Story of the Skyhawk by Tommy Thomason

The XA4D-1 was built and formally rolled at the Douglas El Segundo, California facility, which was on the south side of the Los Angeles International Airport. The XA4D’s first flight was closely followed by that of the first production A4D-1, BuNo 137813, on 14 August 1954.i

BuNo 137816 was used in initial shore-based carrier suitability evaluation flights beginning in July 1955 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California, now known as NAWS China Lake. The first at-sea trials were accomplished aboard Ticonderoga, an axial deck carrier, with A4D-1s  BuNo 137816 and 137822 between 12 and 16 September 1955. Because of the ongoing changes resulting from flight test, the instrumented airplane, BuNo 137816, did not have several of the changes that had incorporated on 137822, indicative of changes being made to solve problems found in flight test:

A4D-1 BuNo 137820 was selected for the record run. It had already been modified with the production windscreen and sugar scoop over the engine exhaust. For the record run, the external stores and pylons were removed and the exterior was polished. Gray’s three record attempts were preceded by a trial run by Douglas’ Bob Rahn to ensure that there was enough internal fuel for the distance and that the existing record could be beaten. During that flight, the aft upper tip of the rudder broke off and the nose cone wrinkled slightly. The damaged rudder was replaced with one of the new “tadpole” rudders, modified to cut out the area that had broken off on Rahn’s flight in case that it was subject to a loads problem. Following the record run, a standard A4D-1 rudder was reinstalled on 820 and it resumed its test duties, eventually being assigned to the Naval Torpedo Unit.

Service acceptance trials commenced in July 1955 with the acceptance of A4D-1 BuNo 137816 for carrier suitability. Four more aircraft were received in March 1956 and another in April. These were assigned to armament, aircraft/engine performance (BuNo 137819), stability and control (BuNo 137818), electrical/electronic, and service suitability phases. A seventh was accepted by Naval Air Special Weapons Facility (NAWSF) at Kirkland AFB, New Mexico in April 1956 for the special weapons phase of the trials. Flying was finally completed during February 1957 with a final report issued in September.

NASWF was initially assigned YA4D-1 BuNo 137827 and subsequently A4D-1  BuNo 137830 for evaluation of the Skyhawk’s compatibility with the Mk 7, Mk 12, and Mk 91 nuclear stores.

It began on 7 August 1956 at Quonset Point, Rhode Island using pilots and maintainers from VA-72, (with the first airplane delivered from the factory on 26 September?). The purpose of FIP was to exercise a new airplane type in a squadron environment, refining the flight/maintenance manuals and ground support equipment and establishing a preliminary evaluation of spares requirements. A similar effort was conducted at NAS Moffett Field, California on the west coast by VF(AW)-3 following the Quonset-based FIP. On 13 September, VMA-224 at MCAS El Toro, California was the first Marine squadron to receive the new jet attack airplane.

VA-72 was also the first Navy squadron to received new production A4D-1s, beginning on 5 November 1956 with BuNo 139932.

Only 165 A4D-1s were built in addition to the XA4D-1 before production was changed over to the improved A4D-2. The assignment of the -1 to front line squadrons was also limited and brief due to its operational limitations and restrictions. Only a few deploying Marine Corps and Navy squadrons were equipped with the A4D-1 before they were replaced with the -2 and handed down to reserve or test squadrons. Few squadrons made a complete deployment with them. VA-72 made one six-week cruise aboard Saratoga in late 1957 in the North Atlantic before they reequipped with A4D-2s and deployed aboard Randolph in late 1958 for a six-month cruise. The first west coast A4D deployment was accomplished by VA-93 aboard Ticonderoga from September 1957 to April 1958, followed by VA-113 (153?) aboard Hancock the next year.

The Aero 18B Low Altitude Bombing System for the now preferred means of nuclear weapon delivery was added to BuNos 137823 through 142235, either as a retrofit or in production. The capability to carry 300-gallon drop tanks on the wing stores pylon was added on BuNo 139919 and subsequent; this doubled the amount of external fuel available for the nuclear strike mission, solving the specification shortfall in range by brute force.
 
Although very similar in appearance, 28 percent of the structure was changed to create the A4D-2. (A few of the improvements were retrofitted to the -1 but most were not.) The most obvious external changes were the addition of the in-flight refueling probe, now de rigueur for carrier based jet aircraft, and the substitution of the so-called tadpole rudder to eliminate the problem with rudder flutter. Another row of vortex generators was added on the wing just in front of the aileron and the ones on the fuselage were deleted. However, there were many more which were considered essential to the operational usefulness and safety of operation. For example, the aft fuselage and empennage was strengthened, the longitudinal control was now powered by an irreversible actuator like the roll control, pressure fueling and defueling was incorporated, and a dead-reckoning computer was added to reduce pilot workload. This improved model was destined to equip all the Navy’s light attack squadrons and several Marine Corps squadrons.

The first attempt at adding the inflight refueling probe was to extend it from the leading edge of the right wing so it would be directly plumbed into the wing tank. This was evaluated on A4D-1 BuNo 137814 but proved to be unacceptable to the pilots, as the tip was too far down and aft for the pilot to keep both it and the tanker in view at the same time. The solution proved to be a probe scabbed onto the right side of the fuselage and extending quite a bit ahead of the nose. In practice, it proved to also provide a self-contained means of exiting and entering the cockpit if the ladder was not available.

In September 1955, the Navy announced that all its carrier-based jet aircraft would henceforth be capable of being refueled in flight, using the probe and drogue system developed by the British. It contracted with Douglas to develop a low-drag, fully self-contained Model D-704 refueling store. Adaptable to any tactical aircraft with a strong enough pylon, it had a capacity for 300 gallons of fuel in addition to the reel, hose, and drogue. The hydraulic power to reel the hose in and out and pump fuel was provided by a constant speed ram air turbine on the nose of the store. The fuel from the store, the wing tank, and the two external tanks could all be transferred at a rate of about 200 gallons per minute as long as the tanker pilot kept the wing tank filled from the drop tanks. The incorporation of tanking (tanker?) capability was accomplished with the 38th A4D-2.

In 1959, VMA-332, based at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina conducted a self-deployment evaluation, ferrying two A4D-2s across the Atlantic from Argentina, Newfoundland to NAS Rota, Spain. They were refueled in flight by other A4Ds to provide the range for the five-hour, 2,270-mile flight.

The extended range strained the pilot’s bladder capacity. The pilots of tactical jets with their limited endurance had heretofore not needed the “relief tubes” that were standard equipment in propeller-driven airplanes but this feature, which simply ported the contents overboard, wasn’t compatible with a pressurized cockpit. A pouch containing sealable plastic bags was therefore added to the cockpit equipment.

 Martin won the design competition and received a contract in April 1954 for the development and production of the ASM-N-7 Bullpup. The missile only weighed 570 lbs but that limited the warhead to a relatively small 250 lbs. The ASM-N-7B (AGM-12C) Bullpup B was designed around a 1,000-pound warhead. It was 13.6 feet long and weighed 1,785 pounds. It had a range of up to ten miles,
The Bullpup was produced in large numbers, with over 22,000 delivered of the smaller ASM-N-7A (AGM-12B) missiles and 4,600 of the AM-N-7B (AGM-12C)s. Unfortunately, it disappointed when it was finally called upon operationally.

The Navy bought a total of 542 A4D-2s with the first fleet delivery to VMA-211 in September 1957, only a year after the first delivery of an A4D-1 to an operational squadron.

The problem of rocket-carrying capacity had already been addressed by the development of the rocket pod by the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, California in the early 1950s. The World War II unguided five-inch high velocity aircraft rocket (HVAR) could only be mounted one to a pylon. It was replaced by the Zuni folding fin rocket, which came four to a pod. This allowed a quadrupling of the number of rockets that could be carried on the same number of pylons for the same weight per rocket, since a 27-lb reduction in the weight per rocket compensated for the pod weight.  The Zuni was a scale up of the Mighty Mouse, a 2.75-inch folding fin rocket originally developed as an air-to-air weapon to be used by interceptors against heavy bombers. The Zuni was approved for production in 1957. Various warheads could be accommodated for anti-armor, delayed-action, proximity-fused, etc. Depending on the warhead, the Zuni was about 110 inches long and weighed 107 pounds. Accuracy depended on whether all the fins unfolded simultaneously but if they did, the Zuni could be a bit more accurate than the HVAR because of its higher velocity.

In 1959, William H. Fitch, then a Marine Corps Captain assigned to VX-5 at China Lake, came up with a solution: the Multiple Carriage Bomb Rack (MCBR). His inspiration was the “banger board” used for training or test missions where multiple bomb drops were desired on a single flight. It was a plate that had attachment points for six small practice bombs that had the same ballistic characteristics as the real, much bigger ones. A stepper switch on plate dropped one bomb each time the bomb button was pushed on the stick. A pilot could therefore make six consecutive practice or test drops, refining his sight picture and aim point based on the results of previous ones. He and a fellow Marine at VX-5, Maj Knowlton P. Rice, designed a prototype with the approval and budget from VX-5’s Executive Officer, Cdr Dale Cox. It incorporated of the small Aero-15 racks from a crashed AD Skyraider. The racks were welded to an adapter made from channel iron. The adapter was fitted with hooks so it could be hung from the standard A4D pylon. It helped that the A4D landing gear provided plenty of ground clearance. The first bombs, 250-lb Mk 81s, were dropped from the adapter in October 1959. In December, Captain Fitch demonstrated his innovation participated in an MCAS Yuma, Arizona firepower demonstration for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare, Vice Admiral Pirie. The VX-5 A4D was loaded with 16 Mk 81s using adapters on all three A4D pylons (only five 500-lb bombs could be carried on the wing pylons because of the location of the landing gear doors). He made three passes, one with the airplane’s belly to the crowd to show the 4,000 pounds of bomb, a second to loft the 10 off the wing pylons, and a third to skip bomb using the six from the centerline. Admiral Pirie was reportedly sold on the first pass revealing the concept: “We are going to buy that.” In short order, Douglas, whose China Lake-based tech reps had been following the project and reporting back to El Segundo, submitted an unsolicited proposal for Multiple Bomb Racks (MBR) and was awarded a contract in early 1960. The first production racks were delivered and qualified by June.i

Finch, who retired as LtGeneral, patented the MCBR at the request of the Navy reportedly because of concern that Douglas might try to charge the government for its development. Finch, as inventor, Rice, and Cox were granted U.S. Patent Number 3,122,056 in February 1964. Moreover, in 1967 and 1968 he flew more than 100 missions in the A-4 Skyhawk and another 200+ in the Grumman A-6 Intruder during the Viet Nam War, each time with the multiple bomb rack.

The prototype MCBR and the Douglas MBR simply released the bombs. The next refinement to the concept was the use of cartridges to provide positive separation of the bomb from the rack. This was the Multiple Ejector Rack (MER). For some applications, six bombs were too heavy a load so the shorter Triple Ejector Rack (TER) was created that only carried three bombs per pylon. The MER and the TER eliminated the need for multiple pylons on outboard wing panels, which were hard to load on aircraft with folding wings. The only shortcoming was the increase in weight and drag of the MER/TER that had to be taken into account in mission planning.

In recognition of this shortcoming (limited internal cannon rounds), the Navy contracted with Hughes Tool Company for the development of a 20 mm pod, the  Mk 4.
The Hughes Mk 4 gun pod contained a Hughes Mk 11 20mm gun that was self-powered and twin-barreled. The pod could be loaded with 750 rounds of ammunition, which could be fired at a maximum rate of almost 70 rounds per second. In mid 1963, the Mk 4 Mod 0 pod was evaluated on an A-4 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California. Flights were made with one, two, and three pods on a standard A-4 wired for control of the pod

In 1961, before the Army agreed to delegate its fixed wing mission requirements to the Air Force, it held a come-as-you-are evaluation of light combat jets for the mission. The requirements included the ability to operate from relatively short and unprepared surfaces. Three contenders showed up for trials held at NAS Jacksonville and an unpaved satellite field, Site 8A, near NAAS Saufley Field: the Northrop N-156 (subsequently F-5), Fiat G-91, and a somewhat modified pair of A4D-2Ns. Douglas borrowed two A4D-2Ns, BuNos 148483 and 148490, from the Navy for the demonstration. In order to maximize the Skyhawk’s short-field capability in addition to the existing JATO option for takeoffs, the trials Skyhawks were quickly modified with a drag parachute for the shortest possible landings and a dual-wheel main landing gear to minimize the tendency for the wheels to sink into soft ground. The huge drag chute from the A3D Skywarrior was repacked into a long cylinder mounted under the aft fuselage in place of the tail hook. The wheels on the main landing gear rotated 90 degrees as they did on the stock A-4 but the forward gear doors were removed because the lower wheel was below the surface of the wing when the landing gear was retracted. Large fairings were therefore added that surrounded the exposed wheel and reduced its drag.

