Grumman A-6

Grumman A-6 Intruder
An A-6E Intruder from the USS Kitty Hawk , 1981
Type:	Ground attack aircraft
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Grumman Aerospace Corporation
First flight:	April 19, 1960
Commissioning:	1963
Production time:	1962 to 1990
Number of pieces:	693

The Grumman A-6 Intruder was a fighter aircraft of the US Navy , the derivative model EA-6 Prowler an aircraft for electronic warfare . The A-6 was in service between 1960 and 1997, the EA-6 has been in service since 1970. It is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2019. Its successor is said to be the Boeing EA-18 .

Development and combat missions

The Intruder was developed based on a specification of the United States Navy for an all-weather carrier-based attack aircraft to replace the piston engine-powered AD-1 Skyraider from the Korean War . After the contract was signed in 1957, the A2F-1 took off on its maiden flight on April 19, 1960. In the fall of 1962 it was renamed A-6A . From February 1963, the first aircraft entered active Navy service. The A-6 was mainly used from aircraft carriers as the primary attack aircraft for the US Navy. In addition to the Navy, the United States Marine Corps also flew the A-6 from bases on the coast.

From the mid-1960s until well into the 1990s, the A-6 was the most important ground attack aircraft in the Navy and Marine Corps. Intruders were first used in the Vietnam War. Its long range and load capacity, coupled with its all-weather capability, soon made the A-6 indispensable. During their low-level flight operations, however, the aircraft were at risk from anti-aircraft fire. In eight years of the Vietnam War, the Navy and Marine Corps lost 68 intruders to enemy action.

The next combat missions took place in 1983 over Lebanon . An Intruder and a Vought A-7 were lost. In 1986 intruders of the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and General Dynamics F-111 of the American Air Force invaded the well-defended airspace of Libya , sank a Libyan corvette and attacked other targets in retaliation for the Libyan participation in the bombing of the Berlin discotheque La Belle ( Operation El Dorado Canyon ). In 1988, intruders of the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) attacked and sank Iranian patrol boats , and also attacked the frigates Sahand (sunk) and Sabalan .

During Operation Desert Storm , 90 Navy intruders and 20 Marine Corps attacked targets in Iraq , doing nearly 5,000 sorties. Five intruders were lost, four of them to enemy action. After the war, intruders were also used to monitor Iraqi no-fly zones.

Originally, the Intruder was to be replaced by the A-12 Avenger II from the early 1990s . This stealth aircraft was never fully developed due to escalating costs. The A-6 had to remain in service for a few more years until the enlarged F / A-18 models E and F were available. However, these do not come close to the range and carrying capacity of the A-6 .

The last Intruders went out of service on December 19, 1996. Some planes were used to create artificial reefs , but most were put in the Davis Monthan Aircraft Cemetery for possible future use. Its sister variant for electronic warfare , the EA-6 Prowler , was an important support aircraft for a long time and was decommissioned in 2014.

variants

A-6A

A-6A of the VMA (AW) -242 1975

A-6B in 1971 on the USS Saratoga

A-6C of the VA-35 Black Panthers

A KA-6D refuels an F / A-18C

An A-6E over Spain, during Operation Matador

A-6E of VA-65 1987

Prototype of the A-6F 1987

The first version of the Intruder was built around the complex and then state-of-the-art DIANE system ( Digital Integrated Attack / Navigation Equipment ), which was supposed to ensure high accuracy even at night and in bad weather. DIANE consisted of several radar systems: the Norden AN / APQ-92 search radar and a separate AN / APQ-112 for target tracking as well as the AN / APN-141 radar altimeter and an AN / APN-153 Doppler radar for position updates of the inertial navigation system AN / ASN-31. An air data computer and a ballistic computer prepared the radar information for the Bombardier or Navigator (BN) in the right seat. TACAN and radio compass were available as further navigation aids . If it worked, DIANE was probably the most powerful navigation / attack system of its time, but it suffered from numerous teething problems so that it only worked reliably after a few modifications.

A total of 488 A-6A were produced, including six prototypes. Many of these aircraft were later converted to other variants.

