What did the RAAF do while it waited for its F-111Cs?

The RAAF operated 24 McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom IIs in the ground-attack role between 1970 and 1973. The aircraft were leased from the USAF as an interim measure due to delays in delivering the 24 General Dynamics F-111Cs ordered by the Australian air force. Faced with the F-111's ongoing problems, the Australian and US governments negotiated an agreement in 1970 under which the RAAF would lease 24 F-4Es along with their support equipment.

The Australian cabinet approved leasing 24 Phantoms for two years at a total cost of US$41.554 million, including training, spares and technical advice. The formal contract was signed on 29 June 1970. In July 1970, pilots and navigators from No. 1 and No. 6 Squadrons, the two units that would operate the type, began arriving in the United States for conversion training. The RAAF accepted the 24 aircraft in September 1970 and transferred them to Amberley in four groups of six: the first three arrived on 14, 19 and 26 September, and the last on 3 October.

No. 6 Squadron stopped operating the type on 4 October 1972; six F-4Es left for the United States on 25 October that year and another five in early November. The first six F-111s arrived at Amberley on 1 June 1973, and six Phantoms left for the United States five days later. The government rejected the proposal to keep the Phantoms once the F-111s entered service, despite the Air Board's recommendation, and the 23 surviving aircraft were returned to the USAF between October 1972 and June 1973.