The trials took place over a two-month period. The grass field, known as Site 8A, was only 3,000 feet long. According to Drury Wood, the Douglas project pilot for the evaluation, the A4D was a clear winner in the landing demonstrations, the drag chute resulting in rollouts of less than 500 feet. There was no clear edge in the takeoff capability. All three airplanes were also able to taxi through a section of the field that had been made seriously muddy. Douglas proposed the Model 840 Skyhawk to the Army for its requirement. It included the five pylon weapons installation that would be incorporated on the Navy’s A4D-5. Although a lot of fun was had by all, no production contract resulted, with the Army opting to focus on helicopters for its transport and close air support requirements, eventually resulting in January 1967 in an agreement with the Air Force to give up operation of transport and close air support airplanes.

The A4D-5’s first flight was 12 July 1961. The usual time from go-ahead was shortened because the first two A4D-5s were produced using airframes on contract as A4D-2Ns.
The introduction of the A4D-5 was also marked by the change to a common DoD designation system for aircraft. Only the first eight aircraft were therefore A4D-5s before the designation A-4E became effective. The -1 became the A, the -2 the B, and the -2N the C. A-4D was skipped because of the potential for confusion with the prior Navy-unique designation system. The new engine required a slightly larger inlet area and to maximize the efficiency of the engine installation, narrow vertical ducts were added to the inboard side of the inlets to remove the boundary layer air. The air entering these ducts was vented to an exhaust port on the upper fuselage. Strakes were also added in front of and below the engine inlets on the J52-powered aircraft, apparently due to the higher susceptibility of the J52 to the gun blast emission than the J65. The crew chiefs and maintainers were happy to see that the oil vent ducts required by the J65 installation had been deleted, making for a much less oily airframe to work on and clean. The two extra pylons were first evaluated by Douglas on A-4C BuNo 145063 in early 1960. The ordnance carried on each of these pylons was limited to 570 pounds, which restricted them to a single 500-lb bomb, rocket pod, mine, or small Bullpup. The automotive-style windshield wiper was replaced by a system using compressor bleed air ported from the base of the windscreen. An improved air conditioning and heating system was also incorporated which made the cockpit much more comfortable at both low and high altitudes. The A-4E replaced the A-4C in the fleet beginning in late December 1962 with deliveries to VA-23. Production of the A-4E totaled 500 airplanes.

The fuselage of the two-seat variant was only lengthened by 28 inches ahead of the wing compared to the space required for a second seat, dual controls, and instruments of at least 50 inches. Any greater stretch, since the 20mm cannon were to be retained, would have required a more extensive redesign to re-balance the airplane, such as shifting the wing forward or extending the fuselage aft of the wing to compensate for the weight forward. In order to provide the total volume required for the second cockpit, Douglas had to reduce the capacity of the fuselage fuel cell by 130 (140?) gallons. In its place, Douglas proposed the addition of a 300-gallon fuel tank in a dorsal fairing aft of the canopy. It more than replaced the fuel capacity lost in reduction in the size of the fuselage fuel cell and was also positioned over the center of gravity so there was no trim change with fuel burn. The Navy decided that since the two-seater was to primarily be a trainer and therefore not require the capability for more than two hours of so for a given flight, the reduction in fuel capacity was acceptable considering the increase in development and unit cost associated with the dorsal tank. Since these aircraft were to be primarily shore-based as well as flown by student pilots, the crosswind landing shortcomings of the basic Skyhawk design were finally addressed with the addition of nose-wheel steering and wing lift spoilers. The latter were essentially a duplication of the split flap on the upper surface of the wing, only they pivoted upward after touchdown to kill lift rather than increase it. The changes resulted in an increase in the crosswind landing limit from a maximum of 25(?) knots to a more acceptable XX knots. A full-sized mockup of the TA-4E was created by adding a wooden forward fuselage to a surplus airframe. After review by the Navy, it was taken on a marketing tour to Europe. Since it was a relatively straightforward change from the basic airframe and the existing A-4E engine was installed, the first TA-4E, BuNo 152102, flew on 30 June 1965, only eight months after the authority to proceed. Because of the detail changes that had been made to the basic A-4E configuration, primarily the installation of the more powerful J52 engine for production, the two-seater designation was subsequently changed to TA-4F. The first TA-4Fs were delivered to VA-125, the west coast A-4 training squadron, in May 1966. Production totaled 241 airplanes, including the first two TA-4Es.

The TA-4J was externally almost identical to the TA-4F. Unlike the replacement air group squadrons, however, the training command airplanes did not need armament. To reduce cost and weight—which allowed the use of lower thrust J52-P-6 engines—the TA-4Js were therefore built without the 20 mm Colts (although they could still be installed if required), the two outboard wing pylons, and weapons sights and associated hardware. Provisions for operating as an in-flight refueling tanker were also removed, although the receiver capability was retained. The first TA-4J flew on 17 December 1968. The first production airplanes were delivered to VT-17 at NAS Kingsville, TX, in mid-1969, with the first TA-4 students graduating from VT-22 at Kingsville in 1970.

At the start of the Vietnam War, the conventional weapons being used were 20 mm cannon and unguided rockets and so-called iron bombs. The Bullpup was the only guided and standoff weapon in the inventory. Flak suppression was in part accomplished with 2.75- and 5.0- inch diameter FFAR (folding fin aircraft rocket), the former in a 19-shot pod and the latter, also referred to as a Zuni, in a four-shot pod. The Zuni was favored for its accuracy and hitting power. The 2.75” FFAR was considered an area suppression weapon, since the pilot was not entirely sure where all of them were going. According to Ray Powell, out of a 19-shot pack, at least one would have a mind of its own because a fin had not extended. An alternative to the folding fin rocket and 20 mm cannon as an anti-personnel weapon was the CBU (Cluster Bomb Unit). This was a streamline canister containing numerous grapefruit-size bomblets. After being dropped, the canister could split open, scattering the bomblets over a wide area. One technique to increase the area suppressed on the preferred single pass was to have different delay times between the CBUs on the right and left wing pylons. The pilot would drop the two slightly apart, creating a devastating figure-eight pattern of lethality. A Snakeye-finned bomb was generally dropped with the fin-retarded function disabled on missions over North Vietnam. Snakeye was created to allow low-altitude drops for close air support, increasing bombing accuracy while avoiding the risk of being hoist by your own petard. Since there was no close air support other than necessary for combat rescue in North Vietnam and going below 3,000 feet added yet another layer, the barrage-fired rifle, to the air defense arsenal, the Snakeye capability was not need. The A4Ds flown by the Marines in South Vietnam made more use of the Snakeyes and Mk 4 gun pods because there missions were primarily close air support and interdiction.

The Walleye: In a reversion back to unpowered, television-guided bombs, NOTS began development of the Walleye in the early 1960s. Like the World War II weapons, the guidance was by video, only instead of a TBM or PV filled with avionics and an additional crewman to do the guidance, it was provided by the missile itself after being dropped from a single-seat airplane. The attack pilot locked on the target displayed on his multi-mode APQ-116 radar display and then transferred control to the missile’s guidance system. When dropped, the Walleye would then steer itself to the selected image. At 1,140 pounds, it was a heavy weapon with an 825-pound warhead and required a stores station to carry the data-link pod, which weighed 600 pounds. Because of its CEP of 10 to 20 feet, however, it was easily worth three conventional 500-lb bombs, not to mention the vulnerability reduction of dropping it at a distance from the target and not having to follow it in to guide it. It could only be used against targets, however, that could be discerned and tracked by the guidance system. This meant a high-contrast target that was well-illuminated and not obscured by smoke or dust. Since the weapon was unpowered, its range depended on the drop altitude—assuming the pilot could clearly see the target on the TV—but was on the order of a few to 15 miles.
The first combat use of Walleye occurred on 11 March 1967, when A-4Es of VA-212 from Bon Homme Richard successfully attacked military barracks and small bridges. The following day the target was the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge. However, three direct hits only resulted in superficial damage, demonstrating its limitations. In August, it was used by VA-163 flying from Oriskany to attack the Hanoi thermal power plant, hitting it with all five of the Walleyes dropped. Against relatively soft targets like power plants, it was the weapon of choice in clear weather and assuming that the enemy wasn’t able to obscure them with smoke. In 1972, the punch of the Walleye was significantly improved. The Walleye II weighed twice as much as the Walleye I, but it also incorporated a 1,900-lb warhead. In October, it was used to destroy what was left standing of the Thanh Hoa Bridge. A subsequent improvement to the Walleye allowed the pilot to drop it first and designate the target while it was enroute. The designation could also be accomplished by another pilot in an aircraft carrying a data-link pod. This version was known as the Extended Range Data Link. The Walleye II ERDL also had slightly larger wings than the standard Walleye which gave it a maximum range, when dropped from high altitude, of more than 30 miles.

Adapting Sidewinder for Air to Ground: One of the attempts to provide a more effective, fire-and-forget guidance system was the adoption of the Sidewinder control system on an air-to-ground weapon. The initial demonstration used a basic AIM-9D (IR) Sidewinder equipped with the larger canards used on the radar-guided AIM-9C (SARAH) for more control power. The target was a burning 25-lb bag of charcoal. The pilot simply dove the aircraft toward it and on receiving a good tone from the Sidewinder seeker, fired and pulled up. The first attempt on 8 April 1967 was a miss, with the missile over controlling in its attempts to home in on the charcoal bag. After a little tweaking of the guidance system, the next shot drilled it. Tests were also accomplished with the guidance system substituted for radio control of the Bullpup, leading to yet another China Lake missile creation, the Bullwinder. The next step was to adapt the guidance system to a bomb, sacrificing range—but not accuracy—for more explosive. Since bigger and more accurate were a devastating combination, the China Lake engineers decided to demonstrate it with the biggest conventional bomb that the Skyhawk could carry, the Air Force’s 3,000-lb M-118. On September 21, 1967, the so-called “Built-In Guided M-118 Under Terminal Homing for Accuracy” or BIG MUTHA was first dropped by an A-4. It proved as lethal to the charcoal bag as the Bullwinder. However, it was similarly limited to targets that provided a well-differentiated heat source.
China Lake also tested a modified Sidewinder where the lead sulfide IR cell was replaced by a selenium crystal tuned to the visible light frequency. Called FOCUS (Fixed Optical Contrast Universal Spectrum), this seeker guided the missile to a target with strong optical contrast to the background, like truck headlights at night. Neither the Bullwinder or the Big Mutha were used operationally. The necessary signature limited it to a short list of potential targets. In any event, the accuracy imperative was about to be addressed by a new concept, the laser.

Laser-guided Bombs: The last carrier-based A-4s involved in the Vietnamese War overlapped with the introduction of laser-guided bombs. These were conventional bombs modified with a laser seeker, simple guidance computer, and controllable fins. The target was designated by a laser beam that the seeker could detect and home in on. The accuracy was outstanding, with CEPS of a few feet. The first laser-guided bomb drop at China Lake was made in early 1970, using a ground-based laser and a simple deviation meter in the cockpit of the A-4 carrying the bomb. The next step was to develop an airborne laser designator. This was also done at China Lake. The first one was hand-held and only about the size of s shoebox. It was used to designate targets from the back seat of a TA-4F.

