North American RA-5C Vigilante
North American Aviation began a private study for a carrier-based, high-speed nuclear bomber in 1953. The US Navy’s nuclear bombers then in service or soon entering service, the A3J Savage and A3D Skywarrior, were considered by North American to be too slow to survive over the Soviet Union. The Navy liked the concept and awarded North American with a contract in 1956, with a first flight in August 1958 and entrance into the fleet in 1960, naming the aircraft the A3J (after 1962, A-5) Vigilante.
The Vigilante was very advanced for its time, and pioneered technology that would not become widespread for another decade. This included the use of blown flaps, all-moving tail, titanium in certain areas to lighten weight, a limited fly-by-wire control system, inertial navigation, HUD, multimode radar, and an early version of the TCS/TISEO later used by the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat and the USAF’s F-4E Phantom II. When running clean, the Vigilante was extremely fast and manueverable; one A-5B during a training mission successfully outmaneuvered a F-8 Crusader, then the Navy’s primary fighter. To keep it clean of drag, save internal space, and ensure that the A-5 would be able to clear a nuclear shockwave, the Vigilante had a unique bomb delivery system: instead of a conventional bomb bay, the nuclear bomb was ejected, along with spent auxiliary fuel tanks, from the rear of the aircraft, using the A-5’s speed to give it a ballistic arc and gaining time for the bomber to get away from a nuclear blast. In practice, however, the bomb ejection system rarely worked (luckily, the Vigilante was never tested with live nuclear ordnance), and the shock of a catapult launch caused the the fuel tanks to hurtle out the rear, leading to several deck fires and one loss. Its advanced technology was also prone to breakdown, and landing the Vigilante on a carrier deck required a highly skilled pilot due to its high landing speed and angle of attack.
Nonetheless, the A-5 became a popular aircraft in the Navy, though by 1963, the increasing decline in size of nuclear weapons (even the diminutive A-4 Skyhawk could carry one) and the Navy’s shift to submarine-launched ballistic missiles left the A-5 without a mission. By this time, however, North American was already producing the RA-5C reconnaissance version. With a slightly larger wing area and distinctive hump in the fuselage behind the cockpit that carried extra fuel, the RA-5C added an underfuselage “canoe” that carried side-looking radar, infrared sensors, cameras, and ECM. Elint equipment could also be carried. This added significant weight to the design with a subsequent cost in agility but not speed. The RA-5C became the primary reconnaissance aircraft of the “heavy” reconnaissance squadrons assigned to large attack carriers of the Forrestal, Kitty Hawk, and Nimitz series, supplemented by RF-8G squadrons on older Essex-class vessels and the USMC’s RF-4Bs.
The RA-5C also came along just in time for the Vietnam War, where it was to see the most use. Eight of the ten “heavy” reconnaissance squadrons would see service in the war, mainly in pre-strike and post-strike reconnaissance. The latter was the most dangerous: though the Vigilante’s speed made it nigh invulnerable to MiG interception—RA-5Cs were not even escorted because the F-4 could not keep up with it—and its agility made it difficult to hit with SAMs, the fact that the North Vietnamese could always count on a post-strike reconnaissance flight allowed them to set up ambushes. Of the 18 RA-5Cs lost in Vietnam, all but four was to flak. The type’s difficulty to land led to a further nine losses in accidents. As a result, the Vigilante production line was temporarily reopened to produce another 36 attrition replacements, raising total production to 157 aircraft when production ended in 1970.
Following the end of the Vietnam War, the Vigilante soldiered on for a few short years: to save costs and due to attrition, the US Navy decided to retire the RA-5C, along with the RF-8G, in 1980, replacing both platforms with TARPS camera pods carried by F-14s. These were the last dedicated reconnaissance aircraft operated by the Navy. The last Vigilante left the fleet in November 1979, and most ended their days as targets on the China Lake weapons range; about 14 are left in museums or as gate guards.
The Vigilante, however, was to have one more swan song. When the FIR Navy began planning the Pegasus-class carriers, it also adopted the US Navy’s air wing makeup, including the F-14 Tomcat. However, since the F-14s would be awhile coming online, the FIRNAA supplemented them with first the F-4N Phantom II and then the A-4ES Skyhawk. As TARPS-podded F-14s were also going to be the FIRNAA’s only reconnaissance asset, that gap also needed to be bridged.
