title: House music

text: It was during this decade that vocal house became firmly established, both in the underground and as part of the pop market, and labels such as Defected Records, Roulé and Om were at the forefront of championing the emerging sound. In the mid-2000s, fusion genres such as electro house and fidget house emerged. This fusion is apparent in the crossover of musical styles by artists such as Dennis Ferrer and Booka Shade, with the former's production style having evolved from the New York soulful house scene and the latter's roots in techno. Numerous live performance events dedicated to house music were founded during the course of the decade, including Shambhala Music Festival and major industry sponsored events like Miami's Winter Music Conference. The genre even gained popularity through events like Creamfields. In the late 2000s, house style witnessed renewed chart success thanks to acts such as Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Fedde Le Grand, David Guetta, and Calvin Harris.


title: House music

text: During the 2010s multiple new sounds in house music were developed by DJs, producers and artists. Sweden pioneered the "Festival progressive house" genre with the emergence of Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell, and Steve Angello. While all three artists had solo careers, when they formed a trio called Swedish House Mafia, it showed that house could still produce chart-topping hits, such as their 2012 single "Don't You Worry Child", which cracked the Billboard top 10. Avicii was a Swedish DJ/artist known for his hits such as "Hey Brother", "Wake Me Up", "Addicted to You", "The Days", "The Nights", "Levels", "Waiting for Love", "Without You", and "I Could Be the One" with Nicky Romero. Fellow Swedish DJ/artist Alesso collaborated with Calvin Harris, Usher, and David Guetta. In France, Justice blended garage and alternative rock influences into their pop-infused house tracks, creating a big and funky sound.


title: House music

text: During the 2010s, in the UK and in the US, many records labels stayed true to the original house music sound from the 1980s. It includes labels like Dynamic Music, Defected Records, Dirtybird, Fuse London, Exploited, Pampa, Cajual Records, Hot Creations, Get Physical, and Pets Recordings.


title: House music

text: Netherlands brought together a concept of "Dirty Dutch", an electro house subgenre characterized by abrasive lead synths and darker arpeggios, with prominent DJs being Chuckie, Hardwell, Laidback Luke, Afrojack, R3hab, Bingo Players, Quintino and Alvaro. Elsewhere, fusion genres derivative of 2000s progressive house returned, especially with the help of DJs/artists Calvin Harris, Eric Prydz, Mat Zo, Above & Beyond and Fonzerelli in Europe.


title: House music

text: Diplo, a DJ/producer from Tupelo, Mississippi, was able to blend underground sounds with mainstream styles. As he came from the Southern US, Diplo fused house music with rap and dance/pop, while also integrating more obscure Southern US genres. Other North Americans playing house music include the Canadian Deadmau5 (known for his unusual mask and unique musical style), Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Porter Robinson and Wolfgang Gartner. The growing popularity of such artists led to the emergence of electro house and progressive house sounds in popular music, such as singles like David Guetta feat. Avicii "Sunshine" and Axwell's remix of "In The Air".


title: House music

text: Big room house was increasingly popular since 2010, through international dance music festivals such as Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, and Electric Daisy Carnival. In addition to these popular examples of house, there has also been a reunification of contemporary house and its roots. Many hip hop and R&B artists also turned to house music to add a mass appeal and dance floor energy to the music they produce. Tropical house went onto the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart in 2015 with artists such as Kygo and Jonas Blue. In the mid-2010s, the influences of house began to also be seen in Korean K-pop music, examples of this being f(x)'s single "4 Walls" and SHINee's title track "View".


title: House music

text: Later in the 2010s, a more traditional house sound came to the forefront of the mainstream in the UK, with Calvin Harris's singles "One Kiss" and "Promises", with the latter also incorporating elements of nu-disco and Italo house. These singles both went to No.1 in the UK.


title: House music

text: In the late 2010s and early 2020s, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African offshoot of house music, called amapiano became popular first in South Africa, and then later spread to London and elsewhere worldwide, largely due to online music distribution. Amapiano draws heavily from earlier kwaito house music of South Africa and from jazz and chill-out music. In 2022, the music portal Beatport added "amapiano" genre to its catalogue.


title: House music

text: During the late 2010s and early 2020s and partially due to YouTube music channels, closely related house subgenres Brazilian bass and slap house became popular worldwide, drawing from deep house and menacing basslines of tech house.


title: House music

text: In 2020, American singer Lady Gaga released Chromatica, which was her return to her dance roots towards deep house, french house, electro house and disco house


title: House music

text: In 2022, Canadian rapper Drake released "Honestly, Nevermind", which was a surprise departure from his signature hip hop, R&B & trap music sound towards house music and its derivativates: Jersey club, amapiano and ballroom. American singer Beyoncé's album "Renaissance", also released in 2022, incorporated ballroom house.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus "Panthera" native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated to number fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline about 10% by 2040. It is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction following infrastructural developments. It inhabits alpine and subalpine zones at elevations of , ranging from eastern Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to southern Siberia, Mongolia and western China. In the northern part of its range, it also lives at lower elevations.


title: Snow leopard

text: Taxonomically, the snow leopard was long classified in the monotypic genus "Uncia". Since phylogenetic studies revealed the relationships among "Panthera" species, it has been considered a member of that genus. Two subspecies were described based on morphological differences, but genetic differences between the two have not been confirmed. It is therefore regarded as a monotypic species.


title: Snow leopard

text: Both the Latin name "uncia" and the English word "ounce" are derived from the Old French "once", which was also used for the Eurasian lynx ("Lynx lynx"). "Once" is thought to have evolved from an earlier variant of "lynx" by false splitting; "lonce" was interpreted as "l'once", in which "l" is the elided form of the French definite article "la" ('the'), leaving "once" to be perceived as the animal's name.


title: Snow leopard

text: The word "panther" derives from the classical Latin "panthēra", itself from the ancient Greek πάνθηρ "pánthēr", which was used for spotted cats.


title: Snow leopard

text: "Felis uncia" was the scientific name used by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1777 who described a snow leopard based on an earlier description by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, assuming that the cat occurred along the Barbary Coast, in Persia, East India and China. The genus name "Uncia" was proposed by John Edward Gray in 1854 for Asian cats with a long and thick tail.


title: Snow leopard

text: "Felis irbis" proposed by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1830 was a skin of a female snow leopard collected in the Altai Mountains. He also clarified that several leopard ("P. pardus") skins were previously misidentified as snow leopard skins.


title: Snow leopard

text: "Felis uncioides" proposed by Thomas Horsfield in 1855 was a snow leopard skin from Nepal in the collection of the Museum of the East India Company.


title: Snow leopard

text: "Uncia uncia" was used by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1930 when he reviewed skins and skulls of "Panthera" species from Asia. He also described morphological differences between snow leopard and leopard skins.


title: Snow leopard

text: "Panthera baikalensis-romanii" proposed by a Russian scientist in 2000 was a dark brown snow leopard skin from the Petrovsk-Zabaykalsky District in southern Transbaikal.


title: Snow leopard

text: Until spring 2017, there was no evidence available for the recognition of subspecies. Results of a phylogeographic analysis indicate that three subspecies should be recognised:


title: Snow leopard

text: Additionally, an extinct subspecies "Panthera uncia pyrenaica" was described in 2022 based on material found in France.


title: Snow leopard

text: Based on phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence sampled across the living Felidae, the snow leopard forms a sister group with the tiger ("P. tigris"). Genetic divergence time of this group is estimated at . The snow leopard and the tiger probably diverged between . "Panthera" originates most likely in northern Central Asia. "Panthera blytheae" excavated in western Tibet's Ngari Prefecture is the oldest known "Panthera" species and exhibits skull characteristics similar to the snow leopard.


title: Snow leopard

text: The mitochondrial genomes of the snow leopard, the leopard and the lion ("P. leo") are more similar to each other than their nuclear genomes, indicating that their ancestors hybridised at some point in their evolution.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard's fur is whitish to grey with black spots on head and neck, with larger rosettes on the back, flanks and bushy tail. The belly is whitish. Its eyes are pale green or grey in color. Its muzzle is short and its forehead domed. Its nasal cavities are large. The fur is thick with hairs between long. Its body is stocky, short-legged, and slightly smaller than the other cats of the genus "Panthera", reaching a shoulder height of , and ranging in head to body size from . Its tail is long.


title: Snow leopard

text: In relation to the length of its skull and width of its palate, it has large nasal openings, which allow for increasing the volume of air inhaled with each breath, and at the same time for warming and humidifying cold dry air. It is not especially adapted to high-altitude hypoxia.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard shows several adaptations for living in a cold, mountainous environment. Its small rounded ears help to minimize heat loss. Its broad paws well distribute the body weight for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to increase the grip on steep and unstable surfaces; it also helps to minimize heat loss. Its long and flexible tail helps to maintain balance in the rocky terrain. The tail is very thick due to fat storage, and is covered in a thick layer of fur, which allows the cat to use it like a blanket to protect its face when asleep.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard differs from the other "Panthera" species by a shorter muzzle, an elevated forehead, a vertical chin and a less developed posterior process of the lower jaw. It cannot roar despite its partly ossified hyoid bone, as its short vocal folds provide little resistance to airflow.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard is distributed from the west of Lake Baikal through southern Siberia, in the Kunlun Mountains, Altai Mountains, Sayan and Tannu-Ola Mountains, in the Tian Shan, through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the Hindu Kush in eastern Afghanistan, Karakoram in northern Pakistan, in the Pamir Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau and in the high elevations of the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Bhutan. In Mongolia, it inhabits the Mongolian and Gobi Altai Mountains and the Khangai Mountains. In Tibet, it occurs up to the Altyn-Tagh in the north.


title: Snow leopard

text: It inhabits alpine and subalpine zones at elevations from , but also lives at lower elevations in the northern part of its range.


