F-111 History

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)

Aviation Safety Network Database – F-111