The final specification combined both of these missions, giving requirements for speed, range, weight, and payload, but left the number and type of engines to the bidders. At the same time, the Navy's experience in the Korean War showed the need for a new long-range strike aircraft with a high subsonic performance at tree-top height to permit under-the-radar penetration of enemy defenses and to be capable of finding and hitting small and moving targets in any weather. The Marine Corps initiated the request with a desire for a Close Air Support aircraft capable of short takeoff. The origins of what became the A-6 Intruder came in a 1957 Navy specification for a new attack airplane to replace the aging Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider. It has accumulated more than 7,500 flying hours, over 6,500 landings, 767 arrested landings, and 712 catapult launches. It served under harsh combat conditions in the skies over Vietnam and is a veteran of the 1991 Desert Storm campaign, when it flew missions during the first 72 hours of the war. The Navy accepted this airplane as an "A" model in 1968. The Intruder first flew in 1960 and was delivered to the Navy in 1963 and the Marine Corps in 1964. The Grumman A-6 Intruder was designed with these needs in mind. The Navy's experience in the Korean War showed the need for a new long-range strike aircraft with high subsonic performance at very low altitude-an aircraft that could penetrate enemy defenses and find and destroy small targets in any weather. View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage conditions may apply For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections.
Thanks again Tommy for another interesting post.Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. I can't find any details about when this took place and whether early aircraft received the upgrade. One more observation.at some point during A-6A production raised plates (belly armor?) started to appear on the engine access panels. I can't tell the difference from looking at photos, however. The same source also mentions the adoption of the "heavier nose wheel" (of the EA-6B) beginning with 154170. Earlier aircraft were re-fitted at overhaul. 252, by Kurt Miska, indicates the change from black to white began with BuNo 155628 - the 359th A-6A. Regarding the nose radomes, Aircraft Profile no. And almost certainly, by the late 1970's, any of these airframes (save the tankers and the electronic warfare conversions) still in fleet service had been upgraded to Echo status.
Grumman's paint shop practices didn't help either, as the aircraft type block was stenciled in tiny one inch yellow font on the rear fuselage, difficult or impossible to discern from period photographs!īut one thing is for sure: if the tail number is 158xxx or higher, it's a new build A-6E.ġ57xxx and earlier began life as Alpha models. These upgraded airframes retained their original tail numbers however, making positive identification tricky, at least during the mid seventies, as you allude to. 240 A-6As were rebuilt to Echo standards (and re-designated as A-6Es) from 1972 to 1977. The last Alpha model produced was 157029. Thanks for taking this on Tommy - a rather daunting task given the subtle complexities, overlaps, and exceptions to the rules!Īs you point out, BuNo 158041 was the first new build A-6E.
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