The F-111 Aardvark has an extensive and somewhat troubled history of development, but has prevailed as an excellent long range strike aircraft, which has still not been matched by any modern US aircraft in terms of payload and range for it's size.
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| A nice comparison between the two Varks. The EF-111 Raven in the foreground and the F-111 Aardvark in the background. Pic from Wikipedia. |
But we are here to talk about it's sister, the EF-111 Raven. Also known by the nickname of the 'Spark Vark'. What it's story boils down to, is that the Air Force recognized the need for dedicated Electronic Warfare (EW) and Jamming aircraft to increase survivability against SAM and Radar guided AAA, as well as reduce or eliminate the detection of strike aircraft on missions. The Air Force was using converted older bombers like the EB-66 and EB-57 for those duties in Vietnam, but those aircraft were reaching the end of their service lives. Not only that, but the service was also in need of updating the EW equipment to a more powerful and efficient type, and the Air Force specifically requested a supersonic airframe to replace them.
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| A picture of the second aircraft converted to Raven configuration. A darn pretty looking aircraft too. Pic also from Wikipedia. |
So, the Air Force has some leftover older F-111As with low flight time laying around and contacted the greatest aircraft manufacturer around (Grumman) to convert them to dedicated EW aircraft. Basically, it uses the some of the same (but modified) jamming pods and equipment that the Navy and USMC's EA-6Bs use, but in a more long range, and supersonic platform that the Air Force preferred. 42 Examples were converted and delivered to the Air force, with them reaching initial operational capability in 1983.
The Raven served in a few operations with distinction, but the real claim to fame for the Raven was in Desert Storm, when it managed to maneuver kill an Iraqi Mirage F-1. As in, it didn't use any weapons, as the EF-11's are unarmed, but managed to force the Iraqi pilot to crash into the ground. Only one Raven was ever lost in combat (but not to enemy fire), and no friendly aircraft was ever lost to enemy action when an EF-111 was on station.
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| Preparing to launch at a base in Saudi Arabia. Pic sourced from Wikipedia. |
That concludes the real development and operational history of the plane, but the real sad and interesting bit of the story is told by the ghost of Christmas future. Basically, now that stealth aircraft have become so much more common, stealth's power will soon be negated by more advanced radars using different bands, more sensitive infrared sensors, and other optical detection systems. The real solution to aircraft survival in future war is pointing more and more to EW again. However, for some bone-headed reason, the Air Force has opted out of EW aircraft entirely, retiring the last of the Ravens in 1998. Thus, leaving only the Navy and USMC to carry on the EW role.
Not too long before the Raven was retired though, there was talk of an advanced variant to carry it into the future, that would have had the ability to carry bombs, AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles, and AIM-9 Sidewinders for self defense. That would have pushed it into the legal territory of most effective EW aircraft ever made.
Also, proposed by an Australian think tank, was for Australia to buy the old US inventory of F-111s to continue to support their aging fleet of Aarvarks, and supplement them with the old US EF-111 Ravens and upgrade them to a very impressive standard. Their proposed upgrades would have included converting them to GE-110 Engines to replace the TF-30 engines, much like the F-14 Tomcat did, which would give it a MASSIVE performance boost. Another aspect would have been adding a large AESA radar to the platform, along with a newer, larger underbelly jamming pod with a higher capability. That would have been one hell of an EW aircraft.
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| Read all about it here along with all their proposed upgrades to the Aardvark |
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