As a result, the FIRNAA decided to acquire the RA-5C Vigilante in 1980, despite its reputation of high maintenance and high accident rate. 12 of the retiring Vigilantes from RVAH-1 were flown from Davis-Monthan AFB to Seashore IFAAS in July 1980, repainted, and entered immediate service with NRS-1. Carrier-qualifications were made with FIRNAA crews on the USS Nimitz, as the Pegasus was still two years away from launch. To the Vigilante crews’ horror, their first at-sea deployment was aboard the IWS Taurus, the ex-RN Ark Royal. The smaller British carriers had never been designed to accept something like the Vigilante, but the crews managed, though not without incident: three Vigilantes were lost in landing accidents aboard the Taurus in a three-month period in 1983, and the FIRNAA briefly considered grounding the type and retiring it.
With the outbreak of the Third World War, however, the RA-5C once more proved its worth. The TARPS F-14s were found to be vulnerable on camera runs, as they had to slow down, while the RN depended on even slower Vinten camera pod-equipped Sea Harriers. This left NATO’s seaborne reconnaissance duties limited to the handful of FIRNAA Vigilantes and Aeronavale Etendard IVPs. The RA-5C performed superbly, and was upgraded continually throughout the war with improved ECM and the same TCS used by the F-14, along with improvements in camera technology; FIRNAA RA-5Cs were the first to test fax technology, allowing for near real-time photo assessment. Since the RA-5C had always retained wing hardpoints for drop tanks, a few sorties were also carried out with the Pave Tack FLIR, in conjunction with precision-guided weapon strikes. RA-5Cs eventually served on all four carriers operated by the FIRNAA in its history, in three-aircraft detachments.
Following the end of the war in 1988, it was obvious that the days of the Vigilante were over. The type was retired for good in August 1987, and NRS-1 was disestablished in the same month, leaving the FIRNAA without a dedicated manned reconnaissance platform until the adoption of the RF-18C Hornet in 1999. The surviving RA-5Cs were once more returned to Davis-Monthan, where they were subsequently scrapped.
This RA-5C was built from the 1/144 Arii kit, with no modifications. To fit it into my fictional "Free Intelani Naval Air Arm" naval aviation force, all markings were hand-painted and lettered. (As the Vigilante is a big aircraft even in small scale, this was not as hard as it may appear!) I gave it a camouflage scheme of gunship gray over light ghost gray, which probably is too dark for real carrier operations. I thought it brought a nice change from the standard naval colors of light and neutral grays, though. The "Cougars" tail logo is based on the old Thundercats cartoon emblem.
North American RA-5C Vigilante
North American Aviation began a private study for a carrier-based, high-speed nuclear bomber in 1953. The US Navy’s nuclear bombers then in service or soon entering service, the A3J Savage and A3D Skywarrior, were considered by North American to be too slow to survive over the Soviet Union. The Navy liked the concept and awarded North American with a contract in 1956, with a first flight in August 1958 and entrance into the fleet in 1960, naming the aircraft the A3J (after 1962, A-5) Vigilante.
The Vigilante was very advanced for its time, and pioneered technology that would not become widespread for another decade. This included the use of blown flaps, all-moving tail, titanium in certain areas to lighten weight, a limited fly-by-wire control system, inertial navigation, HUD, multimode radar, and an early version of the TCS/TISEO later used by the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat and the USAF’s F-4E Phantom II. When running clean, the Vigilante was extremely fast and manueverable; one A-5B during a training mission successfully outmaneuvered a F-8 Crusader, then the Navy’s primary fighter. To keep it clean of drag, save internal space, and ensure that the A-5 would be able to clear a nuclear shockwave, the Vigilante had a unique bomb delivery system: instead of a conventional bomb bay, the nuclear bomb was ejected, along with spent auxiliary fuel tanks, from the rear of the aircraft, using the A-5’s speed to give it a ballistic arc and gaining time for the bomber to get away from a nuclear blast. In practice, however, the bomb ejection system rarely worked (luckily, the Vigilante was never tested with live nuclear ordnance), and the shock of a catapult launch caused the the fuel tanks to hurtle out the rear, leading to several deck fires and one loss. Its advanced technology was also prone to breakdown, and landing the Vigilante on a carrier deck required a highly skilled pilot due to its high landing speed and angle of attack.
Nonetheless, the A-5 became a popular aircraft in the Navy, though by 1963, the increasing decline in size of nuclear weapons (even the diminutive A-4 Skyhawk could carry one) and the Navy’s shift to submarine-launched ballistic missiles left the A-5 without a mission. By this time, however, North American was already producing the RA-5C reconnaissance version. With a slightly larger wing area and distinctive hump in the fuselage behind the cockpit that carried extra fuel, the RA-5C added an underfuselage “canoe” that carried side-looking radar, infrared sensors, cameras, and ECM. Elint equipment could also be carried. This added significant weight to the design with a subsequent cost in agility but not speed. The RA-5C became the primary reconnaissance aircraft of the “heavy” reconnaissance squadrons assigned to large attack carriers of the Forrestal, Kitty Hawk, and Nimitz series, supplemented by RF-8G squadrons on older Essex-class vessels and the USMC’s RF-4Bs.
