?
Why did the Airforce buy the FB-111's?
The only role the F-111 was never successful in was the navalized version.
Um, that’s the US’s F-111 stealthy strike fighter, not the RAAF’s F-111. Same designation, two different airforces, and two VERY different planes.
YEP!!!!
I for got to high-light one part...the part about FRANCE, SPAIN AND ITALY!!!!
“Due to various political considerations the governments of France, Spain and Italy denied permission for the US aircraft to overfly their territory thus forcing the one elevens to fly around Spain and through the straits of Gibraltar. This increased the distance covered from around 1,300nm to over 2,800nm and mission duration from 6-7 hours to 13-14 hours with major endurance implications for the mission. “
OOOPS!!! My bad!!! You do have the correct F-111. Sheesh, don’t know where my brains are today!!!
Geez, major brain blowout today. I goofed bad — somehow confused “F-117” with “F-111.” Wow. Need More Coffee. Now...
RAAF
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