The F-111B Navy version didn’t really need an onboard anchor anyway. The extra weight and the toss overboard by the pilot when landing was the final straw.
The F-111 series were bleeding edge technology back then. Engineers were challenged to adapt the airframe design to various configurations for use by our Air Force and Navy, as well as variants versions sold to different countries. For the most part, the engineering was excellent. But there were trade-offs that were impossible without modification of the basic structure and flight parameters.
The F-111 was a good plane. Not a flying Edsel as many would have you believe.
Wasn't that part of the myth to keep people thinking it was a dog, because it's terrain following radar worked and you might as well play psych ops w/ the North Vietnamese and the Ruskies?