The Commonwealth has called for tenders for the destruction of the RAAF’s retired F-111Gs which are currently in open storage at Amberley.
The tender specifies the destruction of 13 F-111G airframes and 70 TF30 engines. It is understood the G models must be destroyed under US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITARS) rules rather than be put on display as gate guards or retained as ground training airframes, as in their former lives as USAF FB-111A bombers they were armed with nuclear Short Range Attack Missiles (SRAMs) and bombs. Fortunately, one F-111G, A8-272 ‘Boneyard Wrangler’, has been retained and is being prepared for display at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook near Melbourne.
The RAAF acquired 15 former USAF F-111Gs in 1993 to bolster its F-111 training stocks. One aircraft crashed with the loss of its crew in Malaysia in 1999, and the remaining 14 were retired in 2007.
