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      • Chris Hobson
      • Dave Lovelady
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    • Background to the Wars in Southeast Asia
    • 1961 to 1964: Civil War in Laos/Early Operations in South Vietnam
    • 1965: Escalation of the War/Start of Rolling Thunder
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    • 1967: Rolling Thunder - The Peak Year
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The F-111 and Combat Lancer (Mar 1968)

The General Dynamics F-111 strike aircraft had first flown in December 1964 and had gathered an unfortunate reputation during its testing and evaluation programme. A complex design in terms of both aerodynamics and avionics, the swing-wing F-111 did have its share of problems but was ultimately to prove to be a superb aircraft for low-level strike, especially in weather conditions that precluded normal operations. The most advanced combat aircraft in the world at the time of its deployment, the F-111A’s performance was impressive. The aircraft had a top speed of 1,650 mph and a range of 1,500 miles with its maximum bomb load of up to 30,000lbs. Its advanced terrain-following and blind-bombing radars gave it a unique capability as a low-level, all-weather strike aircraft. The first production aircraft made its initial flight on 12 February 1967 and was delivered to Nellis AFB, Nevada in July of that year. In an attempt to answer some of the criticisms of the aircraft’s performance, it was decided to form a small detachment for an operational deployment to Southeast Asia. The 4480th TFW was formed at Nellis AFB on 15 July 1967 and Detachment 1 of the 4481st TFS was prepared for the deployment to Takhli under the command of Col Ivan Dethman. The unit of six F-111As was redesignated as Detachment 1 of the 428th TFS when the Wing was upgraded to the 474th TFW. Despite misgivings by the air and ground crews that the aircraft was not yet ready for combat, political pressure overcame military caution and the Detachment took off from Nellis on 15 March 1968 and deployed to Thailand under the code name Combat Lancer. Col Dethman and Capt Rick Matteis flew the first combat mission on 25 March, the first mission of a short and unhappy deployment.

 

 

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© Chris Hobson and David Lovelady. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
      • Chris Hobson
      • Dave Lovelady
    • About the Book
    • About the Data
    • About this Site
  • Sidelines
    • Background to the Wars in Southeast Asia
    • 1961 to 1964: Civil War in Laos/Early Operations in South Vietnam
    • 1965: Escalation of the War/Start of Rolling Thunder
    • 1966: Rolling Thunder Gets into its Stride
    • 1967: Rolling Thunder - The Peak Year
    • 1968: Tet, Khe Sanh, and the End of Rolling Thunder
    • 1969: Interdiction on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
    • 1970: The Year of Withdrawal
    • 1971: A Much Reduced Presence
    • 1972: The Spring Invasion/Linebacker Campaigns
    • 1973: Winding Up the War
  • Statistics
    • Loss Statistics
    • Losses Due to Air Base Attacks
    • Losses Due to Accidents on the Ground or Aboard Ship
    • US Air Force Loss Statistics
    • US Navy Loss Statistics
    • US Marine Corps Loss Statistics
  • Details
    • Order of Battle
    • Index of Names
    • Abbreviations and Glossary of Operations, Code Names, and Projects
    • Bibliography
  • Searching the Database
    • Hints on How to Search
    • Notes and Caveats
    • Search Forms
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact Us
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