title: Snow leopard

text: Potential snow leopard habitat in the Indian Himalayas is estimated at less than in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, of which about is considered good habitat, and 14.4% is protected. In the beginning of the 1990s, the Indian snow leopard population was estimated at 200–600 individuals living across about 25 protected areas.


title: Snow leopard

text: In summer, the snow leopard usually lives above the tree line on alpine meadows and in rocky regions at elevations from . In winter, it descends to elevations around . It prefers rocky, broken terrain, and can move in deep snow, but prefers to use existing trails made by other animals.


title: Snow leopard

text: Snow leopards were recorded by camera traps at 16 locations in northeastern Afghanistan's isolated Wakhan Corridor.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard's vocalizations include meowing, grunting, prusten and moaning. It can purr when exhaling.


title: Snow leopard

text: It is solitary and active mostly at dawn until early morning, and again in afternoons and early evenings. It mostly rests near cliffs and ridges that provide vantage points and shade. In Nepal's Shey Phoksundo National Park, the home ranges of five adult radio-collared snow leopards overlapped largely, though they rarely met. Their individual home ranges ranged in size from . Males moved between per day, and females between , measured in straight lines between survey points. Since they often zigzagged in the precipitous terrain, they actually moved up to in a single night.


title: Snow leopard

text: Up to 10 individuals inhabit an area of ; in habitats with sparse prey, an area of supports only five individuals.


title: Snow leopard

text: A study in the Gobi Desert lasting from 2008 to 2014 revealed that adult male snow leopards used a mean home range of , while adult females ranged in areas of . Their home ranges overlapped less than 20%. These results indicate that about 40% of the 170 protected areas in snow leopard range countries are smaller than the home range of a single male snow leopard.


title: Snow leopard

text: Snow leopards leave scent marks to indicate their territories and common travel routes. They scrape the ground with the hind feet before depositing urine or feces, but also spray urine onto rocks. Their urine contains many characteristic low molecular weight compounds with diverse functional groups including pentanol, hexanol, heptanol, 3-octanone, nonanal and indole, which possibly play a role in chemical communication.


title: Snow leopard

text: In Hemis National Park, a snow leopard was observed while approaching prey from above, using rocky cliffs for cover; at a distance of about from the prey, it walked rapidly for about , ran the last and killed the prey with a neck bite. While squatting on its haunches, it ripped out clumps of hair from the abdomen and then opened it to first feed on the viscera.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard is a carnivore and actively hunts its prey. Its preferred wild prey species are Himalayan blue sheep ("Pseudois nayaur"), Himalayan tahr ("Hemitragus jemlahicus"), argali ("Ovis ammon"), markhor ("Capra falconeri") and wild goat ("C. aegagrus"). It also preys on domestic livestock. It prefers prey ranging in weight from , but also hunts smaller mammals such as Himalayan marmot ("Marmota himalayana"), pika and vole species. Its diet depends on prey availability and varies across its range and season. In the Himalayas, it preys mostly on Himalayan blue sheep, Siberian ibex ("C. sibirica"), white-bellied musk deer ("Moschus leucogaster") and wild boar ("Sus scrofa"). In the Karakoram, Tian Shan, Altai and Mongolia's Tost Mountains, its main prey consists of Siberian ibex, Thorold's deer ("Cervus albirostris"), Siberian roe deer ("Capreolus pygargus") and argali. Snow leopard feces collected in northern Pakistan also contained remains of rhesus macaque ("Macaca mulatta"), masked palm civet ("Paguma larvata"), Cape hare ("Lepus capensis"), house mouse ("Mus musculus"), Kashmir field mouse ("Apodemus rusiges"), grey dwarf hamster ("Cricetulus migratorius") and Turkestan rat ("Rattus pyctoris"). In 2017, a snow leopard was photographed carrying a freshly killed woolly flying squirrel ("Eupetaurus cinereus") near Gangotri National Park. In Mongolia, domestic sheep comprises less than 20% of snow leopard diet, although wild prey has been reduced and interactions with people are common.


title: Snow leopard

text: Snow leopards actively pursue prey down steep mountainsides, using the momentum of their initial leap to chase animals for up to . They drag the prey to a safe location and consume all edible parts of the carcass. They can survive on a single Himalayan blue sheep for two weeks before hunting again, and one adult individual apparently needs 20–30 adult blue sheep per year. Snow leopards have been recorded to hunt successfully in pairs, especially mating pairs.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard is capable of killing most animals in its range, with the probable exception of the adult male yak. It also eats a significant amount of vegetation, including grass and twigs. It has not been reported to attack humans, is easily driven away from livestock and readily abandons kills, often without defending itself.


title: Snow leopard

text: Snow leopards become sexually mature at two to three years, and normally live for 15–18 years in the wild. In captivity they can live for up to 25 years. Oestrus typically lasts from five to eight days, and males tend not to seek out another partner after mating, probably because the short mating season does not allow sufficient time. Paired snow leopards mate in the usual felid posture, from 12 to 36 times a day. They are unusual among large cats in that they have a well-defined birth peak. They usually mate in late winter, marked by a noticeable increase in marking and calling. Females have a gestation period of 90–100 days, and the cubs are born between April and June.


title: Snow leopard

text: The female gives birth in a rocky den or crevice lined with fur shed from her underside. The cubs are blind and helpless at birth, although already with a thick coat of fur, and weigh from . Their eyes open at around seven days, and the cubs can walk at five weeks and are fully weaned by 10 weeks. The cubs leave the den when they are around two to four months of age. Three radio-collared snow leopards in Mongolia's Tost Mountains gave birth between late April and late June. Two female cubs started to part from their mothers at the age of 20 to 21 months, but reunited with them several times for a few days over a period of 4–7 months. One male cub separated from its mother at the age of about 22 months, but stayed in her vicinity for a month and moved out of his natal range at 23 months of age.


title: Snow leopard

text: The major threat to snow leopard populations is poaching and illegal trade of skins and body parts. Between 1999 and 2002, three live snow leopard cubs and 16 skins were confiscated, 330 traps were destroyed and 110 poachers were arrested in Kyrgyzstan. Undercover operations in the country revealed an illegal trade network with links to Russia and China via Kazakhstan. The major skin trade center in the region is the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang. In Tibet and Mongolia, skins are used for traditional dresses, and meat in traditional Tibetan medicine to cure kidney problems; bones are used in traditional Chinese and Mongolian medicine for treating rheumatism, injuries and pain of human bones and tendons. Between 1996 and 2002, 37 skins were found in wildlife markets and tourist shops in Mongolia. Between 2003 and 2016, 710 skins were traded, of which 288 skins were confiscated. In China, 103 to 236 animals are poached every year, in Mongolia between 34 and 53, in Pakistan between 23 and 53, in India from 21 to 45, and in Tajikistan 20 to 25. In 2016, a survey of Chinese websites revealed 15 advertisements for 44 snow leopard products; the dealers offered skins, canine teeth, claws and a tongue. Nine snow leopard skins were found during a market survey in September 2014 in Afghanistan.


title: Snow leopard

text: Greenhouse gas emissions will likely cause a shift of the treeline in the Himalayas and a shrinking of the alpine zone, which may reduce snow leopard habitat by 30%.


title: Snow leopard

text: The loss of natural prey due to overgrazing by livestock, poaching, and defense of livestock are the major drivers for the decreasing population of the snow leopard. Livestock also cause habitat degradation, which, alongside the increasing use of forests for fuel, reduces snow leopard habitat.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard is listed in CITES Appendix I. It has been listed as threatened with extinction in Schedule I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals since 1985.


title: Snow leopard

text: Hunting snow leopards has been prohibited in Kyrgyzstan since the 1950s. In India, the snow leopard is granted the highest level of protection under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and hunting is sentenced with imprisonment of 3–7 years. In Nepal, it has been legally protected since 1973, with penalties of 5–15 years in prison and a fine for poaching and trading it.


title: Snow leopard

text: Since 1978, it has been listed in the Soviet Union’s Red Book and is still inscribed today in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation as threatened with extinction. Hunting snow leopards is only permitted for the purposes of conservation and monitoring, and to eliminate a threat to the life of humans and livestock. Smuggling of snow leopard body parts is punished with imprisonment and a fine.


title: Snow leopard

text: In China, it has been protected by law since 1989; hunting and trading snow leopards or their body parts constitute a criminal offence that is punishable by the confiscation of property, a fine and a sentence of at least 10 years in prison.


title: Snow leopard

text: At the end of 2020, 35 cameras were installed on the outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan in hopes to catch footage of snow leopards. In November 2021, it was announced by the Russian World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that snow leopards were spotted 65 times on these cameras in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains since the cameras were installed.


title: Snow leopard

text: In 2013, government leaders and officials from all 12 countries encompassing the snow leopard's range (Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) came together at the Global Snow Leopard Forum (GSLF) initiated by the then-President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, and the State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry under the government of Kyrgyzstan. The meeting was held in Bishkek, and all countries agreed that the snow leopard and the high mountain habitat need trans-boundary support to ensure a viable future for snow leopard populations, and to safeguard its fragile environment. The event brought together many partners, including NGOs like the Snow Leopard Conservancy, the Snow Leopard Trust, and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union. Also supporting the initiative were the Snow Leopard Network, the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Wild Fund for Nature, the United States Agency for International Development, and Global Environment Facility.


title: Snow leopard

text: At the GSLF meeting, the 12 range countries signed the Bishkek Declaration, which stated: "[We] acknowledge that the snow leopard is an irreplaceable symbol of our nations' natural and cultural heritage and an indicator of the health and sustainability of mountain ecosystems; and we recognize that mountain ecosystems inhabited by snow leopards provide essential ecosystem services, including storing and releasing water from the origins of river systems benefitting one-third of the world’s human population; sustaining the pastoral and agricultural livelihoods of local communities which depend on biodiversity for food, fuel, fodder, and medicine; and offering inspiration, recreation, and economic opportunities."


