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| Down Under |
| Australia retires last F-111 |
| 2010-12-14 |
| Australia retired the last of their 32 F-111C/Gs on December 3rd. Australia kept its F-111s for so long because of the aircraft's long range, and ability to carry lots of bombs and missiles over long distances. Australia is a big place, surrounded by vast oceans. So the F-111 provided an aircraft that could get to where it was needed quickly and do what needed to be done. In the end, however, the growing expense of keeping the complex, and aging, aircraft operational led to their retirement. Smart bombs made the large payload of the of the F-111 less useful. So, after more than four decades of service, the Vark faded away. So, what does Australia have now that can reach Jakarta? Look at a map: Indonesia, overpopulated, high Islamic population. Australia, underpopulated, Western nation. You do the math. |
| Posted by:gromky |
| #2 F111's used to fly over our school (very low) in the Flinders Ranges- they must have used the community for a way point, and they always flew away up the same gorge. We would all race out to see them, I remember two kids just amazed "Miss Cooper jumped over my desk!" Great planes, once they sorted them out. They had some patches that were older than the pilots. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2010-12-14 21:54 |
| #1 According to Wikipedia ( too cheap to buy Janes) they have various flavors of Lawn Darts and 5 A300s that are tankers to tow them to the scene of the action. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2010-12-14 15:02 |