New light attack aircraft request: Douglas tried to short-circuit the process in 1962 with an unsolicited proposal of an A4D derivative to be powered by a non-afterburning TF30. As described by a Standard Aircraft Characteristics chart dated 1 August 1962, the so-called A4D-6 was similar to the A4D-5, then in production, and retained the same five stores stations. However the proposed airplane was the A4D on steroids, bigger in every dimension to accommodate and take advantage of the bigger TF30, which had almost 3,000 pounds more thrust than the A4D-5’s J52. Internal fuel was increased by 290 gallons (36%). As a result, while retaining the overall look of the Skyhawk, it was significantly different in detail, particularly the structure. With more fuel and the efficient TF30, it had a radius of action with a Mk43 and two 300-gallon tanks of 960 nm, 52% more the A4D-5’s. Unfortunately for Douglas, OSD was insisting on a competition.

The Specific Operational Requirement for a subsonic light attack airplane, VA(L), renamed to distinguish it from the supersonic VAX program, was released by the Chief of Naval Operations in May 1963. Flyaway Cost ($) A-4 = 700,000    A-7 Corsair II = 1,400,000.

In an unusual twist, the next Skyhawk model was a single-seat version of the two-seat TA-4F that was in production, in part because the Navy needed more light attack aircraft as soon as possible. In order to do so, some of the material on order for two-seat Skyhawks was diverted to expedite production of more single-seat ones. The A-4F therefore incorporated the nose gear steering, lift spoilers, Escapac 1C-3 ejection seat, and more powerful J52-P-8A engine introduced on the TA-4F. In 1965, ordering the A-4F was deemed necessary because of the unplanned attrition to the light attack force caused by Vietnam War losses. Although the loss rate averaged about six per month, in July 1965 there were 14 Skyhawks lost against a production rate of about 10 per month. The A-4F also represented a hedge against delays in (likely) or failure or (unlikely but not unknown) the A-7 program. An A-4E airframe, BuNo 152101 was used for the prototype.

The ever-expanding amount of avionics and electronics equipment that was being added to the A-4 finally overcame the trend toward miniaturization, necessitating the addition of a hump-back fairing—Douglas called it the aft avionics package—on the top of the fuselage between the canopy and the dorsal fin. This was accomplished after the first A-4Fs were delivered but retrofitted to the earlier aircraft. It was a very simple addition that was removable and allowed relocation of the avionics that had been located in the ammunition bay, restoring the original capacity of 20 mm rounds. A later addition to some Fs (and other late model A-4s) was the squared-off fin tip with an ALR-45 antenna mounted on it. Some A-4Es were rebuilt with the wing spoilers and the avionics hump. The first air wing to deploy with the new Fs was 19 aboard Ticondoroga in late 1967, with VA-23 and VA-93. By then over 100 A-7As had been provisionally accepted and it was long since clear that Vought had made a success of its program. VA-147 was the first to take the A-7A into combat, flying from Ranger in December 1967, on station off Vietnam with Tico. In accordance with the Navy’s usual conservative approach, the air group embarked with only one A-7 squadron. The other was equipped with A-4s.

At least a couple of VA-164’s Fs aboard Hancock for its October 1971 to June 1971 cruise were reportedly modified to have the Angle Rate Bombing System (ARBS) that was to become standard on the A-4M. ARBS relieved the pilot of having to simultaneously achieve a given dive angle, speed, altitude, and g level with the sight cross-hairs on the target. ARBS utilized a dual mode TV/laser tracker, analog computer, and head-up display to allow the pilot to designate the target at the beginning of the weapons delivery dive. The system then provided steering signals to the pilot via the display until it released the bomb at a predetermined altitude. (?)

One hundred Fs were retrofitted with an uprated J52, the P-408, and a slightly larger engine inlet to accommodate its higher mass flow. Although normally this would have resulted in yet another letter designation, it did not. Instead, these were referred to as the Super Foxes. These were the highest performing of all the U.S. Navy A-4s, particularly when the hump and other non-essential equipment were removed.

A-4L: As newer models of aircraft became available, they replaced older ones in the deploying squadrons. The older ones were handed down to reserve and training squadrons. The Vietnam War had an impact on this practice because of the unanticipated attrition of deployed aircraft. The operational experience in Vietnam also resulted in the additions of tactical and defensive electronic equipment in the aircraft operated by the fleet squadrons, making those operated by the reserves even more obsolescent. The reserves were primarily operating A-4Cs (A4D-2Ns) in the late 1960s. The Navy contracted with Douglas to develop a kit to upgrade them with electronic and hardware changes to more closely match the aerodynamic and equipment configuration of the A-4Fs, while retaining the J65 engine and only three external stores pylons. The additional electronics in the short-nose Cs necessitated the fuselage hump along with the requisite antennas. The wings were also to be modified to have the lift spoilers introduced with the Fs. An uprated J65 was also installed. Douglas produced 100 conversion kits and modified one A-4C, BuNo 148307 to qualify the kit installation and the aircraft configuration. It flew on 21 August 1969. The remaining 99 kits were delivered to Naval Aviation Repair Facilities where a select group of A-4Cs were converted to this A-4L configuration as part of the periodic overhauls that military aircraft undergo for refurbishment and upgrade.

In 1970, the Navy decided to upgrade the aircraft in the reserve squadrons and organize them into two carrier air wings that could be deployed as a unit and combat ready. A-4Ls also flew with Marine Corps reserve squadrons and VC (composite) squadrons.

The Marine Corps elected not to buy the A-7. For their close air support requirement, range was not a major consideration, while low cost and basing flexibility were.

The first A-4M flew on 10 April 1970 and was delivered to the Navy on 3 November, the same month that the first McDonnell-built Harrier flew. Only 158 were built, since it was hoped that it would only be a placeholder until the VTOL AV-8A Harrier could replace the Skyhawks.

One major change introduced during production of the A-4M was the Angle Rate Bombing System. Up until then, the Skyhawk, like most of its predecessors, was equipped with a simple fixed optical sight. It basically was only adjustable with respect to the depression angle of the aim point on the sight. The pilot was therefore required to calculate and preset a mil depression for a given weapon and attack profile. That setting was only good for a specific airspeed, slant range to the target, and dive angle with no g loading, positive or negative, on the airplane. Cross and/or head/tail wind components had to be compensated for by rule of thumb. Slant range and dive angle defined the altitude of release, corrected for target elevation since the airplane altimeter was indicating high above sea level.

The avionics suite continued to be expanded during production. There were basically three production configurations. The nose of the first A-4Ms was indistinguishable from the A-4F. Next, the nose began to sprout more antennas. Finally, the late production aircraft had the full Angle Rate bombing System. The empty weight increased accordingly. Landing weight was already a problem with the A-4F. With the additional armor and MERs, the maximum allowable landing weight only allowed for 1,200-lbs of fuel. If the pilot was coming back with an unexpended Shrike, the fuel was reduced to only 800 lbs.

Although the A-4M was intended to be shore-based, the ability to operate from an aircraft carrier was important in the event that a Marine light attack squadron had to fill-in for a Navy one for an air group deployment, which happened from time to time. In any event, the A-4M was very infrequently flown onto an aircraft carrier and never deployed on one.

Douglas had already designed a beefed-up landing gear to allow a 1,000 (?) lb higher landing weight of 16,000 pounds. The struts were slightly bigger around, the wheels were thicker, and a different shock system with a torque link (scissors) was incorporated in the main landing gear. The wheel well doors had to be increased in size to accommodate the thicker wheels and the scissors. The change was evaluated on A-4M BuNo 160036 and incorporated in production beginning with BuNo 160241. However, at that point (1971), the AV-8A was becoming operational and preferred over the runway-dependent A-4. As a result, 160241 was the beginning of the end. Only 23 more A-4s were to be produced, all A-4Ms. The landing gear change was presumably retrofittable but there is no indication that it was.

A-4F: "For a non-afterburning aircraft, the Skyhawk was pretty petty, particularly with the J52-P-8 engine. It had excellent power response, fairly good economy, and at that point, great reliability. Unlike the fighters, we usually didn’t have to tank. Before we got the Super Foxes with the P-408 engines, we could out-turn the F-8s but couldn’t follow them in vertical maneuvers. Instead we had to wait for them to come back down. When we got the Super Foxes, going vertical was no longer a way for them to disengage.

The additional power in the -408 was very noticeable. With a formation takeoff with the -8 engine, the flight would run the power up to 85% while holding the brakes. With the -408, the brakes couldn’t hold the airplane at anything like 85%. Fortunately for workload in carrier approaches, the Super Fox came with an Approach Power Compensator (APC), which was an auto-throttle. Otherwise, the pilot had trouble with how far aft the throttle was when on speed."

Some of the obsolescent A-4As and A-4Bs were assigned to the training command for use in advanced training. Some of these were subsequently re designated as TA-4As and TA-4Bs in 1968 to insure that the Congressional Budget Office did not lump them in with the more capable A-4Cs and Es and thereby conclude that the Navy had more deployable combat aircraft than they really did.

Top Gun: It was small and therefore hard to acquire and easy to lose track of during an engagement. It not only had a very fast roll rate but low roll inertia so a roll could be started or stopped almost instantaneously. Its acceleration and rate of climb without the burden of drop tanks and non-essential equipment was adequate even without an afterburner. Its turn radius was relatively small. All-in-all, it provided a rude introduction to most fighter pilots encountering it for the first time. The A-4 received a new nickname, Mongoose, as an expression of respect for its air-to-air prowess.

VC squadrons: In order to make air-to-air training more readily available, some composite squadrons were assigned an adversary role. These included a reserve composite squadron, VC-12, established at Detroit, Michigan in September 1973. It moved to NAS Oceana in July 1975.

Some VC (composite) squadrons simulated airborne threats for the training surface and air units. These included towing or launching targets that live fire could be employed against and simulating attacks for ground controller training. Some, like VC-12 operating from NAS Oceana, also provided air-to-air adversary training with A-4s, which expanded the frequency and availability of the experience beyond what could be provided by Top Gun.

The tow target used for ship exercises was the TDU-34A. It was a streamlined shape about 10 feet long that weighted only 75 pounds. It was streamed from a self-powered reel hung on the center pylon of the A-4. About 22,000 feet of steel cable, approximately four miles, was used to insure adequate separation between the target at which the ship was shooting and the tow plane.
Walt Fink provided a memoir of his time in an A-4 utility squadron in the mid 1960s: "My time in A-4's during my tour with VU-1 (later VC-1) was all in B models, which were our squadron's first Skyhawks.  We had five, BuNos 142842/UA40, 142865/UA41, 142950/UA42, 145012/UA43, and 144876/UA44.  Each bird flew a little differently and had its own personality.

Our squadron's unofficial motto was "Skeet For The Fleet" and we worked with Fleet Training Group Pearl Harbor and COMFAIRHAWAII, pretty much providing "bad guy" type missions for both.  Exercises ending with the codename CC were radar training ones where we'd provide a Bogey aircraft and a Shooter aircraft for shipboard controllers to practice their radar intercepts and calibration runs.  Exercises ending with the code name G were Gunnery exercises involving our being targets for hips to track.  We didn't tow any targets for them with the A-4, so there were no live firing episodes.

 We also flew scheduled FLETRAGRUPearl Battle Problems for surface ships in which we had a specific Time On Target (or two) where we'd come in right on the water and cross amidships, setting off their battle scenarios.  Sometimes it was just one pass and other times the specific BP would have us making more than one.

As carriers would transit the Hawaiian area on their way to WESTPAC, COMFAIRHAWAII would administer Operational Readiness Inspections (ORIs) to them, which would last anywhere from three days to a week, and we'd fly against the ships as raid aircraft for the Air Wing's F-4's and F-8's to intercept. The directed procedure was to fly a predetermined inbound course and altitude to the ship with transponder and anticollision lights off, then turn both on when we were intercepted, so the controllers could wipe us off their screens as kills. We weren't permitted to engage the fighters nor take any evasive actions, but toward the end of an ORI, the fighter jocks would be getting pretty testy with their long hours and little sleep, so we'd get "bounced" with gusto, and probably a couple times there was some "spirited maneuvering" to try and get out of a Phantom's path after turning the parrot and beacon on.

