File:United States Air Force - General Dynamics FB-111A Aardvark fighter-bomber plane 3 (43464827544).jpg

(South Dakota Air and Space Museum collection, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota, USA)

The FB-111A Aardvark is a United States Air Force plane used in the 1960s to 1990s. It is a two-seater, double-jet engine, fighter-bomber plane.

From exhibit signage:

FB-111A Aardvark

Top Speed - 1,400 miles per hour Crew - 2 Range - Continental Payload - 2-4 nuclear-armed AGM-69 short range attack missiles

Flying Under the Radar

The FB-111 had Terrain-Following Radar. It could scan the ground ahead, feed its readings into the autopilot, and then remain at a constant low altitude without the pilot's control - at night, at hundreds of miles per hour. This gave aircrews a better chance of evading enemy radar. But it was also a tense experience.

"I like the thrill of the speed. I like being the only pilot on the airplane. I liked . . . flying a capable airplane that had some really neat systems on it. For example, the Terrain Following Radar System where the machine will keep you 200 feet off the ground, hands off. Now let's talk about this 'hands off' thing. This is hands off: where my right hand is around the stick but not touching it, and my left hand is on the throttle. That's hands off. Marvelous and capable aircraft but unlike the B-52 . . . I never really trusted it. But if you were on top of it all and never let the airplane get away from you, it was a treat to fly." - Frank Baehre quoted by Tyler Beck, "Oral History: the Pilots of Plattsburgh Air Force Base", 2014.

The F-111's variable sweep wings (or "swing wings") could draw in to improve its performance at higher speed or spread out for better performance at lower speeds. Engineers used lessons from the F-111 in designing the B-1 bomber's swing wings.

The Aardvark was named not because it looks like the African animal, but because it hunted at night with its nose close to the ground.

See info. at: