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http://www.key.aero/view_news.asp?ID=23 ... n=military" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;F-111s in final Pitch Black exercise
Updated: 14:38, Saturday July 24, 2010
Australia's ageing F-111 strike bombers are set to take part in their final multinational Pitch Black exercise.
Four F-111s from the RAAF's No 6 Squadron based at RAAF Amberley, Queensland, are taking part in the major exercise, which started in the Northern Territory on July 16.
Squadron commanding officer Wing Commander Micka Gray said F-111s arrived at Amberley in 1973, and No 6 Squadron had now flown this formidable strike jet for nearly four decades.
'The F-111 is just a magnificent aircraft. I first flew it 22 years ago as a young fella and I've flown a lot of hours in it,' he said in a statement.
'It touches you just to be part of the F-111 community whether you are flying it, maintaining it or supporting it.'
After 37 years, the F-111s are the longest serving aircraft in the RAAF fleet.
The aircraft was ordered off the drawing board in 1963, but technical problems meant the first one did not reach Australia for a decade.
Under current plans, the operational F-111 fleet, which now comprises 17 aircraft, will retire at the end of the year and be replaced by Boeing Super Hornets and then by the new Lockheed Martin Lightning Joint Strike Fighter later this decade.
Wing Commander Gray said the F-111 was an aircraft ahead of its time.
'It was one of the first twin-engine swing-wing aircraft and has enormous flexibility for range and endurance,' he said.
'It is affectionately known as the 'Pig' for its ability to hunt at night with its nose in the weeds, thanks to its terrain-following radar.'
Exercise Pitch Black is a three-week multinational air combat exercise, the largest conducted by the RAAF this year, run from RAAF bases at Darwin and Tindal.
The exercise brings together participants from the Australian Army and elements of the Singapore, New Zealand and Thailand air forces.
The F-111s will return to Darwin for Exercises Kakadu and Singaroo later next month.
