It also implies that there was absolutely no conventional A/G capability, and there is no evidence of provision for anything other than the AIM-54 insofar as conventional AAMs are concerned. Interestingly, this also implies that the F-111B had a secondary nuclear strike capability, given the GND SPCL indicator. The latter is a possibility, given the AIM-47 lineage and the fact that a nuclear warhead was studied for the AIM-47 at one point (although in that case it was dropped in favor of an HE warhead). That leaves either a brand-new weapon, or an AIM-54 with a nuclear warhead. The only other options would have been the USAF's AIM-26, which was not integrated on any Naval platform (nor were any of the AIM-4 relations), or the USAF's MB-1 Genie, which was not integrated on any naval platform either. The only obvious conclusion I can draw is that a nuclear-armed version of the AIM-54 was planned at some point. So the question then becomes, what was the "special" air-to-air weapon for the F-111B?
The SPCL designator is a shortened form of "special", used to denote a nuclear store. There are four indicators above the AIM-54 control panel, labeled AIR HE, AIR SPCL, GND SPCL, and SP.
_0.jpg "aim 54")
When studying the WSO's instrument panel in the F-111B looking for evidence that a weapon other than the AIM-54 was to be carried, I came across an interesting panel.
There has been a little speculation about a nuclear-armed version of the AIM-54.
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