General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark – Gunboat Killer, 430th TFS, 347th TFW, USAF, Korat RTAB, Thailand, 1975

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA3032: General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark #67-0094 Gunboat Killer of 430th TFS, 347th TFW, USAF, Korat RTAB, Thailand, 1975. Production run of 500 models.

Length 12.25 inches Wingspan 10.5 inches

In May 1975, Cambodian communists hijacked the SS Mayaguez. Search aircraft could not locate the missing ship, but an F-111A crew used the aircraft’s powerful radar to find it. An F-111A also sank one of the communist gunboats guarding the hijacked ship.

Designed to meet the combined requirements of the US Air Force and the US Navy, the F-111 Aardvark was first flown on December 21, 1964. Several versions of the F-111 were developed, but the Navy cancelled its version in 1968 leaving the Air Force the F-111’s sole US operator. The Aardvark was well ahead of its time, pioneering such technologies as terrain following radar, afterburning turbofans and variable sweep wings. Though it was originally conceived as a multi-role fighter, it was better suited to a role as a long-range attack aircraft. It was armed with air-to surface ordnance and was equipped to carry free-fall nuclear weapons.