A member of No. 1 Squadron with an F111 on the flightline at RAAF Base Amberley prior to a night launch.

While Australia has committed itself to the Joint Strike Fighter Project, a review is under way to ensure the Air Force gets the most out of an aircraft that at present is its most potent asset.

In April the Australian Defence Force engaged the services of Boeing to conduct a review of the F-111s, which are planned to be phased out from 2015 to 2020.

The purpose of this review is to identify opportunities to maximise the availability of F-111C and RF-111C aircraft by using existing resources more effectively. The F-111 Value Chain Analysis Team consists of Defence Force and Boeing personnel, and the review will be conducted in phases.
The first phase involves the mapping of the value chain, where opportunities for improving performance are identified.

The purpose of the value chain is to continue to deliver strike reconnaissance capability using the F-111 aircraft to meet ADF requirements.
"The value chain analysis was not embarked upon specifically because of reseal/deseal or wing fatigue problems," the Officer Commanding No. 82 Wing, Group Captain Geoff Brown, said.

"However, these issues did highlight the need to increase aircraft availability,
"When you have owned and operated an aircraft for 30 years there will always be opportunities to improve your processes. The prevailing attitude was that if we had continued to simply do business as usual we would not have been able to meet the operational and training commitments of 82WG."

RAAF Base Amberley's 82WG, along with the Strike Reconnaissance System Program Office (SRSPO) of the Defence Materiel Organisation, are the two key groups within the ADF responsible for delivering F-111 requirements. 82WG is responsible for operating the aircraft while SRSPO is responsible for through-life support and capability enhancement.

The F-111 fleet consists of 28 operational aircraft comprising 17 F-111Cs, four RF-111Cs and seven F-111Gs. A further seven F-111Gs are in long-term storage, and two of these have been allocated for breakdown spares.

A number of positives have already emerged from the combined efforts of 82WG, SRSPO and Boeing.
GPCAPT Brown said Amberley was at the leading edge of technology in the area of fuel tank repair.

At the start of 2001, 82WG had about a 12 per cent strike rate when it came to fixing a fuel leak because Occupational Health and Safety concerns prevented personnel from getting inside the fuel tanks.

Initiatives adopted by Amberley this year have resulted in this percentage climbing to 100 per cent.

Other initiatives such as a new low-pressure water pick and a safe spray seal method had also been developed, he said.

In the context of the overall operation, the value chain analysis is only one of the initiatives undertaken at Amberley to improve F-111 availability and capability, according to GPCAPT Brown.

One area he was particularly proud of was the manner in which 82WG and staff from No.1 and No. 6 Squadrons maintained their operational and training commitments despite seven of its F-111Gs being grounded earlier this year.

Using their remaining F-111Cs, personnel made some significant changes to they way they operated the aircraft, increasing the mission generation rate by 80 per cent.

"We went to a three-wave day and 'hot turned' aircraft as they returned from a sortie," GPCAPT Brown said.

"I think the record was 9.3 hours on a 12-hour operating day. Aircraft regularly flew three two-hour sorties per day. The overall reliability of our fleet has been outstanding."

Another significant issue the value chain analysis identified was an increase in the time taken for major servicings.

Spares availability is limited because the Royal Australian Air Force is now the only user of this aircraft in the world.

"The initial thoughts are that there may be some major gains to be made by applying modern industrial engineering concepts to F-111 major services," GPCAPT Brown said.

By Ben Caddaye