We also provided Bogeys for the Hawaiian Air Defense. Similar to the ORI's, we'd head outbound to a predetermined point (they had me go westbound one early morning as far out as French Frigate Shoals), then reverse course and head back inbound, while the HADD controllers would vector the Guard's F-102's to intercept us.  As with the ORI's, we were directed not to engage the Deuces when we were intercepted, but they'd come up and fly wing on us and we'd exchange...well, salutes.  I knew a 102 could easily outrun an A-4, but I can also tell you that if flown properly, they can fly slower than a Skyhawk, too, which I wouldn't have thought until I saw it.

We assumed a limited ECM capability for training purposes with the arrival of ALQ-99 pods that we carried on the centerline. Using those, we'd see the interceptors either pass by or be well abeam of us, until at the direction of the controller we'd turn the pods off, at which time the fighters would pounce. We also acquired Beech AQM-34 target drones---missiles---which we carried on the centerline and could launch for live fire Fleet exercises.  The missiles were "smart" for that time, meaning that unless all was copacetic with their innards and the electronics in the aircraft, they wouldn't launch, which saved having them go expensively stupid and fall into the sea. To ensure a good target, we sent up a section of A-4's, each carrying an AQM, and both pilots would go through the countdown to launch. If the primary aircraft's AQM didn't fire, the wingman would punch his off, saving the exercise. I saw this up close and personal on the only AQM launch I ever flew. The firing group (F-4's, if I remember correctly) was in a downrange holding pattern while the launch aircraft (us) were in a similar pattern uprange.  We wanted to time everything so that when we reached the firing point, the fighters would be on their inbound leg for a down-the-throat shot at the AQM with Sparrows.  What this meant for us was that there were going to be some missiles coming our way. Quickly!  So, our procedure was to launch the AQM, then break down and away, and get the hell out of Dodge. The only way to be sure you had a good AQM launch was to punch the missile off, feel the thump as it left the rack, then roll up on a wing and look down at it to be sure you saw the booster rocket fire. On my launch, we were IFR in turbulence anyway and when I hit the pickle, I couldn't tell if the telltale thump was the AQM's going on its way or the turbulence, and when I rolled up on a wing, all I saw was whiteness. For all I knew, the thing was on its way in the clouds. But my best buddy "Skbortz", flying wingman, saw the missile still on the rack, and according to procedure, pickled his AQM off---and this one worked. The thing roared by me trailing fire and was then gone in a flash. Pretty impressive show, and not one I was prepared to see quite that close up and personal.

We received a couple of buddy stores and practiced inflight refueling. My understanding was that we were being considered for utilization as ready tankers for Air Groups' ORI's but that never materialized, at least during my tour.
I've heard it said that Composite Squadrons were tasked with doing the jobs that Fleet Squadrons wouldn't do.  We seemed to have interesting missions, though, plus a lot of low-level flying that was great duty.

EA-4F: The Fleet Electronic Warfare Support Group (FEWSG), formed in 1969 and based at NAS Norfolk Virginia, was assigned the role of providing realistic electronic warfare training for fleet units.
AQ-33 was assigned as FEWSG’s air component. It operated a mixed fleet of airplanes including the R7V Constellation, A3D Skywarrior, F4H Phantom, and as would be expected, the Skyhawk. These deployed up and down the east coast and to the west coast and Hawaii as required to provide training. VAQ-33 relocated to NAS Key West, Florida in 1980.
The first two EA-4Fs were modified by McDonnell-Douglas at Long Beach and delivered in 1970. The second two were modified at Norfolk and available in 1973. One result of the modifications is that the EA-4Fs were no longer operable from carriers.
Four EA-4Fs, BuNos 152852, 152869, 153481 and 154655, were created from TA-4Fs by modifications to allow the carrying of external stores that electronically simulated the signals of incoming Soviet missiles and aircraft. The stores were updated over time to the latest electronic threat configuration. A control panel for operating the equipment was installed in the aft cockpit. The armament was deleted since it wasn’t required. The EA-4Fs were even more unique because they were modified with a different radome. The installation of the jammer for which this change was intended doesn’t seem to have occurred, but the empty nose cone proved convenient for the stowage of crew baggage on the frequent trips to assignments.
Typical missions involved the laying of chaff corridors using ALE-41 and -43 bulk chaff dispensers, simulating an incoming cruise missile attacking the ship while carrying an AST-4 pod that generated a signal similar to a cruise missile, and jamming with an ALQ-167 pod in concert with jamming and simulated attacks by other aircraft.
BuNo 152869 was lost in April 1980 due to a failure of the engine oil system, with the pilot successfully ejecting. It was replaced with a TA-4J that was subsequently modified to an extent for the EA mission but not re designated. Five years later, BuNo 154655 was lost following another engine failure. The pilot was killed but the NFO’s ejection was successful. It was also replaced with a TA-4J. VAQ-33 replaced the two remaining EA-4Fs and the TA-4Js with Vought TA-7C Corsair IIs in 1988. One of the EA-4Fs was transferred to VC-8 and the other to VC-10 to continue serving along with other TA-4Js that had been configured to carry the AST-4 and ALQ-167 pods. They were both retired in October 1990.

The CVS CXRS and fighters: In the mid 1950s, small detachments of fighters were added to some ASW-specific carriers being deployed to Europe and the western Pacific. The west coast ASW carriers were subsequently deployed with detachments from VSF-1 based on the west coast These aircraft were subsequently removed from the CVSs and assigned to VA squadrons due to shortages of A-4s caused by the attrition of the Vietnam war and the lack of evidence of a real threat. In 1961, Essex (CVS-9) itself deployed with a detachment of four A4D-2s from VA-34. In addition to the two 20 mm cannon, these were armed with two AIM-9 Sidewinders. There were at least 11 more CVS deployments with A-4s aboard, including a few augmented by Skyhawks from a Marine squadrons. The Skyhawks were not only used to intercept and escort Soviet patrol bombers, they also participated in ASW search efforts. At least some of these detachments were marked with the squadron number, only preceded with VSF instead of VA, probably to signify, at least to the detachment, their fighter assignment without potential for confusion with a “real” VF squadron. For example, detachments from VA-22 and VA-153 deployed with CVSG-33 aboard Kearsarge in 1963 and 1964. It may also have been factiously intended to stand for Very Small Fighters. Deeming the experiment with Skyhawks to be a success, the Navy decided in 1965 to form a real VSF squadron based at NAS Alameda, California specifically for the purpose of providing CVS detachments with suitably armed Skyhawks and pilots trained for the interception and air-to-air mission, in addition to attack. The first, VSF-1, was to have a complement of 24 A-4Bs. As it happened, four-plane A-4 detachments on ASW carriers continue to also be provided from attack squadrons. As part of this program, China Lake modified an A-4B BuNo 145002 with a fighter’s ranging radar and gun sight to provide a more effective air-to-air capability. The new nose shape invited humorous comment, with the airplane not only being referred to as Rudolph but having the nose painted red. Rudolph was eventually assigned to VSF-1 and then VSF-3 at NAS Alameda as the sole example of an A-4B with a fighter-type gun sight. Before Rudolph ever deployed, it was modified back to the standard A-4 configuration that included Shoehorn. In 1966, just before VSF-1 was to send its first detachment out with Yorktown, most of the squadron was ordered to deploy with Air Wing 8 on Shangri-La to the Mediterranean, replacing a VA Skyhawk squadron that had been assigned to a Viet Nam bound CVA. It left behind a detachment in Alameda, which soon became a separate squadron, VSF-3.
Still scrambling to provide enough attack carriers and attack squadrons for the war effort, the Navy temporarily reassigned and east coast ASW carrier, Intrepid (CVS-11), as an attack carrier and made VSF-3 in its entirety part of the air group. The squadron was disestablished at the end of that deployment.

VSF-3 flying from Intrepid in 1967 was also assigned targets on shore. One was a barge repair facility on an island near Cam Pha northeast of Haiphong. The surrounding terrain required a near vertical dive to hit the target, which necessitated using a grease mark on the windshield since the gun sight wouldn’t adjust that high. The attack was a success even though it wasn’t the attack profile that the pilots trained for and the Skyhawk’s dive brakes couldn’t keep the airplane from accelerating even at idle power.

VSF-1 continued its schizophrenic career as both a deployable attack squadron and a parent squadron providing ASW carrier detachments until the end of 1970, when its last detachment returned to NAS Alameda from a Yorktown deployment. VA-45, the east coast A-4 replacement air group squadron at Cecil Field, was then tasked to provide five-plane A-4E VSF detachments for the ASW carriers Intrepid (CVS-11) in the Atlantic and Ticonderoga (CVS-14) in the Pacific.

Two reserve ASW fighter squadrons, VSF-76 and -86 were also created in 1968 and assigned A-4C/Ls. However, they were never called upon to deploy and were disestablished in 1973, there being no carriers left to protect that were dedicated to ASW.

Combat TA-4s as Laser Designators: The Air Force developed laser-guided weapons to improve delivery accuracy and began to employ them during the Vietnam War. There were two different means of providing the laser “dot” that the missile guided on, a heavy and complex pod and a relatively small hand-held device. The Navy accomplished an early combat evaluation of laser-guided weapons by the simple expedient of deploying two TA-4Fs with Attack Carrier Air Wing 21 aboard Hancock in 1973. These aircraft were assigned to VA-164.

A McDonnell Douglas TA-4F Skyhawk (BuNo 153491 416NP) of Attack Squadron VA-164 Ghost Riders, Attack Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21), aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) deployed 8 May 1973 to 8 Jan 1974. Also VA-212 and VA-55 were also in this air wing.

OA-4M: The Marine Corps had successfully used the TA-4F as a forward air controller in the Vietnam War. Twenty-three were subsequently converted between 1979 and 1980 to a Fast Forward Area Controller (FastFAC) configuration, OA-4M, for reconnaissance and close air support control operations. A-4M avionics were adapted for this conversion. In order to accommodate the additional avionics, the dorsal hump initially developed for the A-4F was used. The nose sensor group of the OA-4M was basically the same as that of the A-4M, but the Angle/Rate Bombing system was not fitted, and the laser spotting and tracking window was faired over, since neither of these were needed on an aircraft that was not to be employed in a pure bombing role. Other avionics additions included the ground bombing system, a KY-28 secure voice system, an APN-194 radio altimeter, and ARC-159 UHF and ARC-114 VHF radios. Extra cockpit side armor plating was added in view of its utilization

The conversions were accomplished at the Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF) at NAS Pensacola. The first TA-4F inducted was BuNo 152856. The OA-4M was evaluated at NATC Patuxent River in mid 1958 before being delivered to operational units. The mission requirement was known as TACA: Tactical Air Coordinator, Airborne. The OA-4M was considered to be underpowered due to the added avionics and other equipment. Consideration was given to swapping out the J52-P-8 for the higher thrust J52-P408 installed in the A-4M, but this was determined to be impractical.
These aircraft were subsequently used for utility missions such as target towing.

Blues: As it happened, the A-7’s replacement of the A-4 had begun to result in the availability of J52-P-408 engine powered A-4Fs, the so-called Super Fox. Although it did not have an afterburner, a clean A-4 with a dry weight of 11,200 pounds powered by the J52-P-408 engine, which had about the same thrust, had excellent acceleration and climb. Combined with its high roll (variously reported at between 400 and 720 degrees per second) and turn rates, it would prove to be an excellent air show performer. Eight A-4F airframes supposedly in good condition, the first one was rejected because it had too many structural and skin repairs of combat damage, with low flight time were provided to Douglas at its Long Beach facility in late 1973 for modification to the Blue Angel configuration. A new TA-4J was also made available to the team. The narrator used it to fly to air shows and also for guest pilot flights and trips to pick up spare parts. Other than the folding ladder and drag parachute installations, the team’s TA-4J was a stock airplane. The changes to the Super Foxes included the removal of all armament, the chaff dispensing system, non-essential avionics, all the stores pylons except for the centerline, and the avionics hump to reduce weight and drag. The special conditions of the Blues’ demonstration and operational requirements resulted in the addition of a drag parachute for short field landings, a smoke system, an inverted fuel system, an improved pilot’s restraint system, and a container extending from the left wing root leading edge to house a foldable ladder. An additional 3 degrees of nose-down trim and a control load bungee were added to provide the nose-down force on the stick desired by the Blue Angels for close formation flying. The wing slats were locked up to avoid any risk of an asymmetric deployment or a perturbation if the slats on one airplane in a tight formation deployed or retracted and those on the other airplanes hadn’t. The small takeoff and landing distance penalty was considered acceptable.
The aircraft were available for the usual winter training session at Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro, California and debuted at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska on 18 May 1974 for the start of the grueling air show season. Because of the accident history experienced by the Blues with the F-4, the play list for the first season was somewhat conservative. In the second season, the team leader added more maneuvers and some five-aircraft formations. The roll rate began to be incorporated in the solo performance along with negative-g push-outs. The Farvel, in which the team flew by in the diamond with the leader inverted, was one of the formations that was omitted the first year. The second year it was reintroduced, with both the leader and the slot inverted.

