A short story of the RAAF’s F-111s
Much has been written about the F-111, and stories & conspiracy theories abound on the internet and social media, but for an Australian perspective go no further than Mark Lax’s (NAV – 16 OPCON) superb book:
From Controversy to Cutting Edge – A History of the F-111 in Australian Service_Mark Lax
or thesis: Australia’s Strategic Weapon: How the F-111 Changed the RAAF and Australian Defence Policy
Credit to Author: Mark Roger Lax (Publication Date: 2011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/15027)
General Dynamics – F-111 Production
General Dynamics was awarded the contract to build F-111s at United States Air Force Plant 4 Forth Worth, Texas. The same plant is now used by Lockheed Martin to build F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters.
(Trivia: the production line is just over a mile long, only in Texas !)
F-111s Manufactured by GD – 562 aircraft
RDT&E 30 x F-111A (5 Attrited)
TAC 129 x F-111A (39 Attrited)
USN 7 x F-111B (2 Attrited)
RAAF 24 x F-111C (7 Attrited)
TAC 96 x F-111D (21 Attrited)
TAC 94 x F-111E (18 Attrited)
TAC 106 x F-111F (28 Attrited)
SAC 76 x FB-111A (14 Attrited)
562 F-111s manufactured, 138 attrited
- Total F-111 crew module ejections = 80; 63 successful ejections
- RAAF 4 successful ejections; 1 fatal ejection
RAF 2 x F-111K (nearly completed)
F-111s Modified by GD
TAC 42 x EF-111A (3 Attrited) Modified F-111A
TAC 34 x F-111G (0 Attrited) Modified FB-111A
RAAF 15 x F-111G (1 Attrited) Modified FB-111A
RAAF 4 x F-111G (0 Attrited) Modified F-111A
RAAF 4 x RF-111C (0 Attrited) Modified F-111C
TAC 1 x RF-111A (0 Attrited) Modified F-111A
RDT&E 1 x FB-111A (0 Attrited) Modified F-111A
F-111 Aircraft Serial Numbers and Attrition – pdf
241013 F-111 Aircraft Serial Numbers and Attrition
(Disclaimer: tables derived from pdf table and www)