A-4 Skyhawk

Douglas A-4F Skyhawk
image depicts later A-4M version
Description
Role	Attack aircraft
Crew	one, pilot
Dimensions
Length	12.22m	40' 3"
Wingspan	8.38m	27' 6"
Height	4.57m	14' 11"
Wing area	24.15m²	259ft²
Weights
Empty	4,750kg	10,448 lb
Loaded
Maximum take-off	11,136kg	24,500 lb
Powerplant
Engines	1x Pratt & Whitney J52-P8A turbojet
Power	41.4 kN	9,300 lb
Performance
Maximum speed	1,100km/h	686 mph
Combat range	3,220km	2,000 miles
Ferry range
Service ceiling	12,880m	42,250ft
Rate of Climb	2,572m/min	8,440ft/min
Armament
Guns	2x 20mm Colt Mk 12 cannon
Fuselage centreline station	1,590kg	3,500 lbs
Inboard wing stations	1,000kg each	2,200 lbs each
Outboard wing stations	454 kg each	1,000 lbs each

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (formerly A4D Skyhawk, Douglas later McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing) is an attack aircraft originally designed to operate from United States Navy aircraft carriers. Fifty years after the type's first flight, some of the nearly 3,000 Skyhawks produced remain in service with smaller air arms around the world.

History

The Skyhawk was designed by Douglas' Ed Heinemann in response to a U.S. Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the A-1 Skyraider. Heinemann opted for a design that would minimize size, weight, and complexity. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's specification and had a wing so compact that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage. The diminutive Skyhawk soon received the nicknames "Scooter," "Bantam Bomber," and, on account of its nimble performance, "Heinemann's Hot-Rod."

The aircraft is of conventional design, with a low-mounted delta-like wing, tricycle undercarriage, and a single turbojet engine in the rear fuselage, with intakes on the fuselage sides. The tail is of cruciform design, with the horizontal stabilizer mounted above the fuselage. Armament consisted of two 20mm Colt Mk 12 cannon, one in each wing root with 200 rounds per gun, and large variety of bombs, rockets, and missiles carried on a centreline hardpoint under the fuselage and two hardpoints under each wing (early versions had only one hardpoint under each wing).

The Navy issued a contract for the type on June 12 1952, and the first prototype first flew on June 22, 1954. Deliveries to Navy and U.S. Marine Corps squadrons commenced in late 1956.

The Skyhawk remained in production until 1975, with a total of 2,960 aircraft built, including 555 two-seat trainers. The US Navy began removing the aircraft from its front-line squadrons in 1967, with the last retiring in 1975. The last Marine Skyhawk was delivered in 1979, and were used until the mid-1990s. Trainer versions of the Skyhawk remained in Navy service, however, found a new lease on life with the advent of adversary training, where the nimble A-4 was used as a stand-in for the MiG-17 in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). It served in that role until 1999, when the last were replaced with the T-45 Goshawk. As of 2001, a few last Skyhawks remained in military use in the US for target-towing and as adversary aircraft for combat training.

In Combat

Skyhawks received much use in the early years of the Vietnam War until being supplanted by the A-7 Corsair II in the light bomber role. Skyhawks carried out some of the first air strikes by the US during the conflict and a Marine Skyhawk is believed to have dropped the last US bombs on the country. Shortly afterwards, Israeli Air Force Skyhawks would prove their worth in the Yom Kippur War. Argentine Navy Skyhawks played a role in the Falkland Islands War, and more recently, Kuwaiti Air Force Skyhawks fought in the first Gulf War.

Variants

Prototypes

• XAD4-1 Prototype
• YAD4-1 Flight-test prototypes

A-4A

• A4D-1 (A-4A) Initial production version, 166 built

A-4B

• A4D-2 (A-4B) Strengthened aircraft and added air-to-air refueling capabilities, improved navigation and flight control systems, provision for AGM-12 Bullpup missile. 542 built.
  • A-4P Remanufactured A-4Bs sold to Argentine Air Force.
  • A-4Q Remanufactured A-4Bs sold to Argentine Navy.

• A4D-3 Proposed advanced avionics version, none built.

A-4C

• A4D-2N (A-4C) Night/adverse weather version of A4D-2, with AN/APG-53A radar, autopilot, LABS low-altitude bombing system. J65-W-20 engine with 8,200 lb (36.48 kN) take-off thrust. 638 built.
  • A-4L 100 A-4Cs remanufactured for Navy Reserve squadrons.
  • A-4S 40 A-4Cs remanufactured for Republic of Singapore Air Force.
    • TA-4S 7 trainer versions of the above. Different from most Skyhawk trainers in that they have a second canopy for the instruction, rather than seating student and instructor under one long canopy.
    • TA-4SU ("Super Skyhawk") extensively modified and updated A-4S with General Electric F404 non-afterburning turbofan engine and modernised electronics.
  • A-4PTM 40 A-4Cs and A-4Ls refurbished for Royal Malaysian Air Force, incorporating many A-4M features.
    • TA-4PTM Small number of trainer versions of above.

