![]() ![]() In yet another surprise and a controversial and unprecedented move at the time, McNamara rejected the selection board’s choice and announced that the TFX would be built by General Dynamics.Ĭongressional Investigation. In an unlikely development, after rejecting the very concept of the TFX, and strenuously resisting McNamara’s cost-saving drive toward “commonality,” the two services surprised many in the defense industry when they agreed that the Boeing design would meet both their needs. ![]() A joint US Navy-US Air Force selection board was convened to evaluate the Boeing and General Dynamics designs. Six aircraft manufacturers responded by the December 1961 deadline, and after preliminary review two proposals, from Boeing and General Dynamics, were the finalists. Friction continued unabated until in August 1961 both services formally rejected the TFX as “technically unfeasible.” McNamara intervened and put out a Request for Proposal, taking a direct hand in specifying the requirements, since the Navy and Air Force could not or would not agree. The Navy also insisted on changes that increased the TFX’ size and weight beyond the Air Force requirements: side-by-side crew positions, a large, 4-foot diameter radar scanner in a wide radome, and a massive internal missile bay (some of these characteristics would later appear in the A-6 Intruder as well as the F-14 Tomcat). The Navy on the other hand wanted a sub-sonic fleet defender with a powerful search radar, able to loiter for up to 8 hours 100 miles from a carrier group, to intercept and destroy intruding aircraft with multiple radar-guided long-range AIM-54 Phoenix missiles before they got anywhere close to the fleet - i.e., a long-range fighter/interceptor. of ordinance, and make a final high-speed low-altitude dash of at least 200 miles to its target at Mach 1.2 - in effect, a strategic bomber. On paper the Navy had been persuaded to accept the Air Force concept (Specific Operational Requirement 183), calling for a plane that could fly 3,300 miles without refueling, carry advanced avionics, fly at sustained supersonic speed while carrying 30,000 lbs. The key word was “commonality.”īut as the Navy and Air Force requirements grew more refined, it became clear that the missions of the respective aircraft, and hence the designs, were in conflict. The goal of TFX was to develop variants for the Navy and Air Force needs from a single airframe. But in 1961, looking to save “billions” in taxpayer dollars, newly minted SecDef Robert McNamara decided to combine the Navy and Air Force projects into a single requirement, called TFX, or Tactical Fighter Experimental. Had they been left to their own devices, they would have developed completely separate aircraft. Both services had pursued parallel but different designs since the late 1950’s. ![]() Both had experimented with “swing wings” or variable geometry wings as part of the design the Air Force with the Bell X-5, the Navy with Grumman’s XF10 Jaguar - due to performance advantages at high speeds with swept wings, and stable, low-speed handling when they were unswept.īirth of the TFX. The Navy, on the other hand, wanted a sub-sonic but highly maneuverable long-range fleet defense interceptor carrying multiple air-to-air missiles. The Air Force wanted a supersonic, tactical fighter to replace the Republic F-105 Thunderchief (another “fighter” that in practice was used almost exclusively as a bomber). Navy requirements for new combat aircraft, with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara lurking in the background, holding the shotgun. The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark originated from a forced marriage in 1961 between U.S. General Dynamics FB-111 Aardvark by HasegawaĬomments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit (instrument panel decals) separate leading and trailing edge slats for wings, option for four 600-gallon drop tanks, or two 600-gallon drop tanks with eight BLU-107 Durandal anti-runway bombs History ![]()
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