The turn rate and maneuverability of the A-4s allowed the team to keep the airplanes visible to the crowd more of the time. It also permitted in the development of a “flat” show, which allowed the Blues to fly when the weather only just met visual flight rules of three-mile visibility and a 1,000-foot ceiling, conditions which would have required canceling a show and disappointing the spectators in earlier years. The team would use the A-4Fs for 12 seasons, finally retiring them at the end of the 1985 in favor of the F/A-18A Hornet that had replaced the Vought A-7. During that time, only 18 different A-4Fs were used to provide the six jets that were flown in each show.

Foreign: Douglas was prepared to propose an export Skyhawk based on the A4D-2 in 1958. In the 1960s, Douglas used the designations CA-4E and CA-4F to identify export versions of the single and two-seat Skyhawks respectively. In the case of the CA-4F, the reduction in internal fuel that was required by the addition of the second seat was more than replaced by the addition of fuel in a hump on the upper fuselage similar to the avionics hump introduced during A-4F production. The CA-4F was proposed with full ordnance capability; a CTA-4F was also defined for an advanced trainer role that did not require armament. Douglas estimated that the market for the CA-4s the replacement of up to 2,000 obsolescent F-84s and F-86s being operated by international military air forces. Although there was a lot of competition for this market, the A-4 was considered to be a proven, relatively low cost option.

Canada: Its last aircraft carrier was HMCS Bonaventure, a Majestic-class carrier started but not completed as HMS Powerful. It was in service from 1957 to 1970. Primarily intended for antisubmarine warfare, its air defense up until 1962 was provided by former U.S. Navy F2H-3 Banshees. Both the A-4 and A-7 were considered to replace the F2Hs. Although Canada elected not to proceed with the procurement of any more aircraft for the Bonaventure, its at-sea evaluation of the A-4E in 1964 paved the way for other countries operating Colossus/Magestic-class carriers to have confidence in the compatibility of the Skyhawk with one having the upgrades, including an angled flight deck and mirror landing system, made to Bonaventure.

The U.S. Navy provided two A-4Es, one an NATC-instrumented airplane and the other borrowed from VA-43, for at-sea trials aboard Bonaventure off Norfolk, Virginia in early May 1964. These were marred by a landing gear shock strut problem that resulted in damage to the left wing of the instrumented aircraft after only two arrested landings. The trials were successfully concluded with the second airplane, however.

Bonaventure was equipped with a BS-4 steam catapult with a nominal power stroke of only 103 feet and a maximum power stroke of 115 feet. The arresting gear was a Mk-12 which had a maximum engaging speed of 107 knots in the landing weight range of the A-4E. The arresting gear had a run out of 180 feet and a span of 60 feet. There were five cross-deck pendants spaced 18 to 20 feet apart, with the first wire located 70 feet from the ramp. The mirror provided a 3¾ degree glide slope.

Argentina: In 1965, the Argentine Air Force decided to replace its Gloster Meteors and North American F-86 Sabres with 50 used A-4B Skyhawks to be refurbished by Douglas at its Tulsa, Oklahoma facility. These were designated A-4P by the U.S. military but were usually referred to by their original A-4B designation by the Fuerza Aerea Argentina (FAA). The first 25 were ferried to Argentina in late 1966 and early 1967. The second 25 were reportedly delayed by the potential need for these aircraft for U.S. Navy requirements but were finally delivered in 1970, reportedly with the Ferranti D126R weapons sight system. The A-4Ps were distributed among four squadrons and assigned FAA serials of C-201 through C-250.

In consideration of the shore-based nature of the FAA’s operations, the A-4Ps were equipped with the wing lift spoilers and nose wheel steering. The avionics suite was completely redone. A Bendix CNA-4 navigation system was installed in place of the AN/ASQ-17 with a VOR antenna added to the tail fin; Bendix RTA-41B/RNA-26C VHF com/nav was added with its blade antenna sticking up just behind the canopy; a large flat antenna fairing was added on top of the fuselage for a DFA-73 direction finding antenna and associated avionics to replace the UHF/ADF AN/ARA-25; and a UHF AN/ARC-27 and the IFF AN/APX-6B IFF were added with the original TACAN and radar altimeter installation being removed. Training was provided by the Navy at Olathe, Kansas.

At the time, Argentina operated an aircraft carrier, Veinticinco de Mayo and a small fleet of Grumman F9F Panther fighters. The carrier was the former British Royal Navy HMS Venerable, which had been sold to the Netherlands in May 1948 and operated as HMNLS Karel Doorman. It was sold on to Argentina in 1968. In 1971, The Comando de Aviacion Naval Argentina (CANA), ordered 16 A-4Bs to replace the F9Fs. These again were used aircraft, refurbished and updated by Douglas at Tulsa to the A-4P configuration plus Sidewinder capability and a 8,400-lb thrust Wright J65-W-20 in place of the original -16A. (The lift spoilers and nose wheel steering were included since the aircraft would primarily be shore based.) These were designated A-4Q. CANA assigned them serial numbers 654 through 669 and side numbers of 3-A-301 through 314. The aircraft were assigned to 1 Escaudron de Ataque, based at Commandante Espora Base.

In 1975, the FAA added an additional 25 used A-4Cs to its roster. These were refurbished and updated by Lockheed Air Services of Ontario, California. The modifications included the addition of the extra pair of pylons. These aircraft were also reportedly modified to fire Israeli Shafrir air-to-air missiles similar to the Sidewinder. More modernization was accomplished after the airplanes reached Argentina. These aircraft entered service between 1976 and 1978.

During the 1978 crisis with Chile over mutually claimed territory, the Skyhawks provided air defense and were used to tactically probe the Chilean air defense. However, no combat resulted.

In 1981, some of the FAA A-4s were equipped with the navigation system Omega, which used extremely low frequency radio signals from a chain of ground stations to determine the aircraft’s position. These aircraft had towel bar-shaped antennas on the vertical fin for the Omega. However, except for these few and six A-4Cs that had working APG-53 radar, the rest of the Argentine Skyhawk fleet had no navigation system or radar.

The FAA and CANA Skyhawks were to play a significant role in the unfortunate clash between Argentina and the United Kingdom over a long-standing dispute over the nationality of a group of small islands off the coast of Argentina. England had functionally abandoned them in 1776. Spain subsequently established a settlement there and possession devolved to Argentina. Britain, not having formally renounced its claim to the Islands, returned to seize possession of them in 1833 to provide a strategically located way station for its ships. In early 1982, the ruling military junta in Argentina decided to put an end to the disagreement by retaining the islands, successfully invading Islas Malvinas (known to England as the Falkland Islands) on 2 April and the others the next day. In doing so, the junta probably assumed that the United Kingdom’s response would be limited to diplomatic protests and appeals to the International Court of Justice.

Counting those in storage or maintenance, the FAA had about 46 A-4P/Cs and CANA, 10 A-4Qs available to attack the invasion force, each carrying one 1,000-lb bomb or two to four 500-lb bombs. Like the FAA A-4P/Cs, the CANA A-4Qs were flown from shore bases because Veinticinco de Mayo had returned to port after the British submarine Conqueror torpedoed and sunk the Argentine Navy cruiser General Belgrano on 2 May. Even with aerial refueling from FAA KC-130s, the A-4s were operating at maximum range because low-level entry and egress was necessary to minimize the risk of interception by British Sea Harriers. In addition to the strikes against the Royal Navy task force and the British beachhead, A-4s were used along with Mirages and Learjets to divert the Royal Navy Combat Air Patrol away from other strike airplanes.

In 1994, Argentina was finally allowed to renew its Skyhawk fleet with 32 ex-Marine Corps single-seat A-4Ms and four OA-4Ms. The first four single-seaters and one two-seaters were refurbished and modified by Lockheed-Martin Aircraft Services at Ontario, California. The rest were completed at the Lockheed-Martin facility in Cordoba, Argentina. The first airplane was inducted into program in August 1995, first flown in mid-July 1997. It and the other four airplanes completed in California were ferried to Argentina at the end of 1997. Lockheed-Martin also provided simulators, manuals, and hands-on training in Argentina to FAA pilots and maintainers. The changes included a new radar, navigation/attack system, multifunction and head-up displays, and radar warning system. The Hughes Angle Rate Bombing System was deleted but the Sidewinder and Maverick capability was retained. The single-seat airplanes were designated A-4AR (Fightinghawk) and the two-seaters, TA-4AR.
The FAA retired the last of its A-4Ps at the end of 1998. A-4AR deliveries were completed in 1999. The Fightinghawks were still in service in 2010.

Australia:  Australia followed closely behind Argentina in acquiring Skyhawks. At the time, DeHavilland Sea Venoms provided air defense for Royal Australian Navy (RAN) aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, the former Royal Navy HMS Majestic. In May 1965, before the decision to acquire Skyhawks was final, a US Navy A-4B from VA-113 Det Q deployed aboard Bennington (CVS-20) was used for an informal cross-deck visit to Melbourne to demonstrate compatibility. One arrested landing and one launch were accomplished, with the Skyhawk in a clean configuration.

In October 1965, the Royal Australia Navy announced that it would procure 10 new Skyhawks, eight single-seat and two two-seat as the A-4G and TA-4G, respectively. The aircraft were basically A-4Fs optimized for air defense rather than strike. Douglas finally received a formal go-ahead in April 1966. The changes included the removal of the dorsal avionics fairing and the addition of the capability to carry as many as four AIM-9B Sidewinders. Both the A-4Gs and TA-4Gs were equipped with nose wheel steering. The A-4G first flight was on 19 July 1967; the first TA-4G, only two days later. These and the rest of the production order were stored at NAS North Island, California until Melbourne arrived to pick them up in October 1967.

The U. S. Navy A-4 RAG squadron, VA-125, at NAS Lemoore, California trained a cadre of RAN pilots and maintainers in 1967, including carrier qualifications on Kearsarge (CVS-33). Since there was no fighter phase in VA-125’s syllabus, the Australians (who had far more fighter than attack experience) were provided with a one-week deployment to MCAS Yuma for air-to-air gunnery training, including firing Sidewinders at parachute flare targets. Their instructors were former VSF pilots. The lack of a gyroscopic, radar ranged gun sight was noted in the lack of hits on the banner.
Number 724 Squadron was established at Nowra as the Australian equivalent of the U.S. RAG squadron, operating a few A-4Gs and all of the TA-4Gs. In contrast to U.S. operation of the TA-4s, the two-seaters were not cleared for landings on Melbourne due to their more forward cg, which did not provide adequate nose-up rotation on the short deck in the event of a bolter. The operational squadron, Number 805 (later VF-805), was also based at Nowra and deployed (with up to eight A-4Gs?) aboard Melbourne from time to time.
In 1970, to provide for expected attrition in accidents and replacement of aircraft in repair/rework, an additional eight A-4Gs and two TA-4Gs were created from former US Navy A-4Fs and TA-4Fs and transported by ship to Australia in 1971. The A-4Fs were put through the Navy Air Rework Facility at Pensacola, Florida, to remove the dorsal avionics fairing and the ECM/ESM avionics suite before delivery.
In 1982, the aging Melbourne was retired. All surviving A-4Gs were briefly assigned to VC-724, the former Number 724 Squadron, for target towing and other utility duties. In 1984, the remaining seven A-4Gs and two TA-4Gs were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which had them refurbished and modified to its A-4K and TA-4K configuration, respectively.

