Grumman A-6 Intruder (2024)

History of the Grumman A-6 Raider

The Grumman A-6 Intruder is a purpose-built strike platform designed to meet the United States Navys (USN) requirements for an all-weather carrier-based attack aircraft capable of delivering large, powerful payloads to enemy targets in the United States Transport and fire inland. So far, the U.S.

Navy has had success with the multi-faceted Douglas "Skyraider" family of propeller attack aircraft used in the Korean War (1950-1953) and has attempted to augment these capabilities with jet aircraft. The U.S. Navy made their request in 1955 and completed their wish list in 1957. This resulted in the usual U.S. defense contractors being solicited (no less than 11 bids from eight companies in the pipeline), and in January 1958, Grumman's "G-128" model was accepted for the U.S. Navy Further development named "A2F-1" (using pre-1962 USN marking convention).

This continues Grumman's partnership with USN, which dates back to World War II and the legendary F4F Wildcat fighter line.

This work revealed an airworthy prototype that took to the air for the first time on April 19, 1960. The YA2F-1 prototype was largely similar to the completed A-6 Intruder known today, but displayed unique qualities with its rotatable jet tube nozzles allowing short runway takeoffs when pointed downwards. The rest of the aircraft consists of a teardrop-shaped fuselage with a bulbous nose and a heavily tapered tail, a high-mounted and swept-back monoplane wing assembly, and a wide two-person side-by-side co*ckpit arrangement (the pilot Bombardier on the left is in the right). In fact, throughout its career, the plane took on the shape of a turkey leg, hence the name.

The aircraft is powered by two turbojet engines flanking the lower fuselage, which are drawn in through semi-circular air intakes on the front side of the fuselage and exhausted through a single nozzle under the empennage. The landing gear is usually truss-type - two single-wheel main legs and a two-wheel front leg, all three of which can be retracted into the frame. The all-weather requirement was aided by a terrain display CRT system, which was used by the navigator/bombardier for low-level attacks.

A permanently fixed aerial refueling probe is mounted on the nose between the front co*ckpit windshields to further extend the aircraft's operating range. The tail consists of a vertical tail with a return horizontal plane.

A-6F Attempts to expand the A-6 fleet with an improved "Invader II" concept and more powerful new engines and onboard processing systems ultimately failed. Five prototypes were completed, but U.S. naval authorities decided to abandon the costly endeavor.

So the A-6G was a "budget alternative" to the Grumman-sponsored F model, but it didn't go anywhere either.

The EA-6A is a variant of the United States Marine Corps Electronic Warfare Aircraft (EWA) with 28 fuselages (characterized by its vertical tail camber to accommodate the antenna). The aircraft first flew on April 26, 1963, and was eventually produced by 15 new builds and 11 modified A-6As. The U.S. Marine Corps used these specially equipped aircraft over Vietnam, where they replaced aging inventory of Douglas F3D Sky Knights.

Equipment included the AN/APQ-129 Fire Control Radar (FCR) and AN/APN-153 series of navigation systems and the EA-6A, which entered service in the late 1970s before being scrapped.

A more specialized EWA version of the Intruder series became the EA-6B "Prowler", which gained an elongated fuselage that could accommodate two additional crew members (electronic warfare officers) side by side. More advanced radar, navigation, and processing systems welcomed the genre, making the U.S. Navy a formidable replacement for the Air Force-sponsored EF-111 Ravens it relies on in theaters. Another distinguishing feature of these aircraft are the tail-mounted pods that house the antennas and underwing pods needed for jamming equipment.

The Prowler procured 170 units to serve the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, launched in 1971, and production continued through 1991.

The Prowler has since been replaced by the modern EA-18G "Growler" series, a dedicated airframe based on the two-seat Boeing F/A-18 "Super Hornet" series.

By the 1980s, U.S. attention had shifted from Southeast Asia to involvement in the Middle East. In 1983, the A-6 was called up to a mission in Lebanon in support of international peacekeeping operations under the United Nations flag.

The battle rediscovered the series when it launched a blistering attack on targets in Libya. In 1991, the Invaders formed the US-led coalition's carrier-based strike force in the Persian Gulf, which destroyed the Iraqi Air Force and Army during Operation Desert Storm, and the precision-guidance capability was heavily used. Both the U.S.

Navy and U.S. Marine Corps raiders were used in the war, and only three were destroyed by enemy fire.

By the mid-10s, the Raider design had nearly completed its run as a US Navy front-line player, seeing consistent combat service in most major US engagements of the late 20th century. Advances in time and technology eventually led to the decision to begin dismantling the A-6 fleet. The McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger IIa delta-shaped naval stealth bomberwas designed as a high-tech replacement for the A-6, but the project ultimately fell through, and ended up being a blackmailer of the U.S.

Navys overfunding. eye socket. After the Grumman F-14 Tomcat air defense interceptor gained the long-awaited ground attack capability, the A-6 was officially retired to better simplify and standardize the type of aircraft deployed on U.S. carriers.

The A-6 Intruder was never exported outside the United States. The total production of all mentioned variant types is 693 aircraft.

Grumman A-6 Intruder Specification

BASICS

Year:

1963

Status:

Retired, Out-of-Service

Crew:

2

MANUFACTURING

[ 693 Units ] :

Grumman - USA

ROLES

DIMENSIONS

Length:

54. 76 ft (16. 69 m)

Width/Span:

52. 17 ft (15. 9 m)

Height:

16. 08 ft (4. 9 m)

WEIGHTS

Empty Weight:

27,613 lb (12,525 kg)

MTOW:

58,599 lb (26,580 kg)

(Diff: +30,986lb)

POWER

2 x Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8B turbojets, rated at 9,300 pounds of thrust.

PERFORMANCE

Maximum Speed:

644 mph (1,036 kph; 559 kts)

Service Ceiling:

44,619 feet (13,600 m; 8. 45 miles)

Maximum Range:

1,081 miles (1,739 km; 939 nm)

ARMAMENT

Up to 18,000 pounds of mission-specific munitions, including MK-84 cluster bombs, AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles, AGM-130 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation/anti-radar missiles, AIM - 7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II and GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bombs.

VARIANTS

A-6 "Intruder" - Base Series Designation

EA-6B "Prowler" - Electronic Warfare Model of the United States Navy specialized for carrier operations.