page_title: General Dynamics F-111K
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: General Dynamics F-111K / Development / Background
caption_attribution_description: Sourced from: http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil Details: ID: DFST8300042 Service Depicted: Other Service Front view of two Royal Australian Air Force F-111 aircraft in flight during exercise Kangaroo '81. Location: RAAF AMBERLEY, QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA (AUS) Camera Operator: MSGT CURT EDDINGS Date Shot: 1 Oct 1981 National Archive# NN33300514 30 Jun 2005
context_page_description: The General Dynamics F-111K was a planned variant of the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft by General Dynamics, to meet a requirement for such an aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
  The project was initiated in 1965 following the cancellation of the BAC TSR-2 strike aircraft. The aircraft was planned as a hybrid of several variants of the F-111 as a way of producing an aircraft for the specific needs of the United Kingdom. A RAF order for 50 aircraft, made in 1967, was cancelled a year later.
context_section_description: In the early 1960s, the British Aircraft Corporation was in the process of developing a new strike aircraft for the Royal Air Force to replace the English Electric Canberra. This aircraft, designated as "TSR-2" (Tactical Strike and Reconnaissance), had a large set of requirements listed by the government, and had led to TSR-2 becoming a hugely complex machine; it was intended that it be able to undertake both conventional and nuclear strike missions at high and low level, in all weathers, at supersonic speeds. As a consequence, the costs of the project began to increase, leading to it becoming the most expensive aviation project in British history, at a time when defence spending was being cut. This led to the RAF being asked to look for potential alternatives to TSR-2, in the event of it being cancelled.
  At the same time, the Australian government was looking for a replacement for the Canberras operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and was investigating a number of options, including the TSR-2 and the General Dynamics F-111 then being developed for the US TFX Program. The versatility of the F-111 and uncertainty over the TSR-2 led, in 1963, to contracts for the RAAF-specific General Dynamics F-111C. 
  An incoming Labour government expressed its support for the TSR-2, although the RAF was asked to also evaluate the F-111 as a cheaper option. In April 1965, the TSR-2 was officially cancelled and the RAF again looked at the possibility of acquiring up to 110 F-111s.
  No firm commitment was made to the F-111 until the publication of the 1966 Defence White Paper, although it was the government's preferred option. Following the publication of the defence review, it was announced that up to 50 F-111s would be procured for the RAF; like the Australian version, these would be highly adapted to suit the unique set of British requirements. The intention was to form an initial four operational squadrons, plus an Operational Conversion Unit, with two stationed in the UK and two forming part of the UK's forces East of Suez. The intention was that long-range, land based F-111s would be used to replace the strike capability of the CVA-01 aircraft carriers that were cancelled in the White Paper. Although there was no public announcement as to specific squadrons that would receive the F-111, a document from early 1966 by the AOC-in-C of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle, indicated that 12 Squadron (then a Vulcan squadron assigned to the strategic nuclear role), together with the inactive 7 (previously Valiant), 15 (Victor) and 40 (Canberra) Squadrons, would receive the aircraft upon their delivery.
  In April 1966, a firm order was placed for 10 F-111s for the RAF, with options for another 40, covering the standard F-111K models and a number of dual-control TF-111K trainers, with the purchase price set around £2.1m ($5.95m) per unit (1965 prices). This was intended to show a significant reduction in cost when compared with the development and estimated production costs of TSR-2. At the same time, a pair of Victor squadrons had been moved out of RAF Honington, which was earmarked for conversion to accommodate the F-111 force. However, at the same time the actual cost of F-111 production had increased; in April 1967, when the RAF's 40 additional aircraft were ordered, the per unit cost of the F-111C for the RAAF was US$9m. This eventually led to an admission from the British government that the cost would increase from the initial figure set out – in 1967, the then Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey, stated that adjusting for inflation was taken into account, which would add approximately 2.5% to the cost of each aircraft. This did not include the cost of installing the British adaptations. The total estimate cost by the time the last aircraft was due to be delivered in 1970 was approximately £2.7m. Despite this, the government still maintained that the F-111 programme (combined with the proposed AFVG aircraft) would be cheaper than TSR-2 to the tune of approximately £700m.
caption: The RAAF selected the F-111 as its preferred option, a decision seen as being crucial to the cancellation of TSR-2 and the UK purchasing the F-111 instead.[3]
exif: {}