A-6B

In order to be able to give the Navy squadrons a SEAD aircraft to attack enemy anti-aircraft missile positions , 19 A-6A were converted into A-6B between 1967 and 1970 . Much of their attack systems had been exchanged for special equipment for detecting and tracking enemy radar emissions. They attacked their targets with anti-radar missiles of the types AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM . Five were lost in combat; the rest were converted to A-6E in the late 1970s .

A-6C

In 1970 twelve A-6A were converted into A-6C for night attacks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail . They had a "Trails / Roads Interdiction Multi-sensor" (TRIM) baptized sensor container under the fuselage, in which FLIR and low-light TV cameras were integrated. One of these aircraft was lost in combat, the others were converted to A-6E after the war .

KA-6D

In the early 1970s, 78 A-6A and 12 A-6E were converted into tanker aircraft. The DIANE system was replaced with an internal fueling system. Theoretically, the KA-6D could still fly daytime bomb attacks, but in practice this never happened. Generally four external tanks were carried. Several KA-6Ds were in use on each aircraft carrier . Their retirement left a void in the refueling capabilities of the Navy and Marine Corps that was only alleviated by the new F / A-18E , which can function as a tanker.

A-6E

The final attack version of the Intruder with improved navigation and attack systems came into use from December 1971. The originally separate search and fire control radar of the A-6A has been replaced by the AN / APQ-148 multimode radar and the on-board computers have been replaced by a better and more reliable system with integrated circuits. There was also a new inertial AN / ASN-92 navigation system. From 1979 onwards, all A-6E were gradually equipped with the AN / AAS-33 TRAM (Target Recognition and Attack, Multi-Sensor) , a small gyroscopically stabilized tower under the nose with FLIR and laser target identifier. The TRAM was supplemented by the new AN / APQ-156 radar. The BN could use TRAM imagery and radar data for extremely targeted attacks or just aim with the TRAM without using the radar (which could possibly have warned the target). With the TRAM, the Intruder could also throw laser-guided bombs completely autonomously .

In the 1980s and 1990s, 34 A-6E's underwent a combat enhancement program to enable them to use the latest precision weapons, including the AGM-65 Maverick , AGM-84E SLAM, and AGM-88 HARM . They also received a new TACAN . After many wings showed signs of material fatigue, around 85 percent of the fleet was equipped with new surfaces made of composite materials (graphite / epoxy / titanium / aluminum), which also contained larger tanks.

There were a total of 445 A-6E aircraft, 240 of which were conversions from old A-6A / B / C.

A-6F and A-6G

In the mid-1980s, an A-6F Intruder II was planned in which the J52 engines from Pratt & Whitney were to be replaced by a variant of the General Electric F404 used in the F / A-18 Hornet (albeit without an afterburner ). This should both increase performance and save fuel. The A-6F would have received newly developed avionics equipment, including the Norden AN / APQ-173 Synthetic Aperture Radar and multifunction cockpit monitors. The APQ-173 would have given the Intruder air-to-air capacity (even for the AIM-120 AMRAAM via software update ). Two additional wing pylons were added, making a total of seven stations available for external loads.

Five prototypes were built. In the end, the Navy did not want to procure the A-6F and concentrate entirely on the A-12 Avenger II . This got the Navy into trouble when the A-12 program was canceled in 1991.

With the A-6G, Grumman offered a more cost-effective variant that had the advanced electronics of the A-6F , but retained the J52 engines. This idea was also not pursued.

EA-6A and EA-6B

→ Main article : Grumman EA-6

An EA-6A of the VMAQ-2 squadron

An EA-6B Prowler catapult launch

An EW / ECM version of the Intruder was developed early for the Marine Corps, which required a new ECM platform to replace the outdated F3D-2Q Skyknight . The EW version of the Intruder was initially called A2F-1Q and was later renamed EA-6A . It first flew on April 26, 1963 and had a Bunker-Ramo AN / ALQ-86 ECM suite. Most of the electronics were housed in a walnut-shaped container on the vertical stabilizer. In theory, the aircraft could fire the AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar missile, but was never actually assigned the task.

