Overview

The General Dynamics F-111 was a swing-wing tactical fighter, interdictor, nuclear bomber and electronic warfare aircraft developed in the early 1960s in the belief that requirements of the US Air Force and the Navy could be satisfied by a single design. The idea was flawed and the Navy never got its aircraft but the supersonic F-111 went on to be developed successfully by the Air Force for tactical strikes in Vietnam flying 4,000 combat missions for the loss of three aircraft and later in the Gulf War in 1991, where only 66 aircraft dropped over 80% of the laser-guided bombs deployed, destroying more than 1,500 Iraqi tanks. A version was used by Strategic Air Command in the nuclear-delivery role as a supersonic bomber to replace the Convair B-58 Hustler, another filled the function of electronic warfare and a variant was exported to Australia where it remained in service until December 2010. The US Air Force retired its last F-111 in 1998, replaced by the F-15E Strike Eagle. The F-111's importance lies in it being the first US variable-geometry aircraft to serve on the front line. As a story, the history of the F-111 embraces the evolution of variable-geometry wings, high performance jet engines and the transition to a greater emphasis on electronics, avionics, radar and stand-off weapons, each sector being efficiently adopted by the F-111.

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9781910809952

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Born in the UK, David Baker is an aerospace historian, consultant and writer covering the space programme, aviation, defence and international affairs. He has worked with NASA and the US Air Force on several specific projects and in 1984 set up an international space consultancy in London with an office in Trenton, New Jersey, USA, serving the insurance and banking market supporting commercial space activities. During that period he had extensive discussions with aerospace officials in Russia, China and Japan as well as most European countries, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In 1986, David was elected a voting member of the International Academy of Astronautics, presented by former NASA manned space flight boss, George Mueller in Sweden. Throughout his career, he has pursued an avid interest in aerospace history and has written over 120 books and served as editor of several other titles and the magazines Horizon (house journal of the former Smith's Industries), Aviation News and SpaceFlight, the monthly organ of the British Interplanetary Society. David has received several international awards for his work, including the 'Rolls-Royce Award for the Best Propulsion Submission, RAeS Aerospace Journalist of the Year 1998', was one of the recipients of the 'Arthur C Clarke Award 2006' and in October 2017 recipient of the American Astronautical Society's Frederick I Ordway III award 'for a sustained excellence in space coverage, through books and articles, as well as engagement in the early US Space Program'.

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