Brazil: In 1956, Brazil purchased the Colossus-class HMS Vengeance from Great Britain and renamed it Minas Gerais. The Navy initially operated only helicopters from it and then, beginning in the early 1960s, Grumman S-2 ASW airplanes as well. When the S-2s had to be retired in 1997, the Navy decided to reequip and upgrade its air arm with jet airplanes for air defense and attack missions. With Boeing (which now owned McDonnell-Douglas) acting as an intermediary, Brazil purchased twenty A-4KU and three TA-4KUs from Kuwait. These arrived in Brazil by ship in September 1998 and were designated the AF-1 and AF-1A, respectively, by Brazil. After modification (the aircraft reportedly had low flight time and were in excellent condition) and initial pilot training by VT-7 at NAS Meridian, Mississippi, the AFs were placed in service with  1o Esquadro de Aviões de Interceptaçao e Ataque (VFA-1), based at Naval Air Station Sao Pedro d'Aldeia. The first landing and launch were finally accomplished aboard Minas Gerais on 18 January 2001.

The Minas Gerais was replaced with NAel Sao Paulo, formerly the French carrier Foch, in 2000. As of 2009, at least nine AF-1s and three AF-1As were to be upgraded by Embraer for continued service with the Brazilian Navy.

France: France has had at least one aircraft carrier in service since 1927, operating a variety of French, British, and American designed aircraft. In the late 1960s, it had been expected that the Dassault Étendard IV would be replaced by a carrier-based derivative of the Jaguar, a small strike aircraft being developed jointly by Britain and France. A prototype, Jaguar M for maritime, was designed and built by the French partner Breguet, with a first flight in November 1969. After development and shore-based tests, at-sea trials were accomplished in July 1970 aboard Clemenceau and again in October 1971, with a high approach speed and inadequate wave-off thrust being considered major deficiencies. The Aéronautique Navale then considered the A-4M and the A-7E and evaluated both, with initial flights of a VMA-214 A-4M at MCAS El Toro, California. Two A-4Ms were ferried to France for shore-based trials and then at-sea operations aboard Foch in September 1972 off Brest. Seventeen takeoffs and landings were accomplished with the only problem being that the catapult track cover deflector load limit was reached at a launch weight of 21,500 lbs. Although the trials were successful, the French decided to contract with Dassault, which had taken over Brequet, for the Super Étendard instead. Quelle Surprise!

Indonesia: In the late 1970s, Indonesia decided to replace its aging fleet of Soviet airplanes used for attack and reconnaissance missions with Skyhawks. The initial force consisted of 14 former Israeli A-4Es and two former Israeli TA-4Hs purchased in 1979 with the U.S. government acting as a middleman. These were assigned to Number 11 Squadron at Hasanuddin Air Base near Ujung Pandang.

In 1982, faced with increasing requirements to support anti-guerrilla activity in East Timor and Papua New Guinea, Indonesia acquired 16 more A-4Es, this time directly from U.S stored inventory. These aircraft were refurbished and assigned to Number 12 Squadron based at Pekanbaru Air Base, Riau Province. In 1996, this squadron was disestablished and all Skyhawks were based at Hasanuddin. Two TA-4Js were purchased from the U.S. in 1999 and placed in service after refurbishment and modification in New Zealand.
The Skyhawks were retired by the (Indonesian Air Force) in 2004.

Israel: Douglas was in talks with Israel as early as 1963 about sales of new or used Skyhawks. The capability and cost effectiveness of the A-4 was notably confirmed in 1966 when Israel elected to buy new production Skyhawks for its Defense Forces requirements, although it wasn’t its first choice. The French government had embargoed delivery of the 50 Mirage 5s that Israel had purchased from Dassault. Following U.S. government approval, Israel ordered 48 Skyhawks based on the A-4E, designated A-4H, and renamed Ahit (Vulture). It was optimized to operate from land bases, with a braking parachute housed in a canister under the aft end of the fuselage and nose wheel steering. The tip of the vertical fin was squared off to mount an AN/APX-46 IFF antenna.

The A-4H first flight was on 27 October 1967. The first aircraft arrived in Israel in December 1967, too late to participate in the Six Day War. In 1970, the Israelis replaced the 20 mm Colts with 30 mm DEFA cannon and made other local modifications based on their combat experience. The order was subsequently increased to a total of 90 A-4Hs along with 10 TA-4Hs, which were based on the U.S. Navy’s TA-4J, and included one (BuNo 158503) converted from a TA-4J. The TA-4H first flight was accomplished on 15 April 1969. The two-seaters were delivered between 1969 and 1975.

In February 1968, the Ahits were being used to strike targets in Jordon. In 1969 and 1970 they were employed in the War of Attrition with Egypt. They also played a major role in the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 but at the cost of almost 50 being shot down by Egyptian and Syrian air defenses. They were also used for strikes in Lebanon in 1982 and 2006.

From an air-to-air standpoint, the A-4 pilots appeared to have little to fear, in part due to the air superiority achieved by Israeli fighter squadrons. Only one was reportedly shot down by an enemy fighter but an Israeli A-4 pilot more than evened the score by shooting down two MiGs.

During their service life, the A-4Hs were updated to the Super Fox intake/engine configuration. In October 1973, they received the avionics hump so that a new navigation system could be installed.

Early on, the A-4Hs were used for operational training of Israeli pilots before they were assigned to frontline squadrons. The TA-4s replaced the two-seater Fouga Magisters for the preceding course of lead-fighter training. As a result, the Israeli air force may well be the last one to fly A-4s.

The A-4H order was followed by one for the A-4N. It was based on the airframe of the Marine Corps A-4M, and retained the uprated J52-P-408 engine but did not have self-starting capability. It also differed from the A-4M by having a new navigation/weapons delivery system, including a Lear Siegler digital computer, a Singer-Kearfott inertial platform, and an Elliott Automation heads-up display. An AN/APQ-145 radar was fitted along with a state-of-the-art DECM system. The A-4N was produced with the 30-mm DEFA cannon (with 150 rounds each) instead of the U.S. Navy Colts. Standoff weapons included the Gabriel 3 radar-guided missile. The A-4N was first flown on Jun 8, 1972. A total of 117 were built between 1972 and 1976. In 1982, some were subsequently modified to add the AN/ABS-19 ARBS and laser guided bomb delivery capability.

The 1973 Yom Kippur war resulted in heavy A-4H losses, in part due to man-portable surface-to-air missiles. A request was made to the U.S. government for immediate replacements. The U.S. Navy was authorized to do so and set Operation Nickel Grass in motion to refurbish and ferry A-4Es and Fs to Israel as soon as possible. Because of the political sensitivity of this support and the lack of time for diplomatic machinations to gain approval for the use of foreign air bases, the initial ferry plan was to use aircraft carriers as mid-Atlantic and Mediterranean bases.  Kennedy was to be positioned near the Azores, Roosevelt in the western Mediterranean, and Independence in the eastern Mediterranean. A fleet of pathfinders and tankers was also organized, with the Navy reserves providing KA-3s, the Marines KC-130s, the Air Force KC-135s, and carriers in the Med, KA-6Ds.

As it turned out, the Navy and Marine Corps ferry pilots were allowed to use Lages Field on the island of Terciera in the Azores, so Kennedy was repositioned near Gibraltar as a divert option, which was required once when a pilot experienced an electrical failure. The first leg of the trip was therefore from Norfolk to Lages with frequent in-flight refueling from path-finding KA-3s or KC-135s to maintain a divert option to Bermuda or St. Johns, Nova Scotia. After an overnight stop at Lages, the flights departed for Roosevelt, overflying Kennedy. Four KC-130s provided refueling 500 miles east of Lages and then returned to the Azores, along with the KA-3s. The flights were picked up by Kennedy KA-6s for path-finding and enroute refueling on route to Roosevelt. After overnighting on FDR, the A-4s flew on to Israel, with Independence providing a midpoint divert and KA-6 pathfinding and refueling. Israeli F-4s intercepted the A-4 flights about 200 miles east of Israel and escorted them to a landing. The first two groups of aircraft departed NAS Norfolk on 18 October 1973. Two days later and 5,700 nautical miles later, they landed at Eqron Airfield in Israel. There are anecdotal reports that some of the aircraft were remarked with Israeli national insignia and in combat two hours after arrival. A total of 38 badly needed A-4s were delivered to Israel by this process in less than two weeks.

After the Yom Kippur War, surviving A-4Hs and the new A-4Ns were fitted with extended tailpipes to make the aircraft less vulnerable man-portable heat-seeking missiles; the missiles might still home on the exhaust but theoretically detonate far enough behind the airplane that their small war heads wouldn’t do significant damage. DECM and chaff dispensing capability were also added.

By the end of the 1990s, the Ahits has been largely replaced by the F-16, but substantial numbers still remained in service or flyable storage.  Several have also been sold to other countries or to companies needing military jet airplanes for test and/or training requirements. In 2002, surviving Ahits began to be inducted into a refurbishment and avionics upgrade program to allow them to continue in their training role for at least another decade and perhaps longer. The first of these flew in December 2004. They are still combat capable, however, and still available for that purpose if needed.

Kuwait: In the mid-1970s, the Kuwati government decided to establish a more obvious and effective deterrent to neighboring Iraq’s claims of sovereignty over their country. In 1974, it announced an order of 30 single-place A-4KUs and six two-place TA-4KUs, to be armed with Sidewinders for air-to-air missions. These were to be based on A-4M Skyhawk II, with its most sophisticated strike capability and weapons to be removed. Douglas was authorized to proceed with production in January 1975.

The first A-4KU flew on 20 July 1976. Because it had the most powerful J52 engine and the least mission equipment, it was considered to be one of the best performing Skyhawks. The TA-4KUs were similar to the OA-4Ms in that they were delivered with the A-4F avionics hump. However, it was different in that it was powered by the J52-P-408 like the A-4M. It also had the squared-off fin tip for the ALR-45 antenna(?). Its first flight was on 14 December 1976.

Douglas set up a training program for Kuwaiti pilots and crewman at Yuma, Arizona, using TA-4Js borrowed from the U.S. Navy. The A-4KUs were ferried to Kuwait in 1977 and 1978. These were operated by the numbers 9 and 25 squadrons at Ahmad al-Jabr.

Kuwaiti concerns proved valid when Iraq invaded on 2 August 1990. Some Kuwaiti Air Force pilots were able to sortie and attack the invasion forces but were forced to withdraw to Saudi Arabia on 4 August when it became apparent that their airfields were about to be overrun. During the subsequent Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations, the exiled Kuwaiti pilots and their Skyhawks were integrated into the Royal Saudi Air Force, and continued to fight against the Iraqis as part of the Coalition. The Free Kuwaiti Air Force, as the group came to be known, flew 1361 sorties, losing only one aircraft.

After the Gulf War and the liberation of Kuwait, the Skyhawks was replaced in Kuwaiti service by F/A-18C/D Hornets. The 19 surviving A-4KUs and four TA-4KUs were placed in storage pending sale. Unsuccessful proposals were reportedly made to Bosnia and the Philippines. In 1997, they were finally bought by Brazil to modernize its carrier-based air force capability.

Malaysia: In 1980, the Tentara Udara Diraja Malaysia (TUDM, or Royal Malaysian Air Force) bought 88 surplus Skyhawks, 25 A-4Cs and 63 A-4Ls. The program was subsequently delayed by Malaysian defense budget issues and then reduced to 40 flyable aircraft with the remainder held in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for spare parts.