Only 28 EA-6A were built (two prototypes, 15 new builds and 11 conversions from A-6A), which served in the Marine Corps squadron VMAQ-2 in the Vietnam War . Other EA-6A flew in VMAQ-1 and VMAQ-3. In the mid-1970s, they were taken from active service and initially continued to be used in the USMC's VMAQ-4 reserve squadron. Practice had shown that a two-person crew to operate the complex ECM systems was often insufficient. The aircraft were later taken over by the US Navy. From then on, they served as aggressor aircraft (VAQ-33), which with their electronic equipment simulated approaching Soviet bomber formations and guided missiles in order to train the crews of the Navy ships in defending against such threats. The last ones went out of service in Key West on October 1, 1993 .

In November 1964, the Navy followed Grumman's proposal to build a four-seater version of the Intruder (with three operators for the Eloka systems) to reduce the workload of the EA-6 crews and to expand the range of operations . For this, the fuselage had to be stretched 1.36 meters. It was also necessary to reinforce the cell in order to be able to land again on the aircraft carrier deck with heavy loads. The tank capacity is 8705 liters. A maximum of five tanks with a capacity of 1100 liters (300 US gallons) each can be attached externally.

The first EA-6B  - a converted A-6A  - took off on May 25, 1968 on its maiden flight. A second machine followed in August 1968. As early as October 1970, the VAQ-129 training unit was equipped with the Prowler ( German : “Drivers” or “Spanner”). Since its first use in the Vietnam War from 1972, the EA-6B has been an important part of the air warfare of the United States as a disruptive aircraft to protect bombers on missions deep over enemy territory.

Outwardly, the Prowler remained almost unchanged in the following three decades, but the electronics were constantly adapted to the latest requirements. The focus was on expanding the frequency range covered . At the turn of the millennium, the ICAP III version, which could deliberately interfere with individual radars, brought a significant leap in performance. There were also new display and communication systems. The electronics developed for the Prowler were also the basis for equipping the successor model EA-18G Growler . Until its introduction, the EA-6B remained in service for a while, which is why a number of aircraft were given new wings. The last of the United States Navy's EA-6Bs were decommissioned on June 27, 2015. The United States Marine Corps intends to use the Prowler until 2019.

Military use

 United States

• United States Navy
• United States Marine Corps

Technical specifications

Three-sided tear

Parameter	A-6A data	A-6E data
Length:	16.69 m	16.69 m
Span:	16.15 m 7.72 m (folded)	16.15 m 7.72 m (folded)
Height:	4.93 m	4.93 m
Wing area:	49.15 m²	49.15 m²
Empty weight:	11,476 kg	12.093 kg
Maximum take-off weight:	24,358 kg	27,397 kg
Fuel capacity:	unknown	internal: 8.873 l external: five fuel tanks of 1,515 l each
Top speed:	1,039 km / h (at sea level)	1,036 km / h (at sea level)
Marching speed:	744 km / h (at sea level)	763 km / h (at sea level)
Climb rate:	unknown	38.75 m / s
Service ceiling:	12,268 m	12,925 m
Range:	5,190 km	4,408 km
Takeoff route:	unknown	1,469 m (without catapult)
Landing route:	unknown	823 m (without safety ropes)
Engine:	two Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8A jet engines	two Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8B jet engines
Thrust:	2 × 37.81 kN (without afterburner)	2 × 41.20 kN (without afterburner)
Crew:	2	2

Weapon loading (armament)

Explosive ordnance up to 8,170 kg at five external load stations under the two wings and the fuselage

Air-to-air guided missile

• 2 × LAU-7 / A start rails for 1 × Philco-Ford AIM-9P "Sidewinder" each - infrared-controlled for short distances

Air-to-ground guided missiles

• 4 × Boeing AGM-84A / B "Harpoon" anti-ship missiles
• 4 × LAU-117A starting rails for one Raytheon AGM-65A / B / D / F / G "Maverick" each - infrared or tv-controlled
• 2 × LAU-118 star rails for each 1 × Texas Instruments AGM-45A / B "Shrike" - self-targeting anti-radar missile
• 4 × LAU-118 star rails for each 1 × Texas Instruments AGM-88A / B "HARM" - self-targeting anti-radar missile
• 4 × AGM-123 "Skipper II" - laser controlled

Unguided air-to-surface missiles

• 4 × LAU-10D / A rocket tube launch containers for 4 × unguided Zuni air-to-surface rockets, caliber 127 mm / 5 inch
• 4 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) each with 3 × LAU-68D / A rocket tubular launch containers for 7 × unguided FFAR air-to-ground hydra rockets each ; Caliber 70 mm / 2.75 inch