title: Snow leopard

text: The Moscow Zoo exhibited the first captive snow leopard in 1872 that had been caught in Turkestan. In Kyrgyzstan, 420 live snow leopards were caught between 1936 and 1988 and exported to zoos around the world. The first captive bred snow leopard cubs were born in the 1990s in the Beijing Zoo.


title: Snow leopard

text: The Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan was initiated in 1984; by 1986, American zoos held 234 individuals.


title: Snow leopard

text: The snow leopard is widely used in heraldry and as an emblem in Central Asia. It has long been used as a political symbol, the "Aq Bars" ('White Leopard'), by Tatars, Kazakhs, and Bulgars. A snow leopard is depicted on the official seal of Almaty and on the former 10,000 Kazakhstani tenge banknote. A mythical winged "Aq Bars" is depicted on the national coat of arms of Tatarstan, the seal of the city of Samarqand, Uzbekistan and the old coat of arms of Nur-Sultan. In Kyrgyzstan, it has been used in highly stylized form in the modern emblem of the capital Bishkek, and the same art has been integrated into the badge of the Kyrgyzstan Girl Scouts Association. A crowned snow leopard features in the arms of Shushensky District in Russia. It is the state animal of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh in India.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition "Britain's Got Talent" on ITV. She also co-hosts the "Heart Breakfast" radio show with Jamie Theakston on weekday mornings.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden played the title role in the musical stage show "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in 2004, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. Her acting credits on television include "The Grimleys" (1998–2001), "Kiss Me Kate" (1999–2001), "Cutting It" (2002–2004), "Wild at Heart" (2006–2008), and "Big Top" (2009). Holden has also presented various television shows for ITV, including "The Sun Military Awards" (2009–2014), "Superstar" (2012), "This Morning" (2014–2015, 2017), "Text Santa" (2015), and "Give a Pet a Home" (2015).


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2013, Holden released her autobiography book, "No Holding Back", which became a "Sunday Times" bestseller. In 2020, she released her debut studio album, "Songs from My Heart", which reached the top 5 on the UK Albums Chart.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire and spent much of her childhood in Bishop's Waltham, and aged nine she joined Bishop's Waltham Little Theatre Company.


title: Amanda Holden

text: She attended the secondary community school Swanmore College. At age 16, she relocated to Bournemouth, before moving to South London to attend Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden's first television appearance was as a contestant on the game show "Blind Date" in 1991. From 2006 to 2008, Holden appeared as Sarah Trevanian in three series of ITV's "Wild at Heart" co-starring Stephen Tompkinson.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden's other TV credits include three series of the comedy "Kiss Me Kate" with Caroline Quentin and Chris Langham, three series of ITV's "The Grimleys", "Celeb" with Harry Enfield, BBC series "Hearts and Bones" with Damian Lewis, the "Jonathan Creek" episode "The Problem at Gallowes Gate", and a Boxing Day special "Agatha Christie's Marple" episode "4.50 From Paddington" opposite Geraldine McEwan and John Hannah. She co-starred with Bill Nighy and Tom Courtenay in "Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill", a comedy drama by Jack Rosenthal. Holden is a judge on "Britain's Got Talent" along with Simon Cowell, David Walliams, and Alesha Dixon. She joined the show in 2006.


title: Amanda Holden

text: She has appeared on British series such as "Smack the Pony", "EastEnders", "Hearts and Bones", and "Cutting It".


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2009, Holden appeared as Lizzie, the Ring Mistress, in the BBC circus sitcom "Big Top". In April 2009 it was reported the US network CBS had offered Holden a job as one-time guest presenter on "The Early Show", a daytime talk show. On 1 June 2009 she appeared with regular presenters Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. Holden has since signed with CBS as a British correspondent for "The Early Show".


title: Amanda Holden

text: From 2009 until 2014 Holden co-presented "A Night of Heroes: The Sun Military Awards" annually on ITV with Phillip Schofield. In January 2010 she presented her own three-part series, "Amanda Holden's Fantasy Lives", in which she tried out three of her dream jobs.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2010, Holden co-presented "The Door" with Chris Tarrant. In 2011, Holden narrated the documentary "The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song" on ITV. On 6 July 2012 Holden guest presented an episode of "Lorraine", standing in for Lorraine Kelly. She returned to guest present six further episodes of the show from 4 to 8 April and on 4 July 2016.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2012, Holden presented talent show "Superstar" on ITV. On 24 March 2014 she hosted an episode of the Channel 4 show "Dispatches" about the treatment for stillbirths and miscarriages.


title: Amanda Holden

text: From 22 September to 18 December 2014, Holden filled in as a co-host on "This Morning" with Phillip Schofield during Holly Willoughby's maternity leave. She took a short break in January and February 2015 to record the "Britain's Got Talent" auditions. Christine Lampard stood in for Holden during this time, before the latter returned to the show from 2 March until 17 July 2015. She returned to "This Morning" in 2017, to co-present numerous episodes with Ben Shephard.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden presented a six-part factual series for ITV called "Give a Pet a Home", which worked alongside the RSPCA finding homes for animals. The series aired in April and May 2015.


title: Amanda Holden

text: On 18 December 2015 Holden was part of the presenting team for ITV's Christmas telethon "Text Santa". In 2016 she presented "I've Got Something To Tell You", a factual series for the W television channel. She appeared as Miss Pentangle in CBBC's "The Worst Witch" in 2017. Holden made a guest appearance in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" as Harriet Wallace in 2022. She began filming for the show in London during October 2021.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2021, she started appearing in a new comedy mockumentary series from Bo' Selecta! creator Leigh Francis. The programme was called "The Holden Girls: Mandy & Myrtle" and featured Francis in drag with heavy make-up as Amanda's nan Myrtle. The show launched on the E4 channel with 601,938 viewers and was repeated on Channel 4, gaining enough viewers to be recommissioned for a second series for 2022.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden has appeared in several stage musicals, and in 2004 was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the West End production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie", which closed earlier than expected in June 2004.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden finished playing the role Princess Fiona in the original West End production of "Shrek The Musical", which began on 6 May 2011. The show opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 14 June 2011. She starred with Nigel Lindsay, Richard Blackwood, and Nigel Harman. Holden departed the show on 3 October 2011, ten weeks earlier than planned, to focus on her unborn child and was replaced by Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh. For this role, Holden won the WhatsOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2016 Holden starred in a West End revival of "Stepping Out" and reprised her role when it opened at the Vaudeville Theatre in March 2017.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 1996, Holden played Pamela in "Intimate Relations". In 1999 she appeared as a shoe-shop assistant in "Virtual Sexuality". She was uncredited in the 2013 film "One Chance".


title: Amanda Holden

text: In April 2019, it was announced Holden would replace Emma Bunton as co-host of "Heart Breakfast" with Jamie Theakston, at the same time as it went national on 3 June.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2019, Holden signed a recording contract with Virgin EMI Records. In 2020 she released her debut studio album, "Songs from My Heart", through Universal Music. It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart.


title: Amanda Holden

text: From 2010 until 2012 Holden appeared in television commercial adverts for supermarket chain Tesco. Since 2012 she has appeared in television commercials for Danone Oykos low-fat yoghurt.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In October 2013, Amanda released her autobiography, "No Holding Back", which became a "Sunday Times" best-seller.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden fronted Everton's breast-cancer-awareness campaign. She is a patron of the football club's charity, Everton In the Community. In September 2011, Holden was sponsored to bake a cake for every child in the Great Ormond Street Hospital.


title: Amanda Holden

text: On 13 April 2008 Holden ran the London Marathon in 4 hours and 13 minutes, in the name of the Born Free Foundation, having collected public and celebrity sponsors online. Since 2013, she has presented the RSPCA's Animal Hero Awards. Holden has raised money for Jeans for Genes and SSAFA via The Big Brew Up.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2013, she became a celebrity ambassador for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, following her work with Pedigree's 'Buy One, Feed One' campaign that she and fellow ambassador Paul O'Grady have been supporting together.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In June 2018, Holden was photographed underwater by Zena Holloway. She posed as a mermaid in an awareness campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to highlight the "disgusting treatment" of orcas at SeaWorld. Holden has also posed nude for PETA in a campaign to promote vegetarianism.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 1992, while they were both appearing in "The Sound of Music", Holden dated George Asprey. She married the comedian Les Dennis in June 1995. The couple separated temporarily in 2000 after Holden's affair with actor Neil Morrissey, the subject of press interest, before separating permanently in December 2002 and divorcing in 2003. Around this time, she alleged she was sexually assaulted by an "unnamed famous comedian" at a public event.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2006, Holden gave birth to her first child, conceived with her fiancé, record producer Chris Hughes. She married Hughes at Babington House, Somerset, on 10 December 2008 with former Formula One racing driver David Coulthard acting as best man. After a miscarriage in 2010, she suffered their son being stillborn at seven months in 2011. In 2012, despite medical complications, she gave birth to their second daughter. As of 2018, Holden and Hughes resided in Surrey. Holden also owns a cottage in the Cotswolds which she has been renovating since 2017.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In December 2016, Holden's ancestry was the subject of a BBC programme in the "Who Do You Think You Are?" series. The investigation discovered that her Cornish 5x great-grandfather, Collin Thomas, served a year's imprisonment after breaking his apprenticeship as a cordwainer by enlisting in the Royal Navy and leaving the United Kingdom aged 15. Ten years later, while serving in the British Army after the Peninsular War, he met and married a French woman and began a family near Bordeaux, France, then moved his wife and eldest children back to Great Britain. Holden also learned that her grandfather, Frank Holden, a psychiatric nurse, was aboard the "RMS Lancastria" when it was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in June 1940 outside the port of Saint-Nazaire and sank with the loss of thousands of lives. Frank Holden died by suicide in his 70s.