After a competition held by the Malaysian government, yet another company, Grumman Aerospace, got into the Skyhawk refurbishment business. It was awarded the contract in December 1982 to perform the refurbishment and modification of the Malaysian A-4s.  The work was accomplished at Grumman’s St. Augustine, Florida facility. The extensively modified aircraft were designated A-4PTM, reportedly standing for Peculiar To Malaysia but actually the acronym for Persekutan Tanah Melayu (Federation of Malay States). The work included a complete rewiring, plus the addition of the two outboard under-wing pylons introduced with A-4E. Updated avionics were substituted for the original equipment, including an AN/ARN-118 TACAN, a SAAB RGS-2A lead-computing weapons sight, a Lear Siegler altitude heading reference system, and an AN/ARC-164 UHF transceiver. The A-4Cs were fitted with the dorsal avionics hump. A drag chute was installed below the tailpipe. A new bulged canopy was fitted. Provisions were made for the aircraft to carry the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile. The first A-4PTM flew for the first time on April 12, 1984.

Six of the 40 A-4C/L airframes were converted into two-place Skyhawks. This was done by inserting a 28-inch plug into the fuselage. Canopy and tandem seating arrangements were generally similar to those of the Douglas-built TA-4s. (For some reason, these aircraft had J52-type inlets.) These aircraft (?were delivered with the single-seat equipment additions and substitutions and?) were designated TA-4PTM.

Training was accomplished by a private contractor headed by and employing former Navy A-4 pilots.

Deliveries began in 1985 and were completed by February 1986. In this case, the aircraft were ferried from Florida to Malaysia via Greenland, Iceland, England, Italy, Egypt, Qatar, and India. The A-4PTMs served with Nos 6 and 9 Squadrons, both based the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base at Kuantan. Their operational career was brief. In 1989, it was announced that they were to be withdrawn from service and replaced by British Aerospace Hawks in late 1994. Six Skyhawks were retained as tanker aircraft, using a centerline Douglas D-704 external buddy tank

By September 1999, all of the TUDM Skyhawks appear to have been abandoned in place and derelict at Kuantan.

New Zealand: Although an island nation, New Zealand did not operate an aircraft carrier. Nevertheless, when the Kiwis needed a replacement for their aging Canberras, they eventually opted for A-4 Skyhawks after initially considering the much more expensive F-4 Phantom. In July 1968, New Zealand ordered new Skyhawks, 10 single-seat and four two-seat. These were designated A-4K and TA-4K and were based on the A-4F and TA-4F, respectively. These were equipped with the braking parachute and featured the squared-off vertical fin for an APX-72 IFF antenna.

The A-4K did not initially have a full avionics suite. In fact, there was no equipment in the hump or the ALQ-100 ECM fairing. The former was used for crew baggage and the latter was eventually removed. Its first flight was 10 November 1969.  All 14 aircraft were delivered the following year, craned onto and off of the helicopter carrier Okinawa. RNZAF pilots and ground crews were trained by VA-44, the east coast RAG squadron based at Cecil Field, Florida. These aircraft were operated by Number 75 Squadron based at Ohakea. The assigned missions were close air support, anti-shipping, air defense, and reconnaissance. In 1975, a Skyhawk pilot fired warning shots across the bow of a Taiwanese trawler fishing illegally in New Zealand waters, adding fishery control to the list.

After the Royal Australian Navy decided to beach and not replace HMAS Melbourne, its Skyhawks were increasingly less useful. Only a year later, they were all transferred to New Zealand and modified to the A-4K configuration, including the addition of the drag chute and VHF radios. A second squadron, No 2, was reinstated to utilize the increase in the fleet and provide operational conversion training.

In 1984, New Zealand decided to upgrade its 22 surviving Skyhawks in lieu of procuring a more expensive aircraft like the F-16. The majority of the changes in the upgrade program, Project Kuhu (Maori for hawk), were in the avionics. However, in addition the cockpit area being stripped and completely redone to bring it up to the state-of-the-art, all the wiring was replaced and the wings rebuilt. The AN/APG-53A radar was replaced by the AN/APG-66(NZ). The Litton LN-93 inertial navigation system, Ferranti 4510 wide-angle heads-up display, Vinten airborne video recording system, General Instruments ALR-66 radar warning receiver, and a Tracor ALR-39 chaff/flare dispenser were installed. Two large computer screen displays replaced most of the instruments on the instrument panel.

Because of advances in miniaturization, it was possible to incorporate the additional electronic units entirely within the fuselage without requiring the use of the dorsal hump, which was removed. The Kahu-modified Skyhawk could be recognized by a blade like ILS aerial on the leading edge of the vertical fin. The Kahu-modified Skyhawk could carry the AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missile, the GBU-16 laser-guided bomb and the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground guided missile.

In 1991, Australia and New Zealand entered an agreement whereby Number 2 squadron would be based at Nowara, Australia. Australia benefited from a fleet air defense training standpoint and New Zealand pilots had access to a larger operating area with appropriate training ranges and target ships.

The RNZAF Skyhawk fleet was grounded at the end of 2001 by the New Zealand government’s decision to disband the entire Air Combat Force due for fiscal reasons. The (17?) surviving Skyhawks were placed in storage and put up for sale. An American firm, Advanced Training Systems International, was an interested buyer in 2003. The successor company, Tactical Air Services (TAS), signed an agreement to buy the Skyhawks in September 2005 but was unable to obtain approval for the purchase from the U.S. government until October 2009. At that point, unfortunately for New Zealand, TAS no longer had the financing lined up to complete the acquisition. As of May 2010, the Skyhawks were still languishing at RNZAF Woodbourne, New Zealand, cocooned in latex and awaiting ATS or another buyer to take possession.

Singapore: In 1972 an island nation with no aircraft carrier, Singapore, purchased 40 A-4Bs that were in storage at MASDC at Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona. They were refurbished by Lockheed Air Service and extensively modified and upgraded. This included the installation of the 8,400-lb thrust J65-W-20 turbojet, which was 20 percent more powerful that the J65-W-16A. The wing was modified with lift spoilers and two additional under-wing stations of the A-4E/F. The 30 mm Aden cannon replaced the 20-mm Mk-12 cannon and a Ferranti lead-computing optical gun sight was installed for air-to-air combat. The braking parachute installation was added to reduce the landing roll. The communication/navigation electronics were replaced by more up-to-date equipment. The avionics changes resulted in a dorsal fairing being added and the nose slightly lengthened. The aircraft were re designated A-4S.

The first eight conversions were done by Lockheed at Ontario, California, with the first A-4S flight on 14 July 1973. They were delivered to NAS Lemoore, California, where the Navy was to provide initial training for the RSAF Skyhawk pilots. (The first tranch of Singapore pilots received transition training at VT-24 in Texas in 1974.) Lockheed Air Services of Singapore performed the remaining 32 conversions.

In accordance with Singapore’s desire to standardize on the J65 engine across its Skyhawk fleet and still have two-seat A-4s, it contracted with Lockheed for an even more extensive conversion. The same 28-inch fuselage extension was used to provide the volume for the second cockpit, but instead of a single canopy, the TA-4S had two separate canopies, with the aft one bulged for more headroom and over the nose visibility.  Seven A-4Bs were modified to the TA-4S configuration.

The first Skyhawk squadron, No 142 (Gryphon), was formed in 1974 at Changi Air Base. A Skyhawk training squadron, No 143 (Phoenix), was established at Changi in 1975. Both were subsequently relocated to Tengah Air Base.

The RSAF purchased 70 A-4B and C airframes in 1980. The Bs were to be stored to provide airframe spares and the Cs were to be converted by the Singapore Aerospace Maintenance Company into a slightly different configuration, the A4S-1. These retained the original 20-mm cannon. Another 16 A-4Bs were acquired in 1983 for conversion into eight TA4S-1 two-seaters.

As part of the increase in the size of the Skyhawk fleet, a third squadron, No 145 (Hornet), was created in April 1984 at Tengah.

In a major upgrade program in the mid-1980s, following at series of crashes attributed to the aging Wright J65s, the RSAF re-engined the A4S-1s with the non-afterburning General Electric F404-GE-100D turbofan engine along with an inlet modification. This engine provided almost 11,000 lbs of thrust, about 29 percent greater than that of the earlier J65, allowing the maximum takeoff weight to be increased to 24,500 lbs. In addition, the RSAF benefited from lower fuel consumption and maintenance. The A-4S-1 Super Skyhawk first flew on September 19, 1986 and became operational with No. 143 Squadron in 1988.

A second phase of the RSAF Skyhawk upgrade program provided a significant enhancement to the A-4S operational capabilities. A GEC-Marconi 4150 heads-up display was installed, a Litton LN-92 ring laser gyro inertial navigation system was added, and the aircraft was given the ability to launch the Maverick air-to-ground missile. The port side of the air intake had an extra air intake for an engine-mounted accessory drive. The single-seat aircraft were re designated A-4SU and the two-seaters, TA-4SU. The first of these re-entered service with No. 145 Squadron in 1989 (1992?).

The RSAF had begun to operate F-16C/Ds in the early 1990s, however, leading to the eventual retirement of the Super Skyhawk. This was a slow process, with the Black Knights RSAF flight demonstration team flying demonstrations with a mix of four A-4SUs and two F-16s in 2000.

The RSAF Skyhawk training unit based at Tengah, No. 143 Squadron, was disbanded in late 1997 with its aircraft reassigned to No 150 training squadron (Falcon), which was subsequently relocated to Cazaux Air Base in southwestern France as an advanced training squadron providing lead-in fighter training for RSAF F-16 pilots. This site was selected because it provided access to bombing ranges and airspace over the North Atlantic.

In 2003, Hornet squadron retired its Skyhawks. The last A-4 Skyhawk squadron based in Singapore, 142 Gryphons, was disbanded at the end of March 2005. However, No 150 squadron operating in France continued to provide weapons training and qualification up through (2007?).

The XA4D-1 was built and formally rolled at the Douglas El Segundo, California facility, which was on the south side of the Los Angeles International Airport.

The XA4D’s first flight was closely followed by that of the first production A4D-1, BuNo 137813, on 14 August 1954.i

BuNo 137816 was used in initial shore-based carrier suitability evaluation flights beginning in July 1955 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California, now known as NAWS China Lake. The first at-sea trials were accomplished aboard Ticonderoga, an axial deck carrier, with A4D-1s  BuNo 137816 and 137822 between 12 and 16 September 1955. Because of the ongoing changes resulting from flight test, the instrumented airplane, BuNo 137816, did not have several of the changes that had incorporated on 137822, indicative of changes being made to solve problems found in flight test:

A4D-1 BuNo 137820 was selected for the record run. It had already been modified with the production windscreen and sugar scoop over the engine exhaust. For the record run, the external stores and pylons were removed and the exterior was polished. Gray’s three record attempts were preceded by a trial run by Douglas’ Bob Rahn to ensure that there was enough internal fuel for the distance and that the existing record could be beaten. During that flight, the aft upper tip of the rudder broke off and the nose cone wrinkled slightly. The damaged rudder was replaced with one of the new “tadpole” rudders, modified to cut out the area that had broken off on Rahn’s flight in case that it was subject to a loads problem. Following the record run, a standard A4D-1 rudder was reinstalled on 820 and it resumed its test duties, eventually being assigned to the Naval Torpedo Unit.

Service acceptance trials commenced in July 1955 with the acceptance of A4D-1 BuNo 137816 for carrier suitability. Four more aircraft were received in March 1956 and another in April. These were assigned to armament, aircraft/engine performance (BuNo 137819), stability and control (BuNo 137818), electrical/electronic, and service suitability phases. A seventh was accepted by Naval Air Special Weapons Facility (NAWSF) at Kirkland AFB, New Mexico in April 1956 for the special weapons phase of the trials. Flying was finally completed during February 1957 with a final report issued in September.

NASWF was initially assigned YA4D-1 BuNo 137827 and subsequently A4D-1  BuNo 137830 for evaluation of the Skyhawk’s compatibility with the Mk 7, Mk 12, and Mk 91 nuclear stores.

It began on 7 August 1956 at Quonset Point, Rhode Island using pilots and maintainers from VA-72, (with the first airplane delivered from the factory on 26 September?). The purpose of FIP was to exercise a new airplane type in a squadron environment, refining the flight/maintenance manuals and ground support equipment and establishing a preliminary evaluation of spares requirements. A similar effort was conducted at NAS Moffett Field, California on the west coast by VF(AW)-3 following the Quonset-based FIP. On 13 September, VMA-224 at MCAS El Toro, California was the first Marine squadron to receive the new jet attack airplane.