• A4D-4 long-range version with new wings cancelled; A-4D designation skipped to prevent confusion with A4D

A-4E

• A4D-5 (A-4E) major upgrade, including new Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6A engine with 8,400 lb (37.37 kN) thrust, strengthened airframe with two more weapon pylons (for a total of five), improved avionics, with TACAN, Doppler navigation radar, radar altimeter, toss-bombing computer, and AJB-3A low-altitude bombing system. Many later upgraded with J52-P-8 engine with 9,300 lb (41.37 kN) thrust. 499 built.
  • TA-4E two A-4Es modified as prototypes of a trainer version.

A-4F

• A-4F Refinement of A-4E with extra avionics housed in a hump on the fuselage spine (this feature later retrofitted to A-4Es and some A-4Cs) and more powerful J52-P-8A engine with 9,300 lb (41.37 kN) thrust, later upgraded in service to J52-P-408 with 11,200 lb (49.82 kN). 147 built. Some served with Blue Angels acrobatic team from 1973 to 1986.
  • TA-4F Conversion trainer - standard A-4F with extra seat for an instructor. 241 built.
    • OA-4M Twenty-three TA-4Fs modified for Forward Air Control duties for the USMC.
    • EA-4F Four TA-4Fs converted for ECM training.
  • TA-4J Dedicated trainer version based on A-4F, but lacking weapons systems, and with down-rated engine. 277 built new, and most TA-4Fs were later converted to this configuration.
  • A-4G Eight aircraft built new for the Royal Australian Navy with minor variations from the A-4F. Subsequently, eight more A-4Fs were modified to this standard for the RAN.
    • TA-4G two trainer versions of the A-4G built new, and two more modified from TA-4Fs.
  • A-4H 90 aircraft for the Israeli Air Force based on the A-4F. Used 30mm DEFA cannon with 150 rpg in place of U.S. 20mm guns. Later, some A-4Es later locally modified to this standard. Subsequently modified with extended jetpipes as protection against heat-seeking missiles.
    • TA-4H 25 trainer versions of the above.
  • A-4K Ten aircraft for Royal New Zealand Air Force. In the 1990s these were upgraded with new radar and avionics, provision for AGM-65 Maverick, AIM-9 Sidewinder, and GBU-16 Paveway II laser-guided bomb.
    • TA-4K Four trainer versions of the above.

A-4M

• A-4M dedicated Marine version with improved avionics and more powerful J52-P-408 engine with 11,200 lb (49.82 kN) thrust, enlarged cockpit, IFF system. Later fitted with Hughes AN/ASB-19 Angle Rate Bombing System (ARBS) with TV and laser spot tracker. 158 built.
  • A-4N 117 modified A-4Ms for the Israeli Air Force.
  • A-4KU 30 modified A-4Ms for the Kuwaiti Air Force. Brazil purchased some of these second-hand and redesignated them AF-1.
    • TA-4KU 6 trainer versions of the above. Brazil purchased some of these second-hand and redesignated them AF-1A.
  • A-4AR 36 A-4Ms refurbished for Argentina.

Units Using the A-4

USN

• VA-12
• VA-15
• VA-22
• VA-23
• VA-34
• VA-36
• VA-44
• VA-46
• VA-55
• VA-56
• VA-64
• VA-65
• VA-72
• VA-76
• VA-81
• VA-83
• VA-86
• VA-93
• VA-94
• VA-95
• VA-106
• VA-112
• VA-113
• VA-125
• VA-127
• VA-144
• VA-146
• VA-152
• VA-153
• VA-155
• VA-161
• VA-163
• VA-164
• VA-165
• VA-176
• VA-195
• VA-204
• VA-205
• VA-209
• VA-210
• VA-212
• VA-216
• VA-303
• VA-304
• VA-305
• VA-776
• VA-831
• VA-873
• VC-7
• VC(VFC)-12
• VC(VFC)-13
• VF-126

USMC

• VMA-211
• VAM-214
• VAM-223
• VMA-311
• VMA-331
• VMA-225

Brazillian Air Force

Argentinian Air Force

• 4th Air Brigade (A-4C, withdrawn from use)
• 5th Air Brigade (36 A/OA-4AR, replaced older A-4B)

Argentinian Navy

• 3rd Fighter/Attack Flight (A-4Q, withdrawn from use in 1986)

Royal Australian Navy

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Israeli Air Force

Kuwaiti Air Force

Royal Malaysian Air Force

Singapore Air Force

• Modernised A-4SU and TA-4SU versions.

de:Douglas A-4 ja:A-4 (攻撃機)