Original author: Spark1645

General Dynamics F-111B Aardvark

The General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B was developed as a long-range carrier-based interceptor follow-on to the F-4 Phantom II. It was developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics in conjunction with Grumman for the United States Navy (USN) as part of the joint Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) with the United States Air Force (USAF) to produce a common fighter across services for a variety of missions. The F-111B incorporated innovations such as variable-geometry wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and the long-range AWG-9/AIM-54 Phoenix weapons system.

Designed in parallel with the F-111 "Aardvark", which was adopted by the Air Force as a strike aircraft, the F-111B suffered development issues and changing Navy requirements for an aircraft with maneuverability for dogfighting. The F-111B was not ordered into production and the F-111B prototypes were used for testing before being retired. The F-111B would be replaced by the smaller and lighter Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which carried over the engines, AWG-9/Phoenix weapons system, and similar swing-wing configuration.

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The AIM-54 I built replaced the AIM-54 used by Spark1645