Speed wasn't the only thing the F-111 had going for it. It had the distiction of being able to do it's job (deep Strike Interdiction) alone. It could accurately deliver weapons on target in any weather, at night without needing Foward air control, tanker support, Combat air patrol, or radar jamming and ECM. The plane carried a built-in ECM suite and RHAW system (radar homing and warning), without the need of an external pod, to alert them of threats. Most other jets have these systems attached externally and/or fly with other aircraft to perform these functions. The F-111s were always restricted to Sub-sonic range egress at Red Flag after the first couple of days because they were causing damage to the range equipment due to their low-level speed. One memorable excercise we had was an 'infiltration' excercise we flew 'against' the F-15s at Otis AFB, MA. The base is on the North East Coast of the U.S. and was a Fighter-Interceptor Squadron to intercept any enemy aircraft that would try to approach our airspace. 2 of our F-111s were told to fly out over the Atlantic and approach the base whereupon they would be detected, the F-15s would scramble and intercept the 'enemy' aircraft. According to our pilots, they not only flew into our airspace but flew right over the base undetected. They were told they were flying too low, too fast to be detected, and to go around and approach again only slower and higher!
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