Editing Tactical Air Command (section)

===New Aircraft===
In 1962, the Air Force commenced evaluation of the US Navy/US Marine Corps [[F-4 Phantom II]] as a possible replacement for older fighter aircraft in the counter-air, interdiction and close air support (CAS) roles.  In January 1962, two Navy F4H-1 aircraft were loaned to USAF and, since the 18 September 1962 naming convention for all DoD aircraft had not yet taken effect, were given the interim designation of [[F-4 Phantom II|F-110A Spectre]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2320 |title=Factsheets : McDonnell F-110A |access-date=2009-11-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220141150/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2320 |archive-date=20 December 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>  Twenty-four additional USN F4H-1 aircraft, subsequently redesignated as F-4Bs, were loaned to USAF for additional evaluation.  This evaluation resulted in a USAF decision to acquire their own version of the F-4, designated as the F-4C.  Following its initial flight in May 1963, the F-4C entered USAF service with TAC in November 1963.  The F-4 would prove to be one of the most numerous jet fighters ever operated by USAF, with over 2800 examples acquired for service in TAC, USAFE, PACAF and the [[Air Force Systems Command]] ([[Air Force Systems Command|AFSC]]), to include later versions such as the RF-4C, F-4D, F-4E and F-4G.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2275 |title=Fact Sheets : McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II : McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II |website=www.nationalmuseum.af.mil |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910052810/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2275 |archive-date=2007-09-10}}</ref>

In 1960, DoD also combined a USAF requirement for a new fighter-bomber to ostensibly replace TAC's [[F-105]] fighter-bombers with a [[USN]] need for a new carrier-based air superiority fighter, then launched a competition among aircraft manufacturers for the final design. In 1962, [[General Dynamics]] and [[Boeing]] were selected as finalists with the [[General Dynamics]] variable-geometry wing Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) design eventually winning out. Designated as the [[F-111]], the Navy version was known as the [[General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B|F-111B]] and the USAF version the [[F-111]]A, with the first flight of the F-111A taking place in December 1964 and the first production models delivered to the USAF in 1967.  Additional variants such as the FB-111A for SAC and the F-111E, F-111F and EF-111A for TAC and USAFE, plus the F-111K for the [[RAAF]] followed.  Meanwhile, the Navy's F-111B program was canceled after five examples when it became apparent that its performance characteristics were unsuitable for an aircraft-carrier based fighter and interceptor, with many of its design features and systems being incorporated into the successful [[Grumman F-14 Tomcat]].  In all, 562 F-111s of all series were built.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2321 |title=Fact Sheets : General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark : General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark |access-date=2007-12-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228194425/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2321 |archive-date=28 December 2007 }}</ref><ref name="nationalmuseum.af.mil">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2322 |title=Factsheets : General Dynamics F-111D to F |access-date=2009-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531135621/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2322 |archive-date=31 May 2010 }}</ref>

USAF also acquired a number of other USN aircraft originally designed for aircraft carrier use and pressed them into USAF service.  This included the transfer of the piston-engine [[Douglas A-1 Skyraider]] in its A-1E and A-1H variants being retired from the Navy inventory in the mid-1960s for close air support, rescue aircraft escort, and special operations duties in Vietnam, as well as the Navy's [[LTV A-7 Corsair II]] light attack bomber in new production numbers, the USAF versions of which were designated A-7D and A-7K.

In the case of the A-7, the USAF was initially reluctant to take on yet another Navy-designed aircraft, but on 5 November 1965, [[Secretary of the Air Force]] [[Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense)|Harold Brown]] and [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]], General [[John P. McConnell (general)|John P. McConnell]], announced that USAF had decided to order a version of the aircraft, designated A-7D, for TAC.  The first A-7D made its initial flight in April 1968, and deliveries of production models began in December 1968. When A-7D production ended in 1976, LTV had delivered 459 to the U.S. Air Force.  These aircraft continued in TAC service until supplanted by [[F-16 Fighting Falcon]] or [[A-10 Thunderbolt II]] aircraft.  Most A-7Ds and all A-7Ks were later transferred to [[Air National Guard]] (ANG) units operationally-gained by TAC, remaining in ANG service until 1993 when they, too, were replaced by the F-16 or A-10.<ref name="nationalmuseum.af.mil"/>