The first practical American 'swing wing' aircraft was the General Dynamic F-111. Originally planned on being a multi-service aircraft, the USN pulled out of the program as the aircraft was far too large for its needs, though it did help to develop the Phoenix missile system and radar later used on the F-14 Tomcat. For the USAF, it was designed to take the place of the F-105 as their primary strike bomber. The aircraft had several innovations such as Terrain Following Radar (TFR) and a crew escape capsue instead of individual bang seats. It also had swing wings which allowed the aircraft to switch from a more fuel efficient near straight wing to a fully swept back position for high speed dashes. Eventually the aircraft was developed into the FB-111A strategic bomber as well as the EF-111A electronic jamming aircraft. Foreign sales were made to Australia, the only other country to fly the aircraft.

This particular edition concentrates on the F-111 in combat. The plane was developed in time for use during the Vietnam war and very early production aircraft were deployed under project Combat Lancer in 1968. Despite a lot of bad press and some losses, the aircraft proved to be quite capable, the long range of the aircraft not requiring refueling during the mission, the TFR allowing the plane to be pretty much immune from SAMs and A-A due to its low operating altitude, and its speed being such that it was past defenses before they had a chance to act. It was also able to do single aircraft route planning, so the enemy was unable to predict from where the aircraft would arrive, something the F-4s and F-105s were unable to do.

One of the more interesting aspects of the aircraft was that it was a two seat plane. This did not fit well with F-105 pilots who were ordered into 111 units as navigators. Initially there was a lot of resistance with many pilots leaving the service rather than be the second seater. It also caused a dearth of available aircrew. The first major deployment came during Linebacker II in 1972 when the Nellis based 474 TFW scrambled to get enough crews together to send the plane back into the war. These aircraft were all based in Thailand and the use of the long range 111s resulted in a considerable number of KC-135s being withdrawn from the theater as they were not needed. It was here that the 111 showed its full capabilities and while some were shot down by small arms fire, none were lost to SAMs or MiGs. The latter mostly because the 111s flew at night.

The next big use of the 111 was in 1990/91 during Desert Shield/Storm. This time it was Upper Heyford and Lakenheath based F-111Fs that were involved. By this time, most of the extant F-111As had been converted to EF-111A jammers, using what is basically EA-6B electronics. Again, the aircraft showed their capabilities in this war. In between there was operation Eldorado Canyon where, in 1986, the F-111 was tasked with missions against Libya and the combination of F-111F and EF-111As proved to be a good match. By the time of Bush Jr's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 111 had been retired from service.

Typical of books in this series, we get a look at the development of the aircraft as well as its use during the various conflicts in which it served. Full of unit reports and pilot stories, it makes for excellent reading, one of the reasons the series is so popular. It is also full of well chosen period photos of the aircraft and their crews. All of this is additionally enhanced by several pages of full color profiles. These are organized according to the units that flew the plane and the time period involved, giving one a pretty complete picture of the aircraft over the years.

In all, another excellent book from Osprey and a title that I know you will enjoy reading and using as reference. As always, highly recommended.

April 2014

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