While shorter ranged aircraft are far cheaper to maintain and use, the F-111 struck a weird medium between the tactical strike aircraft and the strategic bomber. In that role, the F-111 was only replaced by the B-1 Lancer. The range was also greatly appreciated by Strategic Air Command, which fielded the FB-111 variant as a strategic bomber. F-111s based in the United Kingdom were used to strike Libya during Operation El Dorado in 1986. The F-111’s additional range allowed it to be strategically flexible. Expand your options of fun home activities with the largest online selection at. Comparing ferry ranges, the F-111 has over 60 percent more range than the F-15E Strike Eagle, with the Strike Eagle using external fuel tanks. Both the initial requirements for the Navy and the Air Force required that the F-111 have a massive range. The Strike Eagle could also fight enemy aircraft on its own, as it inherited the powerful air-to-air radar and integration with the latest air-to-air missiles from its parent aircraft, the regular F-15. It could use targeting pods, it had a modern glass cockpit, and it could do low-level insertion. The Pave Tack was used to great effect during Operation Desert Storm to destroy individual tanks with accurate hits from laser-guided bombs.īut the F-111’s replacement, the F-15E Strike Eagle could do all of these things too. Moorabbin Air Museum, Moorabbin Picture: F-111 cockpit under power - Check out Tripadvisor members 186 candid photos and videos of Moorabbin Air Museum. It allowed the aircraft to self-designate targets for attack with laser-guided munitions. The two crew members sit side-by-side in an air-conditioned, pressurized cockpit module that serves as an emergency escape vehicle and as a survival shelter on land or water. It can operate from tree-top level to altitudes above 60,000 feet. The F-111 also received the AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack targeting pod, a device that combined a laser designator with an IR camera. The F-111 is a multipurpose tactical fighter bomber capable of supersonic speeds.
It also featured some of the most advanced avionics of the time. The F-111D was one of the first combat aircraft with a “glass cockpit,” that featured primarily screens instead of gauges to display information.
#F111 COCKPIT UPGRADE#
The Air Force was pleased with its performance and continued to upgrade the F-111.
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