Grumman A-6E Intruder
The A-6 Intruder was designed to serve two roles: one, to replace the aging A-1 Skyraider and supplement the A-4 Skyhawk in the carrier-based strike role, and two, to give the US Navy a genuine all-weather strike aircraft. The requirement was issued in 1957, and Grumman’s A2F-1 design selected, with the first flight in 1960. In 1962, just before fleet entry in 1963, the Intruder was redesignated A-6A.
The A-6 was designed to hit targets with pinpoint accuracy in adverse weather, day or night, similar to what the USAF would later require for the F-111 Aardvark. For this reason, it was built around the Digital Integrated Attack/Navigation Equipment (DIANE), which used three radar systems to constantly update the INS and provide attack data to the bombardier/navigator sitting in the right seat. The system proved very complicated and it would be some years before it was perfected. Since the weather and night would be the Intruder’s primary defense, no defensive armament was put on the aircraft, though it could carry an impressive 18,000 pound warload of air-to-ground weaponry.
The Intruder was committed early to the Vietnam War, which showed up the flaws in the DIANE system and a more lethal one in the bomb delivery system, which had a tendency to set off the bombs prematurely, destroying the aircraft. Gradually improvements were made, and despite the loss of 84 Intruders over Vietnam, it proved to be extremely effective: until the bugs were ironed out of the F-111A in 1971, the A-6 remained the only American aircraft that could attack during the monsoon season. Specialized A-6Bs were also produced specifically for Iron Hand defense suppression missions, and A-6Cs for anti-truck operations on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
All three variants were replaced by the A-6E beginning in 1971: this replaced DIANE with a more advanced solid-state computer and the three radars with a single AN/APQ-148 multimode radar. In 1979, the A-6E was further modified with the installation of Target Recognition Attack Multisensor (TRAM), consisting of a turret in the nose containing FLIR linked to the radar and a new bomb computer. Besides making the already accurate A-6 even more deadly, it also allowed the Intruder to drop laser-guided bombs, hit moving targets with bombs, and also use passive radar to attack a target.
A-6s would find themselves once more heavily employed during the First Gulf War, flying 4700 sorties for the loss of four aircraft; its final roles would find it supporting Marines in Somalia in 1991 and UN forces in Bosnia in 1995. By that time, surviving A-6Es had been partially upgraded to allow them to fire all newer guided weapons in the inventory (namely the AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-65 Maverick, and AGM-88 HARM), while most of the fleet also received composite wings. Grumman further proposed an updated version designated A-6F, with new avionics and engines, but the US Navy rejected this in favor of replacing the Intruder with the F/A-18C/D Hornet. The last A-6E left US Navy service by Feburary 1997; the US Marine Corps had retired theirs in 1993.
In addition to the attack versions of the Intruder, Grumman also built the dedicated KA-6D tanker version, which replaced the attack systems with an internal hose/reel refuelling system. These too were retired in 1997 and replaced by the S-3B Viking.
This Intruder was built as Bureau Number 155595, an A-6A, in 1968, and joined the Navy's VA-128 ("Golden Intruders"), training A-6 crews headed to Southeast Asia. In 1970, 155595 itself made the trip to Vietnam, with VA-165 ("Boomers") aboard USS Constellation (CV-64), seeing combat during Operation Linebacker I. After returning to the United States, it went back to VA-128 from 1972 to 1973, then to VA-196 ("Main Battery") until 1975, after which it was upgraded to an A-6E. After another year with VA-165, it would see deployments with VA-145 ("Swordsmen") and VA-52 ("Knight Riders") aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and Carl Vinson (CV-63 and CVN-70) until 1981. After a quick year's stay with VA-65 ("Fighting Tigers"), it was back to VA-165 once more aboard the Vinson.
In 1990, 155595 was with VA-155 ("Silver Foxes") aboard the USS Ranger (CV-61) for its second war during Operation Desert Storm. During several weeks of strikes, mostly "tank plinking" with laser-guided bombs, 155595 was credited with 56 tanks and two gunboats. This proved to be the old A-6's swan song, and it was retired in 1993. It would spend a few years at AMARC until being donated to the Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California.
155595 was just repainted and further restored fairly recently, and the restoration was excellent. Since the aircraft saw its second war with VA-155, that was the colors PCAM decided to go with, and it carries both its kill board and the Silver Fox logo on the tail. Somewhat unusually for a museum aircraft, 155595 is fully bombed up, complete with "Remove Before Flight" arming pins on 16 Mark 82 500-pound bombs. Along with two drop tanks, this is a full load for even the A-6. It's the centerpiece of an entire memorial and display on the history of the Intruder.
