Word: 111b
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...Vought, maker of the gull-winged propeller-driven Corsair fighter of World War II, produced the first craft in 18 months, has since delivered more than 125 Corsair IIs to the Navy, which has ordered 1,500 (estimated cost per craft: $1.4 million, v. $9.75 million for the F-111B). The Air Force has ordered approximately 500. The Corsair II will replace the Navy's A-4E Skyhawk and the Air Force's F-100 Super Sabre...
...conceived as the world's most sophisticated combat aircraft, the F-lll has flunked many of its courses-mostly in political science. Last week Congress gave the swing-wing fighter-bomber its worst report card yet. A House-Senate Conference Committee recommended that the Navy model, the F-111B, not go into production until the plane shows beyond doubt that it can operate efficiently from aircraft carriers...
...Force, which is handling all F-111 procurement, gave General Dynamics an order for 493 planes to be delivered by 1970. Of the total, the Air Force will take 395 of its F-111A and FB-111 versions. The Navy, which is still unsatisfied with its model, the F-111B, will take only 24. Britain, with an order for 50, and Australia (24) account for the rest. Total value of the contract, which does not cover engines, weaponry and some electronics...
...Dynamics have had problems. The key swing-wing design, which permits 120-m.p.h. landings and supersonic dashes, has worked well, and the plane, in its 1,800 test flights to date, has hit speeds as high as Mach 2.5. But the Navy, in particular, has complained that the F-111B, which at 66 ft. and 35 tons has grown considerably from its design size and weight, is too long and too heavy for carrier operations. The price tag, too, has grown. Instead of the $2,800,000 each plane was originally expected to cost, estimates now put the F-111A...
...costs have already increased from $571 million to $1.5 billion. Instead of the $2,900,000 that each plane was supposed to cost when the contract was awarded, the price tag is now expected to be $5,000,000 for every F-111A, $8,000,000 for every F-111B. But the Defense Department continues to insist that the F-111 is a cost-cutting undertaking, partly because the Pentagon plans to convert it into a strategic bomber known as the FB-111, which would replace older...