title: Amanda Holden

text: Holden is a fan of English Premier League football club Everton, attending home and away games when her schedule allows. She has been vegetarian since she was thirteen.


title: Amanda Holden

text: In 2010, Holden campaigned to keep a Sainsbury's supermarket out of Bishop's Waltham. Residents of her hometown accused her of a double standard in November 2010 when she signed a deal to appear in advertisements for Tesco, a UK supermarket chain.


title: Saaho

text: Saaho () is a 2019 Indian Telugu-Hindi bilingual action film written and directed by Sujeeth and produced by UV Creations. It stars Prabhas in the title role with an ensemble cast including Shraddha Kapoor, Chunky Pandey, Jackie Shroff, Arun Vijay, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Lal, Murali Sharma, Mandira Bedi, Mahesh Manjrekar, Prakash Belawadi, Tinnu Anand, Evelyn Sharma, Supreeth, Devan, and Vennela Kishore. "Saaho" marks the Hindi film debut of Prabhas and the Telugu film debut of Shraddha Kapoor. The film follows two covert operatives who are on the hunt for a thief who has stolen 2000 crore (US$284 million). Soon, they realise that the case is linked to the death of a crime boss and an emerging gang war for the control of a megalopolis.


title: Saaho

text: Principal photography for "Saaho" began in August 2017. Filming took place in India, United Arab Emirates, Romania and Austria. The film's soundtrack was released under the banner T-Series. "Saaho" was released in India in theatres and IMAX on 30 August 2019. The film received negative reviews from critics who praised the cast performances, VFX, cinematography and action sequences but criticism directed towards the screenplay, direction and length. Despite lukewarm reviews, "Saaho" was successful at the box office, grossing — against its budget of ₹350 crore ($50 million).Initially planned as a single film but later split into two parts.The second part was being delayed due to sujeeth ousted from the project.Now


title: Saaho

text: Narantak Roy is an influential businessman and the leader of Roy Group, a corporate company which is the government of Waaji City, a fictional metropolitan city. One day, when Roy visits Mumbai for a business deal, he gets killed in a deliberate car crash. Devraj, the son of Roy's partner Pruthviraj, plans to declare himself as the next leader of Waaji City. Ibrahim, Roy's most trusted subordinate, reveals to Kalki, the legal advisor of the Roy Group, that Roy's family has been killed for decades, and has been hiding a secret for 25 years. The secret was that he had a son named Vishwank Roy. Vishwank foils Devraj's plans by succeeding his father as the next boss. Vishwank is determined to unmask his father's murderer.


title: Saaho

text: In Mumbai, a mastermind steals 2000 crore ($284 million) with ease. Since he used random, unrelated people to rob the money who were unaware of their assistance in the robbery, it was proved near impossible to identify the culprit. A nationwide search ensues to find the culprit. Ashok Chakravarthy, a secret agent is assigned to head the search for the culprit with the help of crime branch officers Amritha Nair, Goswami, and David. They uncover a thief named Jai. Ashok meets Jai in a bar and the latter reveals the information on the black box – the key to the locker holding 2000 crore ($284 million) of all the board members of Roy's group located in Waaji City. Kalki, on Vishwank's command, travels to Mumbai and retrieves the black box, and deposits it in a bank.


title: Saaho

text: During these incidents, Amritha and Ashok fall in love. After an intense chase to catch Jai red-handedly stealing the box, Amritha, Ashok and David (the official police hacker) confront Jai. However, It is revealed that the thief "Jai" is the real covert operative Ashok Chakravarthy all along. The lead officer, who had been with the team is actually Saaho, who is the thief. Saaho escapes with his partner David, who helped him disguise his identity in the entire operation. It is revealed that Devraj had killed Roy to usurp the city. Amritha tracks Saaho and pretends to be in love with him and wants a share in the robbed amount, but is working as a double agent for Ashok. However, she soon falls for Saaho in the process and betrays Ashok.


title: Saaho

text: When Amritha is shot and kidnapped by Devraj, Saaho is forced to give him the black box. However, he deceives Devraj and gives the black box to Vishwank in return for Amritha's safety. Saaho destroys Devraj's building and steals the money in Devraj's lockers. He is chased by Ashok and the police, with a sniper in a helicopter aiming at him and a person in a jetpack chasing him. Saaho overpowers his opponent. Amritha, also in the helicopter, tries to save Saaho by distracting the sniper, but the sniper pushes her into danger. Saaho saves her with a jet pack but is arrested. Kalki is revealed to be on Devaraj's side. She opens the vault with Vishwank's fingerprint and the black box and finds pictures of Roy and his son, instead of the money. Saaho battles Devraj's goons in Karana village (a village previously protected by Roy) and defeats them.


title: Saaho

text: Devraj arrives, and Saaho declares that he is Siddharth Nandan Saaho, Roy's original son, having camouflaged himself until then to seek vengeance for Roy's death. Kalki is shocked after seeing the portrait of Roy and Saaho. Saaho kills Devraj, Shinde, Prince and Kalki and successfully avenges his father's death. Ibrahim reveals to the board members of the syndicate that Vishwank was not in fact Roy's son, but Ibrahim's own son; his real name is Iqbal, and he was brought in to save Roy's throne. He reveals Saaho's real identity to the members, and Saaho becomes the next ruler of Waaji City. Months later, Saaho locates Amritha in Innsbruck, Austria and proposes to her, which she accepts. An assassin aims at Saaho to assassinate him. He opens his eyes, aware of the danger in the distance.


title: Saaho

text: The film was produced on a budget of 350 crore ($50 million). The film was shot in Austria, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Romania, and other parts of Europe. Principal photography began in August 2017. Arun Vijay, Jackie Shroff, Lal, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Mandira Bedi were roped in along with the leads, Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor. A large part of the budget was spent to shoot the action scenes in the film. International stunt coordinator Kenny Bates was brought in to choreograph the action scenes. Arun Vijay grew his hair out to portray his character in "Saaho".


title: Saaho

text: "Saaho" is shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages with many important scenes planned to be reshot in Tamil language as well. The scenes acted by Sharath Lohithaswa was reshot in Tamil. It marks Prabhas' debut in Hindi cinema and Kapoor's debut in Telugu cinema. Kapoor shot her portions in Telugu and Hindi languages only.


title: Saaho

text: The first schedule of the film, which was in Hyderabad, was completed by October 2017. The second schedule of the film began in December 2017 at Ramoji Film City. According to the producers of the film, Shraddha Kapoor had shot action sequences in the film with heavy weaponry. After a few days, they shifted to Dubai for a month where some of the major action sequences were shot with Prabhas and Neil Nitin Mukesh, while Shraddha Kapoor switched to her next venture, "Stree". After shooting half of the film in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Dubai, the cast and crew of Saaho began the fourth schedule of the film in Abu Dhabi in February 2018 and ended within a few weeks. The fifth schedule of the film, also in Abu Dhabi, started in late-February. The sixth schedule of the film began in mid-March in Dubai and Romania. The final leg of film and romantic songs were shot in Innsbruck and in the Tyrol region of Austria.


title: Saaho

text: An action sequence, which features in an exceptionally long period of the screenplay, was shot extensively near the Burj Khalifa; 25 crores from the budget had been spent. Prabhas had gone under rigorous training, which involved cardiovascular and weight training, and plyometric obstacle races. Prabhas praised his co-star Shraddha Kapoor, stating that she was the best choice for her character. She holds a strong character in the film, while Prabhas' character is a grey-shaded fictitious role. He plays the character of a cop which will keep the audience guessing until the end.


title: Saaho

text: The film features some underwater sequences with Prabhas, who had learned scuba diving in preparation. Prabhas will be dubbing his own lines in the Hindi version, while a professional dubbing artist will dub for Shraddha Kapoor in the Telugu version. The film features Neil Nitin Mukesh as the antagonist. Mandira Bedi, who is known for her grey roles on the small screen, will play an out and out negative role in the film also.


title: Saaho

text: Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant shot two romantic songs. The shoot initially began in Austria's Alpine city of Innsbruck, including the House of Music and trams in Innsbruck, Finstertal in Kühtai, and Adlers Hotel. Some scenes were also shot at the nearby town of Seefeld. Additionally, romantic songs were shot at the "Top of Tyrol" viewing platform on Stubai Glacier, the Restaurant ice Q in Sölden, the Swarovski Crystal Worlds, and the Highline179 suspension bridge at Reutte in the Tyrol region. The production also shot some parts of a romantic song at Redbull's Hangar 7 at Salzburg Airport. Robinville and Creative Creatures were service producers for the Austria schedule.


title: Saaho

text: The songs are composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Badshah, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, and Ghibran. The lyrics are written by Krishna Kanth and Sreejo in Telugu, Tanishk Bagchi, MellowD, Guru Randhawa, Badshah, and Manoj Yadav in Hindi, Vinayak Sasikumar in Malayalam, and Madhan Karky and Vignesh Shivan in Tamil. A bonus track, "Bang Bang (Saaho Bang)" was released after the film's release.


title: Saaho

text: The first teaser poster featuring Prabhas from the film was revealed on his birthday on 22 October 2017, which received criticism, alleging it was similar to the poster of "Blade Runner 2049". In July 2019, UV Creations announced the release date as 30 August 2019, in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam languages.


title: Saaho

text: "Saaho – The Game", a First-person shooter mobile game created by the Hyderabad-based company Pixalot Labs, was released on 15 August 2019.


