Was The Vietnam F-111 Ardvark Hybrid “Fighter-Bomber” Retired Too Early?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Were the U.S. and Australian workhorse F-111 Aardvark bomber retired too early?

Upon first examination, this simple question may seem rhetorical to an extent, as the bomber first blasted onto the scene as far back as its first flight in 1964. After a successful performance in Vietnam and other deployments, the F-111 was retired by the U.S. Air Force in 1998. Interestingly, the F-111 Aardvark was partially converted into more of an F-111G fighter aircraft following the arrival of the B1-B bomber.

F-111 Aardvark in Multi-Role Action

As a multi-role aircraft performing air attack, strategic bombing, reconnaissance, and other critical functions the F-111 Aardvark flew with both the U.S. Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force for decades.

The aircraft has an interesting “hybrid” kind of mission set and therefore, perhaps appropriately, looks a bit like a hybrid cross between a fighter, bomber, and spy plane with components of each. Pictures of the aircraft show air-to-air and air-to-ground types of weapons on pylons beneath the wings, yet the overall shape also seems to resemble the B1-B bomber with a well-sized fuselage with space for air-dropped bombs. This mix of combat capabilities did prove successful for the F-111 in Vietnam and arguably lends evidence to suggest that the aircraft could have flown well into this century.

Unique Aircraft

There are several schools of thought in this equation, and there is not one simple answer. Certainly, in terms of pure time, the F-16, F-15, B-52, and A-10 are decades-old airframes that have exceeded their anticipated service life by decades.

Upgrades to the 1980s-era F-15, for instance, make the airframe essentially and altogether a different aircraft than it was at its inception. New high-speed computing, Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, communications technology, and weapons have brought each of these aircraft well into this century and beyond. In fact, the F-15, F-16, and B-52 will likely fly into the 2040s.

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