At the time, SAMs were ineffective against low-flying aircraft, and interceptor aircraft had less of a speed advantage at low altitudes. The Air Force's Tactical Air Command (TAC) was largely concerned with the fighter-bomber and deep strike/interdiction roles. By 1960, SAC had begun moving to low-level penetration which greatly reduced radar detection distances. The United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) and the RAF Bomber Command's plans to send subsonic, high-altitude B-47 and V bomber formations into the USSR were now much less viable.
Besides greatly damaging US-Soviet relations, the incident showed that the Soviet Union had developed a surface-to- air missile that could reach aircraft above 60,000 feet (18,000 meters). The May 1960 U-2 incident, in which an American CIA U-2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR, stunned the United States government. The RAAF was the last operator of the F-111, with its aircraft serving until December 2010. The F-111 was replaced in USAF service by the F-15E Strike Eagle for medium-range precision strike missions, while the supersonic bomber role has been assumed by the B-1B Lancer. Several of its intended roles, such as an aircraft carrier-based naval interceptor with the F-111B, failed to materialize.USAF F-111s were retired during the 1990s with the F-111Fs in 1996 and EF-111s in 1998. The F-111 suffered a variety of problems during initial development. Its design influenced later variable-sweep wing aircraft, and some of its advanced features have since become commonplace.
The F-111 pioneered several technologies for production aircraft, including variable-sweep wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and automated terrain-following radar for low-level, high-speed flight. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) also ordered the type and began operating F-111Cs in 1973. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, it entered service in 1967 with the United Sta tes Air Force. The word "aardvark" is Afrikaans for "earth pig" and reflects the look of the long nose of the aircraft that might remind one of the nose of the aardvark. The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired American supersonic, medium-range inter dictor and tactical attack aircraft that also filled the roles of strategic nuclear bomber, aerial reconnaissance, and electronic-warfare aircraft in its various versions.
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