title: Saaho

text: "Saaho" was released on 30 August 2019 worldwide in Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil along with a dubbed Malayalam version.


title: Saaho

text: "Saaho" was distributed by T-Series in North India while SPI Cinemas bought the distribution rights for Tamil Nadu. The film was released internationally by Yash Raj Films and Phars films.


title: Saaho

text: Outshiny India, a luggage and bag manufacturer, filed a complaint and lawsuit against the director and multiple staff members for fraud/cheating at the Madhapur police station. The manufacturers alleged that the filmmakers signed an expensive deal with them that mandated their product would be shown in the film; they alleged the filmmakers defaulted on their promise. They claimed that the marketing, advocate and contract fees, and amount paid to the filmmakers resulted in a total loss of 1.38 crore ($196,000).


title: Saaho

text: "Saaho" made 130 crore ($18.4 million) on its opening day worldwide, the second highest-ever for an Indian film, surpassing "2.0"s opening of 117 crore ($16.6 million), but lower than Prabhas's previous film "" (₹212 crore), which holds the record for the highest-opening Indian film. After the second day, the worldwide collection was 220 crore. The film made 294 crore ($41.7 million) gross on its opening weekend worldwide and 370 crore ($52.5 million) in its first week. On day 10 "Saaho" crossed 400 crore ($56.8 million). Net collection in India stood at 302 crore ($42.9 million) by the end of its theatrical run.


title: Saaho

text: The film received negative reviews from critics who criticised the direction, writing and length, though the cast performances, visual effects, cinematography and action sequences received praise. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , based on reviews with an average rating of .


title: Saaho

text: Anupama Chopra Film Companion said "I know that a popcorn entertainer like Saaho isn't driven by logic or coherence. And I would have made my peace with it if the film delivered a good time. My biggest complaint is that it's a crashing bore. A lot of hard work has gone into creating the action and the extravagant sets. The budget is a reported 350 crores but for the viewer there's little bang for the buck."


title: Saaho

text: Lakshana N Palat from "India Today" has given one and a half out of five stars calling Saaho "a 350-crore disaster" and that it is a "laboured and exhausting watch". She has added that "the saving grace of Saaho are the visuals and the high-octane action sequences" and that "the makers got so carried away with crafting action scenes and Prabhas' starry presence that they forgot about the story and character development midway".


title: Saaho

text: Writing for "The Times of India" for the Tamil version, Thinkal Menon rated "Saaho" two and a half stars out of five, praising the technical aspects while criticising the script. Menon additionally stated how the film was "largely dubbed in Tamil, leading to lip-sync issues". Taran Adarsh gave the film one and a half stars out of five, commenting on its "weak story, confusing screenplay and amateur direction".


title: Saaho

text: A reviewer for Bollywood Hungama gave it two and a half out of five, opining that it "suffers from a lackadaisical script and a vacuous screenplay." Rajeev Masand of News18 gave the film one and a half stars out of five; while he praised Prabhas for his "enormous presence and unmistakable sincerity", Masand felt the film had "all the depth and emotional wallop of a video game".