The RA-5C also came along just in time for the Vietnam War, where it was to see the most use. Eight of the ten “heavy” reconnaissance squadrons would see service in the war, mainly in pre-strike and post-strike reconnaissance. The latter was the most dangerous: though the Vigilante’s speed made it nigh invulnerable to MiG interception—RA-5Cs were not even escorted because the F-4 could not keep up with it—and its agility made it difficult to hit with SAMs, the fact that the North Vietnamese could always count on a post-strike reconnaissance flight allowed them to set up ambushes. Of the 18 RA-5Cs lost in Vietnam, all but four was to flak. The type’s difficulty to land led to a further nine losses in accidents. As a result, the Vigilante production line was temporarily reopened to produce another 36 attrition replacements, raising total production to 157 aircraft when production ended in 1970.
Following the end of the Vietnam War, the Vigilante soldiered on for a few short years: to save costs and due to attrition, the US Navy decided to retire the RA-5C, along with the RF-8G, in 1980, replacing both platforms with TARPS camera pods carried by F-14s. These were the last dedicated reconnaissance aircraft operated by the Navy. The last Vigilante left the fleet in November 1979, and most ended their days as targets on the China Lake weapons range; about 14 are left in museums or as gate guards.
The Vigilante, however, was to have one more swan song. When the FIR Navy began planning the Pegasus-class carriers, it also adopted the US Navy’s air wing makeup, including the F-14 Tomcat. However, since the F-14s would be awhile coming online, the FIRNAA supplemented them with first the F-4N Phantom II and then the A-4ES Skyhawk. As TARPS-podded F-14s were also going to be the FIRNAA’s only reconnaissance asset, that gap also needed to be bridged.
As a result, the FIRNAA decided to acquire the RA-5C Vigilante in 1980, despite its reputation of high maintenance and high accident rate. 12 of the retiring Vigilantes from RVAH-1 were flown from Davis-Monthan AFB to Seashore IFAAS in July 1980, repainted, and entered immediate service with NRS-1. Carrier-qualifications were made with FIRNAA crews on the USS Nimitz, as the Pegasus was still two years away from launch. To the Vigilante crews’ horror, their first at-sea deployment was aboard the IWS Taurus, the ex-RN Ark Royal. The smaller British carriers had never been designed to accept something like the Vigilante, but the crews managed, though not without incident: three Vigilantes were lost in landing accidents aboard the Taurus in a three-month period in 1983, and the FIRNAA briefly considered grounding the type and retiring it.
With the outbreak of the Third World War, however, the RA-5C once more proved its worth. The TARPS F-14s were found to be vulnerable on camera runs, as they had to slow down, while the RN depended on even slower Vinten camera pod-equipped Sea Harriers. This left NATO’s seaborne reconnaissance duties limited to the handful of FIRNAA Vigilantes and Aeronavale Etendard IVPs. The RA-5C performed superbly, and was upgraded continually throughout the war with improved ECM and the same TCS used by the F-14, along with improvements in camera technology; FIRNAA RA-5Cs were the first to test fax technology, allowing for near real-time photo assessment. Since the RA-5C had always retained wing hardpoints for drop tanks, a few sorties were also carried out with the Pave Tack FLIR, in conjunction with precision-guided weapon strikes. RA-5Cs eventually served on all four carriers operated by the FIRNAA in its history, in three-aircraft detachments.
Following the end of the war in 1988, it was obvious that the days of the Vigilante were over. The type was retired for good in August 1987, and NRS-1 was disestablished in the same month, leaving the FIRNAA without a dedicated manned reconnaissance platform until the adoption of the RF-18C Hornet in 1999. The surviving RA-5Cs were once more returned to Davis-Monthan, where they were subsequently scrapped.
This RA-5C was built from the 1/144 Arii kit, with no modifications. To fit it into my fictional "Free Intelani Naval Air Arm" naval aviation force, all markings were hand-painted and lettered. (As the Vigilante is a big aircraft even in small scale, this was not as hard as it may appear!) I gave it a camouflage scheme of gunship gray over light ghost gray, which probably is too dark for real carrier operations. I thought it brought a nice change from the standard naval colors of light and neutral grays, though. The "Cougars" tail logo is based on the old Thundercats cartoon emblem.