Guided bombs

• 4 × AGM-62 "Walleye" (TV-controlled glide bomb with Mk.84 explosive device)
• 4 × Raytheon GBU-12 / B "Paveway I" (laser-guided glide bomb 227 kg / 500 lb)
• 4 × Raytheon GBU-16 / B "Paveway II" (laser-guided glide bomb 454 kg / 1000 lb)
• 4 × Raytheon GBU-10 / B "Paveway II" (laser-guided glide bomb 907 kg / 2000 lb)

Unguided bombs

• 5 × BRU-41 MER (Multiple Ejection Rack) each with 6 × Mark 81 LDGP (113 kg / 250 lb free-fall bomb )
• 5 × BRU-41 MER (Multiple Ejection Rack) each with 6 × Mark 82 LDGP (241 kg / 500 lb free-fall bomb)
• 4 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) each with 3 × Mark 83 LDGP (454 kg / 1,000 lb free-fall bomb)
• 4 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) each with 2 × Mark 84 LDGP (907 kg / 2,000 lb free-fall bomb)
• 4 × BRU-41 MER (Multiple Ejection Rack) each with 4 × M117 (372 kg / 820 lb free-fall bomb)
• 5 × BRU-41 MER (Multiple Ejection Rack) each with 6 × CBU-100 / Mark 20 "Rockeye II" (222 kg / 490 lb anti-tank cluster bomb with 247 Mk.118 bomblets)
• 4 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) with 3 × CBU-89 GATOR each
• 4 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) with 3 × Mk.77 Mod 2 / Mod 4 each (230 kg / 500 lb napalm incendiary bomb )
• 4 × BRU-42 TER (Triple Ejection Rack) each with 3 × CBU-72 / B (235 kg / 500 lb aerosol bomb )
• 2 × B28 (nuclear free-fall bomb with 1.45 MT explosive device)
• 2 × B43 (nuclear free-fall bomb with 1 MT explosive device)
• 4 × B57 (nuclear free-fall bomb with 20 kT explosive device)
• 8 × B61 Mod 3 (nuclear free-fall bomb with 0.3–170 kT explosive device)
• 2 × B83 (nuclear free-fall bomb with 1.2 MT explosive device)

External container

• 4 × drop-off additional tanks for 1,200 liters (330 US gallons) of kerosene
• 1 × AN / AWW-9B data transmission container for AGM-62
• 1 × AN / ALQ-167 (V) -EKF jamming container

Incidents

During Operation Desert Storm , an incident occurred during the preparations for a night's take-off aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt , in which a soldier was sucked in by the engine of a Grumman A-6 and survived seriously injured.

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• John Andrade: US Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Midland Counties Publications, Leicester 1979, ISBN 0-904597-22-9 .
• Robert F. Dorr: Grumman A-6 Intruder. Osprey Publishing, London 1987, ISBN 0-85045-816-1 .
• Bill Gunston, Mike Spick: Modern Air Combat. Crescent Books, New York 1983, ISBN 0-517-41265-9 .
• Dennis R. Jenkins: Grumman A-6 Intruder. In: Warbird Tech. 33. Specialty Press, North Branch 2002, ISBN 1-58007-050-7 .
• Kurt H. Miska: Grumman A-6A / E Intruder. EA-6A. EA-6B Prowler. In: Aircraft in Profile 252. Volume 14, Profile Publications Ltd., Windsor 1974, pp. 137-160, ISBN 0-85383-023-1 .
• John WR Taylor: Grumman A-6 Intruder. In: Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the Present. GP Putnam's Sons, New York 1969, ISBN 0-425-03633-2 .
• Jim Winchester (Ed.): Grumman A-6 Intruder. In: Military Aircraft of the Cold War (The Aviation Factfile). Grange Books plc, London 2006, ISBN 1-84013-929-3 .

Web links

Commons : Grumman A-6 Intruder  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ USN Prowler embarks on final flight, Flightglobal, June 30, 2015
2. ^ On the Theodor Roosevelt sucked into the Intruder engine Roy Hahmann, youtube.com, February 22, 2011, video (7:26) - An incident from 1991.