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons capabilities), reconnaissance and electronic warfare. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, the F-111 entered service in 1967 with the United States Air Force (USAF). The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) also ordered the type and began operating the F-111C variant in 1973.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111 pioneered several technologies for production aircraft, including variable-sweep wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and automated terrain-following radar for low-level, high-speed flight. Its design influenced later variable-sweep wing aircraft, and some of its advanced features have since become commonplace. The F-111 suffered a variety of problems during initial development.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: A fighter variant, the F-111B, was not accepted for production. The F-111B was intended to perform aircraft carrier-based roles with the US Navy, including long-range interception.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: USAF F-111s were retired during the 1990s with the F-111Fs in 1996 and EF-111s in 1998. The F-111 was replaced in USAF service by the F-15E Strike Eagle for medium-range precision strike missions, while the supersonic bomber role has been assumed by the B-1B Lancer. The RAAF continued to operate the type until December 2010, when the last F-111C was retired.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The name Aardvark was derived from perceived similarities of the aircraft to the animal of the same name: a long nose and low-level, terrain-following capabilities. The word aardvark originated in the Afrikaans language, as a contraction of "earth-pig", and this was the source of the F-111's nickname of "Pig", during its Australian service.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The May 1960 U-2 incident, in which an American CIA U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over the USSR, stunned the United States government. Besides greatly damaging US–Soviet relations, the incident showed that the Soviet Union had developed a surface-to-air missile that could reach aircraft above 60,000 feet (18,000 meters). The United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) and the RAF Bomber Command's plans to send subsonic, high-altitude B-47 and V bomber formations into the USSR were now much less viable.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: By 1960, SAC had begun moving to low-level penetration, which greatly reduced radar detection distances. At the time, SAMs were ineffective against low-flying aircraft, and interceptor aircraft had less of a speed advantage at low altitudes. The Air Force's Tactical Air Command (TAC) was largely concerned with the fighter-bomber and deep strike/interdiction roles. TAC was in the process of receiving its latest design, the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, which was designed to deliver nuclear weapons fast and far, but required long runways. A simpler variable geometry wing configuration with the pivot points farther out from the aircraft's centerline was reported by NASA in 1958, which made swing-wings viable. This led Air Force leaders to encourage its use. In June 1960, the USAF issued specification SOR 183 for a long-range interdiction/strike aircraft able to penetrate Soviet air defenses at very low altitudes and high speeds. The specification also called for the aircraft to operate from short, unprepared airstrips.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: In the 1950s, the United States Navy sought a long-range, high-endurance interceptor aircraft to protect its carrier battle groups against long-range anti-ship missiles launched from Soviet jet bombers and submarines. The Navy needed a fleet air defense (FAD) fighter with a more powerful radar, and longer range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II to intercept both enemy bombers and missiles. Seeking a FAD fighter, the Navy started with the subsonic, straight-winged aircraft, the Douglas F6D Missileer in the late 1950s. The Missileer was designed to carry six long-range missiles and loiter for five hours, but would be defenseless after firing its missiles. The program was formally canceled in 1961. The Navy had tried variable geometry wings with the XF10F Jaguar, but abandoned it in the early 1950s. It was NASA's simplification which made the variable geometry wings practical. By 1960, increases in aircraft weights required improved high-lift devices, such as variable geometry wings. Variable geometry offered high speeds, and maneuverability with heavier payloads, long range, and the ability to take off and land in shorter distances.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The U.S. Air Force and Navy were both seeking new aircraft when Robert McNamara was appointed Secretary of Defense in January 1961. The aircraft sought by the two armed services shared the need to carry heavy armament and fuel loads, feature high supersonic speed, twin engines and two seats, and probably use variable geometry wings. On 14 February 1961, McNamara formally directed the services to study the development of a single aircraft that would satisfy both requirements. Early studies indicated that the best option was to base the design on the Air Force requirement, and use a modified version for the Navy. In June 1961, Secretary McNamara ordered the go ahead of Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX), despite Air Force and Navy efforts to keep their programs separate.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The Air Force and the Navy could agree only on swing-wing, two-seat, twin-engine design features. The Air Force wanted a tandem-seat aircraft for low-level penetration ground-attack, while the Navy wanted a shorter, high altitude interceptor with side-by-side seating to allow the pilot and radar operator to share the radar display. Also, the Air Force wanted the aircraft designed for 7.33 g with Mach 2.5 speed at altitude and Mach 1.2 speed at low level with an approximate length of . The Navy had less strenuous requirements of 6 g with Mach 2 speed at altitude and high subsonic speed (approx. Mach 0.9) at low level with a length of . The Navy also wanted the aircraft with a nose large enough for a diameter radar dish.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: McNamara developed a basic set of requirements for TFX based largely on the Air Force's requirements and, on 1 September 1961, ordered the Air Force to develop it. A request for proposals (RFP) for the TFX was provided to industry in October 1961. In December, proposals were received from Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell, North American and Republic. The evaluation group found all the proposals lacking, but Boeing and General Dynamics were selected to submit enhanced designs. Boeing's proposal was recommended by the selection board in January 1962, with the exception of the engine, which was not considered acceptable. Switching to a crew escape capsule, instead of ejection seats and alterations to radar and missile storage were also needed. Both companies provided updated proposals in April 1962. Air Force reviewers favored Boeing's offering, while the Navy found both submissions unacceptable for its operations. Two more rounds of updates to the proposals were conducted, with Boeing being picked by the selection board.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: In November 1962, McNamara selected General Dynamics' proposal due to its greater commonality between Air Force and Navy versions. The Boeing aircraft shared less than half of the major structural components. General Dynamics signed the TFX contract in December 1962. A Congressional investigation followed, but would not change the selection.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111A and B variants used the same airframe structural components and Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-1 turbofan engines. They featured side-by-side crew seating in an escape capsule as required by the Navy. The F-111B's nose was shorter so as to fit on existing carrier elevator decks, and had wingtips to improve on-station endurance time. The Navy version would carry an AN/AWG-9 Pulse-Doppler radar and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. The Air Force version would carry the AN/APQ-113 attack radar and the AN/APQ-110 terrain-following radar and air-to-ground armament. A team of engineers at General Dynamics was led by Robert H. Widmer.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Lacking experience with carrier-based fighters, General Dynamics teamed with Grumman for the assembly and testing of the F-111B aircraft. In addition, Grumman would also build the F-111A's aft fuselage and the landing gear. The General Dynamics and Grumman team faced ambitious requirements for range, weapons load, and aircraft weight. The F-111 design also included new features on a production military aircraft, such as variable-geometry wings and afterburning turbofan engines.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111A mockup was inspected in September 1963. The first test F-111A was rolled out of Plant 4 of General Dynamics' Fort Worth, Texas, facility on 15 October 1964. It was powered by YTF30-P-1 turbofans and used a set of ejector seats as the escape capsule was not yet available. The F-111A first flew on 21 December 1964 from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, U.S. The F-111B was also equipped with ejector seats and first flew on 18 May 1965.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Initially there were compressor surge and stall issues in certain parts of the flight regime. NASA, the Air Force, and General Dynamics studies resulted in the engine inlet design being modified in 1965–66, culminating with the "Triple Plow I" and "Triple Plow II" designs.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111A achieved a speed of Mach 1.3 in February 1965 with an interim intake design. Cracks in the F-111's wing attach points were first discovered in 1968 during ground fatigue testing; an F-111 crashed the following year due to this issue. The attach structure required redesign and testing to ensure adequate design and workmanship. Flight testing of the F-111A ran through 1973.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111B was canceled by the Navy in 1968 due to weight and performance issues, along with the need for additional fighter requirements. The F-111C model was developed for Australia. Subsequently, the improved F-111E, F-111D, F-111F models were developed for the U.S. Air Force. The strategic bomber FB-111A and the EF-111 electronic warfare versions were later developed for the USAF. Production ended in 1976, after 563 F-111 aircraft were built.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111 was an all-weather attack aircraft, capable of low-level penetration of enemy defenses to deliver ordnance on the target. The F-111 featured variable-geometry wings, an internal weapons bay and a cockpit with side-by-side seating. The cockpit was part of an escape crew capsule. The wing sweep varied between 16 degrees and 72.5 degrees (full forward to full sweep). The wing included leading edge slats and double slotted flaps over its full length. The airframe was made up mostly of aluminium alloys with steel, titanium and other materials used in places. The fuselage was made of a semi-monocoque structure with stiffened panels and honeycomb structure panels for skin. The horizontal stabilizer was an all-moving stabilator.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111 used a three-point landing gear arrangement, with a two-wheel nose gear and two single-wheel main landing gear units. The landing gear door for the main gear, which was positioned in the center of the fuselage, also served as a speed brake in flight. Most F-111 variants included a terrain-following radar system connected to the autopilot. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney TF30 afterburning turbofan engines. The F-111's variable-geometry wings, escape capsule, terrain following radar and afterburning turbofans were new technologies for production aircraft.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111 featured an internal weapons bay that could carry bombs, a removable 20 mm M61 cannon or auxiliary fuel tanks. For bombs, the bay could hold two 750 lb (340 kg) M117 conventional bombs, one nuclear bomb or practice bombs. The F-111B for the US Navy was to carry two AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missiles in the bay. The cannon had a large 2,084-round ammunition tank, and its muzzle was covered by a fairing; however, it was rarely fitted on F-111s.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111C and F-111F were equipped to carry the AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack targeting system on a rotating carriage that kept the pod protected within the weapons bay when not in use. Pave Tack featured a forward looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, optical camera and laser rangefinder/designator. The Pave Tack pod allowed the F-111 to designate targets and drop laser-guided bombs on them. Australian RF-111Cs carried a pallet of sensors and cameras for aerial reconnaissance use.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The FB-111 could carry two AGM-69 SRAM air-to-surface nuclear missiles in its weapons bay. General Dynamics trialed an arrangement with two AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles carried on rails in a trapeze arrangement from the bay, but this was not adopted. Early F-111 models had radars equipped to guide the AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range air-to-air missile, but it was never fitted.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Each wing was equipped with four underwing pylons. The inner two pylons on each wing rotated to align with the fuselage, while the outer two were fixed. Each pylon had a capacity of . Various bombs and missiles could be carried on the pylons. Auxiliary fuel drop tanks with capacity each could be fitted.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The design of the F-111's fuselage prevented the carriage of external weapons under the fuselage, but two stations were available on the underside for electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods and/or datalink pods; one station was on the weapons bay, and the other on the rear fuselage between the engines. The F-111's maximum practical weapons load was limited, since the fixed pylons could not be used with the wings fully swept.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Tactical F-111s were fitted with shoulder rails on the four inner swiveling pylons to mount AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense. Australian F-111Cs were equipped to launch the Harpoon anti-ship missile, and the Popeye stand-off missile. FB-111As could carry the same conventional ordnance as the tactical variants, but their wing pylons were more commonly used for either fuel tanks or strategic nuclear gravity bombs. They could carry up to four AGM-69 SRAM nuclear missiles on the pylons.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111 was the first production variable-geometry wing aircraft. Several other types have followed with similar swing-wing configuration, including the Soviet Sukhoi Su-17 "Fitter" (1965), Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 "Flogger" (1967), Tupolev Tu-22M "Backfire" (1969), Sukhoi Su-24 "Fencer" (1970) and Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack" (1981); the U.S. Rockwell B-1 Lancer bomber (1974); and the European Panavia Tornado (1974). The Sukhoi Su-24 was very similar to the F-111. The U.S. Navy's role intended for the F-111B was instead filled by another variable-geometry design, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The first of six initial production F-111s was delivered on 17 July 1967 to fighter squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base. These aircraft were used for crew training. 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron achieved initial operational capability on 28 April 1968.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: After early testing, a detachment of six aircraft from the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing (474th TFW Roadrunners) were sent in March 1968 to Southeast Asia for Combat Lancer testing in real combat conditions in the Vietnam War. During the deployment, 55 night missions were flown against targets in North Vietnam, but two aircraft had been lost. 66–0022 was lost on 28 March, and 66-0017 on 30 March. Replacement aircraft left Nellis, but the loss of a third F-111A (66-0024) on 22 April halted F-111A combat operations. The squadron returned to the United States in November. The cause of the first two losses is unknown as the wreckages were never recovered. It turned out that the third loss was traced to a failure of a hydraulic control-valve rod for the horizontal stabilizer which caused the aircraft to pitch up uncontrollably. Further inspection of the remaining fleet of F-111As revealed 42 aircraft with the same potential failures. It is speculated that this failure could also have contributed to the two earlier losses had the failure caused a pitch down while at low altitude. It was not until 1971 that 474 TFW was fully operational.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The word "aardvark" is Afrikaans for "earthpig" and reflects the look of the long nose of the aircraft that might remind one of the nose of the aardvark. The name is attributed to F-111A Instructor Pilot Al Mateczun in 1969, as the aircraft had not received an official Air Force name.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: September 1972 saw the F-111 back in Southeast Asia, stationed at Takhli Air Base, Thailand. F-111As from Nellis AFB participated in the final month of Operation Linebacker and later flew 154 low-level missions in the Operation Linebacker II aerial offensive against the North Vietnamese, who called the aircraft "Whispering Death". They also supported regional aerial operations against other communist forces such as Operation Phou Phiang III during the Laotian Civil War in Laos. Crews described their flying in Vietnam as "speed is life", "one pass, haul ass", and "you do more than one pass in a target area you die". The F-111's ability with terrain-following radar ("the best in the fighter world", according to F-111 pilot Richard Crandall) to fly as low as above ground level at or faster in most weather conditions made it very effective; missions did not require tankers or ECM support, and they could operate in weather that grounded most other aircraft. One F-111 could carry the bomb load of four McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs. The worth of the new aircraft was beginning to show; F-111s flew more than 4,000 combat missions in Vietnam with only six combat losses.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: From 30 July 1973 F-111As of the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing (347th TFW) were stationed at Takhli Air Base. The 347th TFW conducted bombing missions in Cambodia in support of Khmer Republic forces until 15 August 1973 when US combat support ceased in accordance with the Case–Church Amendment. The 347th TFW was stationed at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base from 12 July 1974 until 30 June 1975. In May 1975 347th TFW F-111s provided air support during the "Mayaguez" incident.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: One of the most unusual missions occurred on 14 February 1986, when two FB-111s of the 509th Bombardment Wing were dispatched from then Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma to pick up a heart for transplant. The aircraft landed at Bradley International Airport to deliver the organ to a waiting ambulance.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: On 14 April 1986, 18 F-111s and approximately 25 Navy aircraft conducted air strikes against Libya under Operation El Dorado Canyon. The 18 F-111s of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing and 4 EF-111As from the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing flew what turned out to be the longest fighter combat mission in history. The round-trip flight between RAF Lakenheath/RAF Upper Heyford, United Kingdom and Libya of spanned 13 hours. One F-111 was lost over Libya and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, probably shot down.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: F-111s participated in the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in 1991. During Desert Storm, F-111Fs completed 3.2 successful strike missions for every unsuccessful one, better than any other U.S. strike aircraft used in the operation. The group of 66 F-111Fs dropped almost 80% of the war's laser-guided bombs, including the penetrating bunker-buster GBU-28. Eighteen F-111Es were also deployed during the operation. The F-111s were credited with destroying more than 1,500 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles. Their use in the anti-armor role was dubbed "tank plinking".


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111 was in service with the USAF from 1967 through 1998. The FB-111s were operated by Strategic Air Command from 1969 before conversion to F-111G and transferred to Air Combat Command (ACC) until their retirement in 1993. At a ceremony marking the F-111's USAF retirement, on 27 July 1996, it was officially named Aardvark, its long-standing unofficial name. The USAF retired the EF-111 electronic warfare variant in 1998.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The Australian government ordered 24 F-111C aircraft to replace the RAAF's English Electric Canberras in the bombing and tactical strike role. While the first aircraft was officially handed over in September 1968, structural issues delayed the entry into service. The first F-111C was accepted at Nellis Air Force Base on 15 March 1973. The RAAF's first six F-111Cs arrived at Amberley on 1 July 1973, and three subsequent flights of six F-111s arrived on 27 July, 28 September and 4 December. F-111Cs were allocated to No. 1 Squadron and No. 6 Squadron, under the control of No. 82 Wing. In Australia, the F-111 was affectionately known as the "Pig".


