Grumman A-6 Intruder

Summary

Description

The A-6 was designed in response to a 1957 requirement issued by the Bureau of Aeronautics for an all-weather attack aircraft for Navy long-range interdiction missions and with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability for Marine close air support, replacing the piston-engined Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The winning proposal from Grumman, internally designated as the Type G-128, was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney J52 turbojet engines. Grumman was awarded a contract for the development of their submission, which had been re-designated A2F-1, in February 1958. Robert Nafis and Lawrence Mead, Jr. led Grumman's design team. The first prototype YA2F-1, lacking radar and the navigational and attack avionics, made its first flight on 19 April 1960, with the second prototype flying on 28 July 1960. During February 1963, the A-6 was introduced to service with the US Navy.

The Grumman A-6 Intruder is a two-seat twin-engined monoplane, equipped to perform carrier-based attack missions regardless of prevailing weather or light conditions. The cockpit featured a double pane windscreen and a side-by-side seating arrangement. The pilot sat in the left seat, while the bombardier/navigator (BN) sat to the right and slightly below to give the pilot an adequate view on that side. In addition to a radar display for the BN, a unique instrumentation feature for the pilot was a cathode ray tube screen known as the Vertical Display Indicator (VDI). This display provided a synthetic representation of the world in front of the aircraft, along with steering cues provided by the BN, enabling head-down navigation and attack at night and in all weather conditions. The A-6's wing was relatively efficient at subsonic speeds and designed to provide a favorable level of maneuverability even while carrying a sizable bomb load. It also had sophisticated avionics, with a high degree of integration, with automatic diagnostic systems to aid in identifying and isolating equipment malfunctions.

The A-6E Intruder featured five hardpoints to carry a wide variety of ordnance: four under the wings and one under the fuselage, each capable of supporting up to 3,600 lb. This configuration allowed for a total payload capacity of 18,000 lb. The A-6 was compatible with various rockets, including 12 LAU-10 pods with four 5-inch Zuni rockets each, or multiple LAU-68 or LAU-61/LAU-68 pods carrying 2.75-inch FFARs. In terms of missiles, the A-6E could deploy AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard anti-radar missiles, AGM-62 Walleye TV-guided glide bombs, AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles, AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missiles, AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles, AGM-123 Skipper air-to-ground missiles, and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, as well as ADM-141 TALD decoy missiles. For bombs, it could carry up to 28 Mk 82 500 lb general purpose bombs or Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster bombs, 13 Mk 83 1,000 lb GP bombs, or 5 Mk 84 2,000 lb GP bombs, along with GBU-12/16/10 laser-guided bombs and CBU-72 Fuel-Air Explosives. Additionally, the A-6 was capable of carrying up to three B43, B57, or B61 nuclear weapons. The aircraft could also carry Mk 60 Captor Mines, up to five 300-gallon drop tanks, and various practice stores, chaff launchers, baggage pods, and flares.

The A-6 saw active combat across multiple conflicts, beginning with the Vietnam War, where it operated from both carriers and shore facilities. Its long range, heavy payload, and all-weather capability proved invaluable, though its typical low-altitude mission profile made it vulnerable to ground fire; the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps lost 84 A-6 aircraft during the conflict, with 56 attributed to conventional ground fire and AAA. In the 1980s, the A-6 supported the Multinational Force in Lebanon and participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon. During the Gulf War, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps A-6s flew over 4,700 combat sorties against a variety of Iraqi ground-based targets. The A-6 was used to patrol the no-fly zone in Iraq and provided air support during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. The A-6 also fulfilled the role of an aerial tanker either in the dedicated KA-6D version or by use of a buddy store.

Main Variants:

• A-6A: The initial version of the Intruder was built around the complex and advanced DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack/Navigation Equipment) suite, intended to provide a high degree of bombing accuracy even at night and in poor weather.

• A-6B: To provide U.S. Navy squadrons with a defense suppression aircraft to attack enemy anti-aircraft defense and SAM systems, 19 A-6As were converted to A-6B version during 1967 to 1970.

• A-6C: 12 A-6As were converted in 1970 to A-6C standard for night attack missions against the Ho Chi Minh trail in Vietnam and were fitted with a "Trails/Roads Interdiction Multi-sensor" (TRIM) pod in the fuselage for FLIR and low-light TV cameras, as well as a "Black Crow" engine ignition detection system.

• KA-6D: To replace both the KA-3B and EA-3B Skywarrior during the early 1970s, 78 A-6As and 12 A-6Es were converted for use as tanker aircraft, providing aerial refueling support to other strike aircraft.

• A-6E: The definitive attack version of the Intruder with vastly upgraded navigation and attack systems, introduced in 1970 and first deployed on 9 December 1971, featured a single Norden AN/APQ-148 multi-mode radar, and onboard computers with a more sophisticated IC based system.

Technical specifications

Current operating countries

No country is operating the A-6 Intruder in 2025.

All operators

United States

Armament

Missiles payload:

• Anti-Radiation AGM-45 Shrike
• Air-to-Surface AGM-65 Maverick
• Air-to-Surface AGM-84 Harpoon
• Anti-Radiation AGM-88 HARM
• Air-to-Air Short-Range Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder

Bombs payload:

• Thermonuclear B43 Mod 1
• Thermonuclear B61
• Cluster CBU-59/B Rockeye II
• Cluster CBU-89/B Gator
• Low-Drag M117A
• Incendiary Mk 77
• Low-Drag Mk 81
• Low-Drag Mk 82
• Low-Drag Mk 83
• Low-Drag Mk 84
• Laser-Guided Raytheon GBU-10 Paveway II
• Laser-Guided Raytheon GBU-12

Photo of A-6 Intruder

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