On the day it is retired from service, the Air Force officially bestows the nickname Aardvark on the General Dynamics F-111 in ceremonies at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas, where the aircraft was built. The new official name formalizes what crews had been unofficially calling the aircraft for years.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.