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The purchase proved to be highly successful for the RAAF. Although it never saw combat, the F-111C was the fastest, longest range combat aircraft in Southeast Asia, providing Australia with independent strike capability. Benny Murdani told Kim Beazley that when others became upset with Australia during Indonesian cabinet meetings, Murdani told them "Do you realise the Australians have a bomber that can put a bomb through that window on to the table here in front of us?"


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Australian F-111s were ready to attack Indonesian forces during the establishment of East Timor's independence and the deployment of the Australian-led International Force for East Timor. In 2006, an RAAF F-111 scuttled the North Korean ship "Pong Su" on 23 March 2006.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Because of the high maintenance time required for every flight hour, the F-111's retirement began with the F-111G models operated by No. 6 Squadron in late 2007. Twenty-four F/A-18F Super Hornets were procured as an interim replacement while the F-35 program was delayed. The last F-111s were retired on 3 December 2010.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111A was the initial production version of the F-111. Early A-models used the TF30-P-1 engine. Most A-models used the TF30-P-3 engine with 12,000 lbf (53 kN) dry and 18,500 lbf (82 kN) afterburning thrust and "Triple Plow I" variable intakes, providing a maximum speed of Mach 2.3 (1,450 mph, 2,300 km/h) at altitude. The variant had a maximum takeoff weight of and an empty weight of .


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The A-model's Mark I avionics suite included the General Electric AN/APQ-113 attack radar mated to a separate Texas Instruments AN/APQ-110 terrain-following radar lower in the nose and a Litton AJQ-20 inertial navigation and nav/attack system. The terrain-following radar (TFR) was integrated into the automatic flight control system, allowing for "hands-off" flight at high speeds and low levels (down to ).


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Total production of the F-111As was 159, including 30 pre-production aircraft that were later brought up to production standards. 42 F-111As were converted to EF-111A Ravens for an electronic warfare tactical electronic jamming role. In 1982, four surviving F-111As were provided to Australia as attrition replacements and modified to F-111C standard; these were fitted with the longer-span wings and reinforced landing gear of the C-model.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Three pre-production F-111A were provided to NASA for various testing duties. The 13th F-111A was fitted with new wing designs for the Transonic Aircraft Technology and Advanced Fighter Technology Integration programs in the 1970s and 1980s. It was retired to the United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1989. The remaining unconverted F-111As were mothballed at Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in June 1991.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111B was to be a fleet air defense (FAD) fighter for the U.S. Navy, fulfilling a naval requirement for a carrier-based fighter aircraft capable of carrying heavy, long-range missiles to defend aircraft carriers and their battle groups from Soviet bombers and fighter-bombers equipped with anti-ship missiles. General Dynamics, lacking experience with carrier-based aircraft, partnered with Grumman for this version. The F-111B suffered development problems and Navy requirements changed to an aircraft with maneuverability for dogfighting. The swing-wing configuration, TF-30 engines, AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles and AWG-9 radar developed for this aircraft were used on its replacement, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The Tomcat would be large enough to carry the AWG-9 and Phoenix weapons system while exceeding both the F-111's and the F-4's maneuverability. Seven aircraft were completed for testing but the model never entered fleet service.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111C is the export version for Australia, combining the F-111A with longer F-111B wings and strengthened FB-111A landing gear. Australia ordered 24 F-111s and, following delays, the Royal Australian Air Force accepted the aircraft in 1973. Four of these were converted to the RF-111C reconnaissance variant in 1979–80. Australia also purchased four ex-USAF F-111As and converted them to C standard.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: In the 1990s, F-111C aircraft underwent a comprehensive digital avionics upgrade (known as the AUP) which introduced new nav/attack systems (PAVE TACK Laser /infrared targeting system) and flight control computers. The RAAF retired its last F-111Cs in December 2010.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111D was an upgraded F-111A equipped with newer Mark II avionics, more powerful engines, improved intake geometry, and an early glass cockpit. The variant was first ordered in 1967 and delivered from 1970–73. The F-111D reached initial operational capability in 1972. Deliveries were delayed due to avionics issues. 96 F-111Ds were built. The sole operator of this variant was the 27th TFW stationed at Cannon AFB, New Mexico.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111D used the new Triple Plow II intakes, which were located four inches (100 mm) further away from the airframe to prevent engine ingestion of the sluggish boundary layer air that was known to cause stalls in the TF30 turbofans. It had more powerful TF30-P-9 engines with 12,000 lbf (53 kN) dry and 18,500 lbf (82 kN) afterburning thrust.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The Mark II avionics were digitally integrated microprocessor systems, some of the first used by the USAF, offering tremendous capability, but substantial problems. The Rockwell Autonetics digital bombing-navigation system included inertial navigation system, AN/APQ-130 attack radar system and Doppler radar. It also included digital computer set and multi-function displays (MFDs). The terrain-following radar was the Sperry AN/APQ-128. The attack radar featured a Doppler beam-sharpening, moving target indication (MTI), and Continuous-wave radar for guiding semi-active radar homing missiles.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: It took years to improve the reliability of the avionics, but issues were never fully addressed. According to Crandall, "The truth is that the D model didn't work. They parked every single one of them in Fort Worth for several years as they worked to fix the bugs". The F-111D was withdrawn from service in 1991 and 1992.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: A simplified, interim variant ordered after the F-111D was delayed, the F-111E used the Triple Plow II intakes, but retained the F-111A's TF30-P-3 engines and Mark I avionics. The weapon stores management system was improved and other small changes made. Crandall described the F-111E as "all analog, just like the A model, but It worked".


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The E-model was first ordered in 1968 and delivered from 1969–71. It achieved initial operational capability in 1969. The variant's first flight occurred on 20 August 1969. 94 F-111Es were built. Many F-111Es were assigned to the 20th TFW at Upper Heyford, UK until 1991. The avionics were upgraded on some E-models as part of an Avionics Modernization Program. The variant served in 1990-91 during the Gulf War. Some F-111Es received improved TF30-P-109 engines in the early 1990s. All F-111Es were retired to AMARC by 1995.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Crandall described the F-111F as "the Cadillac of the F-111 force". It was the final variant produced for Tactical Air Command, with a modern, but less expensive, Mark IIB avionics system. The USAF approved development of the variant in 1969. It also included the more powerful TF30-P-100 engine and strengthened wing carry-through box. 106 were produced between 1970 and 1976.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-111F's Mark IIB avionics suite used a simplified version of the FB-111A's radar, the AN/APQ-144, lacking some of the strategic bomber's operating modes but adding a new 2.5 mi (4.0 km) display ring. Although it was tested with digital moving-target indicator (MTI) capacity, it was not used in production sets. The Mark IIB avionics combined some Mark II components with FB-111A components, such as the AN/APQ-146 terrain-following radar. The F-111E's weapon management system was also included.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The F-model could reach Mach 1.2 at sea level on full afterburner. It used the Triple Plow II intakes, along with the substantially more powerful TF30-P-100 turbofan with 25,100 lbf (112 kN) afterburning thrust, 35% more thrust than the F-111A and E. An adjustable engine nozzle was added to decrease drag. The P-100 engine greatly improved the F-111F's performance. The engines were upgraded to the TF30-P-109 version, later in the 1985–86 timeframe.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: In the early 1980s, the F-111F began to be equipped with the AVQ-26 Pave Tack forward looking infrared (FLIR) and laser designator system, which provided for the delivery of precision laser-guided munitions and was mounted in the internal weapons bay. The Pacer Strike avionics update program replaced analog equipment with new digital equipment and multi-function displays. The last USAF F-111s were withdrawn from service in 1996, replaced by the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The British government canceled the BAC TSR-2 strike aircraft in 1965, citing the lower costs for the TFX and ordered 50 F-111K aircraft in February 1967 for the Royal Air Force. The F-111K was to be supplemented later by the Anglo-French Variable Geometry Aircraft then under development. The F-111K was based on the F-111A with longer F-111B wings, FB-111 landing gear, Mark II navigation/fire control system, and British supplied mission systems. Other changes included weapons bay modifications, addition of a centerline pylon, a retractable refueling probe, provisions for a reconnaissance pallet, and a higher gross weight with the use of FB-111A landing gear.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: In January 1968, the United Kingdom terminated its F-111K order, citing higher cost; increased costs along with devaluation of the pound had raised the cost to around £3 million each. The first two F-111Ks (one strike/recon F-111K and one trainer/strike TF-111K) were in the final stages of assembly when the order was canceled. All of the components that had been assembled for the production of the main F-111K fleet that shared commonality were diverted to the FB-111A program, while the two aircraft under construction were re-designated as YF-111As with the intention that they be used as test aircraft in the F-111A program. Ultimately however, the two F-111Ks were never operated as test aircraft – in July 1968, almost exactly a year after the first airframe began construction, the US Air Force decided not to take them over, and General Dynamics were ordered to use them for component recovery.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The FB-111A was a strategic bomber version of the F-111 for the USAF Strategic Air Command. With Air Force's Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft program proceeding slowly, and concerns of fatigue failures in the B-52 fleet, the service needed an interim bomber quickly. The FB-111A was selected in 1965 to replace the supersonic Convair B-58 Hustler and early B-52 variants. The Air Force signed a contract for the FB-111A in 1966. In 1968, plans called for 263 FB-111s, but the total was reduced to 76 in 1969. The first production aircraft flew in 1968. Deliveries began in 1969 and ended in 1971.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: When the UK canceled its order for the F-111K in 1968, components for the 48 F-111Ks in manufacturing were diverted to FB-111A production. The FB-111A featured longer F-111B wings for greater range and load-carrying ability. The bomber variant had a redesigned aft fuselage and its maximum speed was limited to Mach 2. Its fuel capacity was increased by 585 gallons (2,214 L) and it used stronger landing gear to compensate for the higher maximum takeoff weight of 119,250 lb (54,105 kg). All but the first aircraft had the Triple Plow II intakes and the TF30-P-7 with 12,500 lbf (56 kN) dry and 20,350 lbf (90 kN) afterburning thrust.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The FB-111A had new electronics, known as the SAC Mark IIB avionics suite. For the FB-111A the system used an attack radar improved from the F-111A's system, along with components that would be used later on the F-111D, including the inertial navigation system, digital computers, and multi-function displays. The SAC Mark IIB kit included custom items added to support the strategic mission, such as a star tracker navigation system mounted forward of the cockpit, a satellite communications receiver, and an automatic stores release system, replacing the manual stores release system used on other F-111 variants. Armament for the strategic bombing role was the Boeing AGM-69 SRAM (short-range attack missile); two could be carried in the internal weapons bay and four more on the inner underwing pylons. Nuclear gravity bombs were also typical FB armament. Fuel tanks were often carried on the third non-swivelling pylon of each wing. The FB-111A had a total weapon load of .