Grumman A-6E Intruder
The A-6 Intruder was designed to serve two roles: one, to replace the aging A-1 Skyraider and supplement the A-4 Skyhawk in the carrier-based strike role, and two, to give the US Navy a genuine all-weather strike aircraft. The requirement was issued in 1957, and Grumman’s A2F-1 design selected, with the first flight in 1960. In 1962, just before fleet entry in 1963, the Intruder was redesignated A-6A.
The A-6 was designed to hit targets with pinpoint accuracy in adverse weather, day or night, similar to what the USAF would later require for the F-111 Aardvark. For this reason, it was built around the Digital Integrated Attack/Navigation Equipment (DIANE), which used three radar systems to constantly update the INS and provide attack data to the bombardier/navigator sitting in the right seat. The system proved very complicated and it would be some years before it was perfected. Since the weather and night would be the Intruder’s primary defense, no defensive armament was put on the aircraft, though it could carry an impressive 18,000 pound warload of air-to-ground weaponry.
The Intruder was committed early to the Vietnam War, which showed up the flaws in the DIANE system and a more lethal one in the bomb delivery system, which had a tendency to set off the bombs prematurely, destroying the aircraft. Gradually improvements were made, and despite the loss of 84 Intruders over Vietnam, it proved to be extremely effective: until the bugs were ironed out of the F-111A in 1971, the A-6 remained the only American aircraft that could attack during the monsoon season. Specialized A-6Bs were also produced specifically for Iron Hand defense suppression missions, and A-6Cs for anti-truck operations on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
All three variants were replaced by the A-6E beginning in 1971: this replaced DIANE with a more advanced solid-state computer and the three radars with a single AN/APQ-148 multimode radar. In 1979, the A-6E was further modified with the installation of Target Recognition Attack Multisensor (TRAM), consisting of a turret in the nose containing FLIR linked to the radar and a new bomb computer. Besides making the already accurate A-6 even more deadly, it also allowed the Intruder to drop laser-guided bombs, hit moving targets with bombs, and also use passive radar to attack a target.
A-6s would find themselves once more heavily employed during the First Gulf War, flying 4700 sorties for the loss of four aircraft; its final roles would find it supporting Marines in Somalia in 1991 and UN forces in Bosnia in 1995. By that time, surviving A-6Es had been partially upgraded to allow them to fire all newer guided weapons in the inventory (namely the AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-65 Maverick, and AGM-88 HARM), while most of the fleet also received composite wings. Grumman further proposed an updated version designated A-6F, with new avionics and engines, but the US Navy rejected this in favor of replacing the Intruder with the F/A-18C/D Hornet. The last A-6E left US Navy service by Feburary 1997; the US Marine Corps had retired theirs in 1993.
In addition to the attack versions of the Intruder, Grumman also built the dedicated KA-6D tanker version, which replaced the attack systems with an internal hose/reel refuelling system. These too were retired in 1997 and replaced by the S-3B Viking.
This Intruder was built as Bureau Number 155595, an A-6A, in 1968, and joined the Navy's VA-128 ("Golden Intruders"), training A-6 crews headed to Southeast Asia. In 1970, 155595 itself made the trip to Vietnam, with VA-165 ("Boomers") aboard USS Constellation (CV-64), seeing combat during Operation Linebacker I. After returning to the United States, it went back to VA-128 from 1972 to 1973, then to VA-196 ("Main Battery") until 1975, after which it was upgraded to an A-6E. After another year with VA-165, it would see deployments with VA-145 ("Swordsmen") and VA-52 ("Knight Riders") aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and Carl Vinson (CV-63 and CVN-70) until 1981. After a quick year's stay with VA-65 ("Fighting Tigers"), it was back to VA-165 once more aboard the Vinson.
In 1990, 155595 was with VA-155 ("Silver Foxes") aboard the USS Ranger (CV-61) for its second war during Operation Desert Storm. During several weeks of strikes, mostly "tank plinking" with laser-guided bombs, 155595 was credited with 56 tanks and two gunboats. This proved to be the old A-6's swan song, and it was retired in 1993. It would spend a few years at AMARC until being donated to the Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California.
155595 was just repainted and further restored fairly recently, and the restoration was excellent. Since the aircraft saw its second war with VA-155, that was the colors PCAM decided to go with, and it carries both its kill board and the Silver Fox logo on the tail. Somewhat unusually for a museum aircraft, 155595 is fully bombed up, complete with "Remove Before Flight" arming pins on 16 Mark 82 500-pound bombs. Along with two drop tanks, this is a full load for even the A-6. It's the centerpiece of an entire memorial and display on the history of the Intruder.