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: Multiple advanced FB-111 strategic bomber designs were proposed by General Dynamics in the 1970s. The first design, referred to as "FB-111G" within the company, was a larger aircraft with more powerful engines with more payload and range. The next was a lengthened "FB-111H" that featured more powerful General Electric F101 turbofan engines, a 12 ft 8.5 in longer fuselage and redesigned fixed intakes. The rear landing gear were moved outward so armament could be carried on the fuselage there. The FB-111H was offered as an alternative to the B-1A in 1975. The similar FB-111B/C was offered in 1979 without success.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: The FB-111A became surplus to SAC's needs after the introduction of the B-1B Lancer. The remaining FB-111s were subsequently reconfigured for tactical use and redesignated "F-111G". The conversions began in 1989 and ended after 34 F-111G conversions were completed. With the disestablishment of SAC, the FB-111As and F-111Gs were transferred to the newly established Air Combat Command (ACC). They were used primarily for training. The remaining FB-111As were retired in 1991 and the F-111Gs were retired in 1993. Australia bought 15 F-111Gs in 1993 to supplement its F-111Cs. They were retired in 2007.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: To replace the aging Douglas EB-66, the USAF contracted with Grumman in 1972 to convert 42 existing F-111As into electronic warfare aircraft. The EF-111A can be distinguished from the F-111A by the equipment bulge atop their tails. In May 1998, the USAF withdrew the final EF-111As from service, placing them in storage at Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: United States Air Force operated F-111A/D/E/F/G, FB-111A and EF-111A. Officially retired its F-111s in 1996 and the EF-111A in 1998.


title: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

text: American artist James Rosenquist portrayed the aircraft in his acclaimed 1965 room-sized pop art painting entitled "F-111" that features an early natural-finish example of the aircraft in USAF markings. The painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.


title: President of the People's Republic of China

text: The president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the president of China, is the head of state and the second-highest political office of the People's Republic of China. The presidency is constitutionally a largely ceremonial office with very limited power in China's political system. However, the post has been held by the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 1993, who is China's "de facto" leader.


text: The presidency is officially regarded as an institution of the state rather than an administrative post. Under the constitution, the president serves at the pleasure of the National People's Congress (NPC), the highest organ of state power and the legislature, and is not legally vested to take executive action on his own prerogative. The office was first established in the Constitution in 1954, with the official English-language translation of "state chairman." It was successively held by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. Liu fell into political disgrace during the Cultural Revolution, after which the presidency became vacant. The post of chairman was abolished under the Constitution of 1975, then reinstated in the Constitution of 1982, but with reduced powers. Since 1982, the title's official English-language translation "president", although the Chinese title remains unchanged.


text: Since China is a single-party communist state, the president is generally considered to hold the second-highest position in the political system, formally after the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. However since 1993, apart from brief periods of transition, the paramount leader simultaneously serves as the state president, Communist Party leader (as CCP general secretary), and the commander-in-chief of the military (as the chairman of the Central Military Commission). This individual then carries out different duties under separate titles. For example, the leader meets foreign dignitaries and receives ambassadors in his capacity as president, issues military directives as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and upholds party rule as the general secretary of the CCP.


text: During the Mao era, there were no term limits for the presidency. Between 1982 and 2018, the constitution stipulated that the president could not serve more than two consecutive terms. In 2018, term limits were abolished, without changing its powers. The current president is Xi Jinping, who took office in March 2013, replacing Hu Jintao. He was re-elected in March 2018.


text: The office of state chairman (the original English translation, as noted above) was first established under the 1954 Constitution. The ceremonial powers of the office were largely identical to those in the current Constitution.


text: The powers of the 1954 office differed from those of the current office in two areas: military and governmental. The state chairman's military powers were defined in the 1954 Constitution as follows: "The Chairman of the People's Republic of China commands the armed forces of the state, and is chairman of the National Defence Council ()." The National Defence Council was unique to the 1954 Constitution, and was mandated as the civil command for the People's Liberation Army. It was abolished under the 1975 Constitution.


text: The state chairman's governmental powers were defined in the 1954 Constitution as follows: "The Chairman of the People's Republic of China, whenever necessary, convenes a Supreme State Conference () and acts as its chairman." The members of the Supreme State Conference included the main officers of state, and its views were to be presented to the main organs of state and government, including the National People's Congress and the State and National Defense Councils. The Supreme State Conference was also unique to the 1954 Constitution. It was abolished under the 1975 Constitution and later Constitutions have not included a similar body.


text: CCP Chairman Mao Zedong was the first to hold the office of state chairman. He was elected at the founding session of the National People's Congress in 1954. At the 2nd NPC in 1959, Mao was succeeded by Liu Shaoqi, first-ranked Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. Liu was reelected as state chairman at the 3rd NPC in Jan 1965. However, in 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution and by August 1966 Mao and his supporters succeeding in removing Liu from his position as party vice chairman. A few months later Liu was apparently placed under house arrest, and after a prolonged power struggle the 12th Plenum of the 8th Communist Party Congress stripped Liu Shaoqi of all his party and non-party positions on 31 October 1968, including the post of state chairman. This was in violation of the Constitution, which required a vote by the NPC to remove the state chairman.


text: After Liu's removal in 1968, the office of state chairman was vacant. From 1972 to 1975, however, state media referred to Vice State Chairman Dong Biwu as "acting state chairman".


text: When the 4th NPC was convened in 1975, its main act was to adopt a new Constitution which eliminated the office of state chairman and emphasized instead the leadership of the Communist Party over the state, including an article that made the CCP chairman supreme commander of the PLA in concurrence as chairman of the party CMC, while the duties of head of state were transferred to the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The 5th NPC was convened two years early, in 1978, and a third Constitution was adopted, which also lacked the office of state chairman. The office was reinstated in the fourth Constitution, adopted by the 5th Session of the 5th NPC in 1982.


text: In the 1982 Constitution, the president was conceived of as a figurehead of state with actual state power resting in the hands of the general secretary of the Communist Party, premier of the State Council and the chairman of the Central Military Commission. As part of the effort to prevent one person from rising above the party as Mao had done, all four posts were intended to be held by separate people. The president therefore held ceremonial duties such as greeting foreign dignitaries and signing the appointment of embassy staff, and did not intervene in the affairs of the State Council or the party.


text: The posts of the premier, president and CCP general secretary were held by different individuals in the 1980s. That said, in reality political power was concentrated in the paramount leader, who controlled the Party, government and the military from "behind the scenes" without holding any of the three posts. However, presidents Li Xiannian (1983–1988) and Yang Shangkun (1988–1993) were not simple figureheads, but actually significant players in the highest leadership. They derived most of their power from being amongst the Eight Elders, rather than the office of president.


text: In the original 1982 constitutional framework, the party developed policy while the state executed it. The original goal was to divide state power in order to prevent a cult of personality from forming as it did with the case of Mao. Thus in 1982, although Deng Xiaoping was reckoned as the country's "paramount leader", he was one of four main leaders–Hu Yaobang, the party general secretary; Zhao Ziyang, the premier; Li Xiannian, the president; and Deng, the chairman of the Central Military Commission. The current political structure of Vietnam is similar to the structure China followed in the 1980s.


text: In the 1990s, the experiment of separating party and state posts, which led to conflict between Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, was terminated. In 1993, Jiang Zemin, who had been general secretary of the CCP and chairman of the Central Military Commission since 1989, assumed the presidency as well, becoming the undisputed top leader of the party and the state. Jiang stepped down as president in 2003, handing the post to then–Vice-President Hu Jintao, the first vice-president to assume the office. Hu had already become general secretary in 2002. In turn, Hu vacated both offices for Xi Jinping in 2012 and 2013.


text: On March 11, 2018, the National People's Congress, by a vote of 2,958 in favor, two opposed and three abstaining, passed a constitutional amendment that allowed the president to serve an unlimited number of five-year terms. This was widely interpreted as part of an expansion of Xi's power, effectively making him paramount leader and president for life. Xi explained the decision in terms of needing to align the presidency with his more powerful posts of general secretary of the party and CMC chairman, which do not have term limits.


text: According to the current Constitution of China, the president must be a Chinese citizen with full electoral rights who has reached the age of 45.


text: The president is elected by the National People's Congress (NPC), China's highest state body, which also has the power to remove the president and other state officers from office. Elections and removals are decided by majority vote.


text: According to the Organic Law of the NPC, the president is nominated by the NPC Presidium, the Congress's executive organ. In practice, however, the ruling Chinese Communist Party reserves the post of president for its current general secretary since 1990s. Like all officers of state elected by the NPC, the president is elected from a one name ballot.


text: Between 1982 and March 2018, the president and vice-president were limited to two consecutive terms. However these limits were removed at the 2018 National People's Congress.