VA-72 was also the first Navy squadron to received new production A4D-1s, beginning on 5 November 1956 with BuNo 139932.

Only 165 A4D-1s were built in addition to the XA4D-1 before production was changed over to the improved A4D-2. The assignment of the -1 to front line squadrons was also limited and brief due to its operational limitations and restrictions. Only a few deploying Marine Corps and Navy squadrons were equipped with the A4D-1 before they were replaced with the -2 and handed down to reserve or test squadrons. Few squadrons made a complete deployment with them. VA-72 made one six-week cruise aboard Saratoga in late 1957 in the North Atlantic before they reequipped with A4D-2s and deployed aboard Randolph in late 1958 for a six-month cruise. The first west coast A4D deployment was accomplished by VA-93 aboard Ticonderoga from September 1957 to April 1958, followed by VA-113 (153?) aboard Hancock the next year.

The Aero 18B Low Altitude Bombing System for the now preferred means of nuclear weapon delivery was added to BuNos 137823 through 142235, either as a retrofit or in production. The capability to carry 300-gallon drop tanks on the wing stores pylon was added on BuNo 139919 and subsequent; this doubled the amount of external fuel available for the nuclear strike mission, solving the specification shortfall in range by brute force.
 
Although very similar in appearance, 28 percent of the structure was changed to create the A4D-2. (A few of the improvements were retrofitted to the -1 but most were not.) The most obvious external changes were the addition of the in-flight refueling probe, now de rigueur for carrier based jet aircraft, and the substitution of the so-called tadpole rudder to eliminate the problem with rudder flutter. Another row of vortex generators was added on the wing just in front of the aileron and the ones on the fuselage were deleted. However, there were many more which were considered essential to the operational usefulness and safety of operation. For example, the aft fuselage and empennage was strengthened, the longitudinal control was now powered by an irreversible actuator like the roll control, pressure fueling and defueling was incorporated, and a dead-reckoning computer was added to reduce pilot workload. This improved model was destined to equip all the Navy’s light attack squadrons and several Marine Corps squadrons.

The first attempt at adding the inflight refueling probe was to extend it from the leading edge of the right wing so it would be directly plumbed into the wing tank. This was evaluated on A4D-1 BuNo 137814 but proved to be unacceptable to the pilots, as the tip was too far down and aft for the pilot to keep both it and the tanker in view at the same time. The solution proved to be a probe scabbed onto the right side of the fuselage and extending quite a bit ahead of the nose. In practice, it proved to also provide a self-contained means of exiting and entering the cockpit if the ladder was not available.

In September 1955, the Navy announced that all its carrier-based jet aircraft would henceforth be capable of being refueled in flight, using the probe and drogue system developed by the British. It contracted with Douglas to develop a low-drag, fully self-contained Model D-704 refueling store. Adaptable to any tactical aircraft with a strong enough pylon, it had a capacity for 300 gallons of fuel in addition to the reel, hose, and drogue. The hydraulic power to reel the hose in and out and pump fuel was provided by a constant speed ram air turbine on the nose of the store. The fuel from the store, the wing tank, and the two external tanks could all be transferred at a rate of about 200 gallons per minute as long as the tanker pilot kept the wing tank filled from the drop tanks. The incorporation of tanking (tanker?) capability was accomplished with the 38th A4D-2.

In 1959, VMA-332, based at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina conducted a self-deployment evaluation, ferrying two A4D-2s across the Atlantic from Argentina, Newfoundland to NAS Rota, Spain. They were refueled in flight by other A4Ds to provide the range for the five-hour, 2,270-mile flight.

The extended range strained the pilot’s bladder capacity. The pilots of tactical jets with their limited endurance had heretofore not needed the “relief tubes” that were standard equipment in propeller-driven airplanes but this feature, which simply ported the contents overboard, wasn’t compatible with a pressurized cockpit. A pouch containing sealable plastic bags was therefore added to the cockpit equipment.

 Martin won the design competition and received a contract in April 1954 for the development and production of the ASM-N-7 Bullpup. The missile only weighed 570 lbs but that limited the warhead to a relatively small 250 lbs. The ASM-N-7B (AGM-12C) Bullpup B was designed around a 1,000-pound warhead. It was 13.6 feet long and weighed 1,785 pounds. It had a range of up to ten miles,
The Bullpup was produced in large numbers, with over 22,000 delivered of the smaller ASM-N-7A (AGM-12B) missiles and 4,600 of the AM-N-7B (AGM-12C)s. Unfortunately, it disappointed when it was finally called upon operationally.

The Navy bought a total of 542 A4D-2s with the first fleet delivery to VMA-211 in September 1957, only a year after the first delivery of an A4D-1 to an operational squadron.

The problem of rocket-carrying capacity had already been addressed by the development of the rocket pod by the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, California in the early 1950s. The World War II unguided five-inch high velocity aircraft rocket (HVAR) could only be mounted one to a pylon. It was replaced by the Zuni folding fin rocket, which came four to a pod. This allowed a quadrupling of the number of rockets that could be carried on the same number of pylons for the same weight per rocket, since a 27-lb reduction in the weight per rocket compensated for the pod weight.  The Zuni was a scale up of the Mighty Mouse, a 2.75-inch folding fin rocket originally developed as an air-to-air weapon to be used by interceptors against heavy bombers. The Zuni was approved for production in 1957. Various warheads could be accommodated for anti-armor, delayed-action, proximity-fused, etc. Depending on the warhead, the Zuni was about 110 inches long and weighed 107 pounds. Accuracy depended on whether all the fins unfolded simultaneously but if they did, the Zuni could be a bit more accurate than the HVAR because of its higher velocity.

In 1959, William H. Fitch, then a Marine Corps Captain assigned to VX-5 at China Lake, came up with a solution: the Multiple Carriage Bomb Rack (MCBR). His inspiration was the “banger board” used for training or test missions where multiple bomb drops were desired on a single flight. It was a plate that had attachment points for six small practice bombs that had the same ballistic characteristics as the real, much bigger ones. A stepper switch on plate dropped one bomb each time the bomb button was pushed on the stick. A pilot could therefore make six consecutive practice or test drops, refining his sight picture and aim point based on the results of previous ones. He and a fellow Marine at VX-5, Maj Knowlton P. Rice, designed a prototype with the approval and budget from VX-5’s Executive Officer, Cdr Dale Cox. It incorporated of the small Aero-15 racks from a crashed AD Skyraider. The racks were welded to an adapter made from channel iron. The adapter was fitted with hooks so it could be hung from the standard A4D pylon. It helped that the A4D landing gear provided plenty of ground clearance. The first bombs, 250-lb Mk 81s, were dropped from the adapter in October 1959. In December, Captain Fitch demonstrated his innovation participated in an MCAS Yuma, Arizona firepower demonstration for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare, Vice Admiral Pirie. The VX-5 A4D was loaded with 16 Mk 81s using adapters on all three A4D pylons (only five 500-lb bombs could be carried on the wing pylons because of the location of the landing gear doors). He made three passes, one with the airplane’s belly to the crowd to show the 4,000 pounds of bomb, a second to loft the 10 off the wing pylons, and a third to skip bomb using the six from the centerline. Admiral Pirie was reportedly sold on the first pass revealing the concept: “We are going to buy that.” In short order, Douglas, whose China Lake-based tech reps had been following the project and reporting back to El Segundo, submitted an unsolicited proposal for Multiple Bomb Racks (MBR) and was awarded a contract in early 1960. The first production racks were delivered and qualified by June.i

Finch, who retired as LtGeneral, patented the MCBR at the request of the Navy reportedly because of concern that Douglas might try to charge the government for its development. Finch, as inventor, Rice, and Cox were granted U.S. Patent Number 3,122,056 in February 1964. Moreover, in 1967 and 1968 he flew more than 100 missions in the A-4 Skyhawk and another 200+ in the Grumman A-6 Intruder during the Viet Nam War, each time with the multiple bomb rack.

The prototype MCBR and the Douglas MBR simply released the bombs. The next refinement to the concept was the use of cartridges to provide positive separation of the bomb from the rack. This was the Multiple Ejector Rack (MER). For some applications, six bombs were too heavy a load so the shorter Triple Ejector Rack (TER) was created that only carried three bombs per pylon. The MER and the TER eliminated the need for multiple pylons on outboard wing panels, which were hard to load on aircraft with folding wings. The only shortcoming was the increase in weight and drag of the MER/TER that had to be taken into account in mission planning.

In recognition of this shortcoming (limited internal cannon rounds), the Navy contracted with Hughes Tool Company for the development of a 20 mm pod, the  Mk 4.
The Hughes Mk 4 gun pod contained a Hughes Mk 11 20mm gun that was self-powered and twin-barreled. The pod could be loaded with 750 rounds of ammunition, which could be fired at a maximum rate of almost 70 rounds per second. In mid 1963, the Mk 4 Mod 0 pod was evaluated on an A-4 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California. Flights were made with one, two, and three pods on a standard A-4 wired for control of the pod

In 1961, before the Army agreed to delegate its fixed wing mission requirements to the Air Force, it held a come-as-you-are evaluation of light combat jets for the mission. The requirements included the ability to operate from relatively short and unprepared surfaces. Three contenders showed up for trials held at NAS Jacksonville and an unpaved satellite field, Site 8A, near NAAS Saufley Field: the Northrop N-156 (subsequently F-5), Fiat G-91, and a somewhat modified pair of A4D-2Ns. Douglas borrowed two A4D-2Ns, BuNos 148483 and 148490, from the Navy for the demonstration. In order to maximize the Skyhawk’s short-field capability in addition to the existing JATO option for takeoffs, the trials Skyhawks were quickly modified with a drag parachute for the shortest possible landings and a dual-wheel main landing gear to minimize the tendency for the wheels to sink into soft ground. The huge drag chute from the A3D Skywarrior was repacked into a long cylinder mounted under the aft fuselage in place of the tail hook. The wheels on the main landing gear rotated 90 degrees as they did on the stock A-4 but the forward gear doors were removed because the lower wheel was below the surface of the wing when the landing gear was retracted. Large fairings were therefore added that surrounded the exposed wheel and reduced its drag.

The trials took place over a two-month period. The grass field, known as Site 8A, was only 3,000 feet long. According to Drury Wood, the Douglas project pilot for the evaluation, the A4D was a clear winner in the landing demonstrations, the drag chute resulting in rollouts of less than 500 feet. There was no clear edge in the takeoff capability. All three airplanes were also able to taxi through a section of the field that had been made seriously muddy. Douglas proposed the Model 840 Skyhawk to the Army for its requirement. It included the five pylon weapons installation that would be incorporated on the Navy’s A4D-5. Although a lot of fun was had by all, no production contract resulted, with the Army opting to focus on helicopters for its transport and close air support requirements, eventually resulting in January 1967 in an agreement with the Air Force to give up operation of transport and close air support airplanes.

The A4D-5’s first flight was 12 July 1961. The usual time from go-ahead was shortened because the first two A4D-5s were produced using airframes on contract as A4D-2Ns.
The introduction of the A4D-5 was also marked by the change to a common DoD designation system for aircraft. Only the first eight aircraft were therefore A4D-5s before the designation A-4E became effective. The -1 became the A, the -2 the B, and the -2N the C. A-4D was skipped because of the potential for confusion with the prior Navy-unique designation system. The new engine required a slightly larger inlet area and to maximize the efficiency of the engine installation, narrow vertical ducts were added to the inboard side of the inlets to remove the boundary layer air. The air entering these ducts was vented to an exhaust port on the upper fuselage. Strakes were also added in front of and below the engine inlets on the J52-powered aircraft, apparently due to the higher susceptibility of the J52 to the gun blast emission than the J65. The crew chiefs and maintainers were happy to see that the oil vent ducts required by the J65 installation had been deleted, making for a much less oily airframe to work on and clean. The two extra pylons were first evaluated by Douglas on A-4C BuNo 145063 in early 1960. The ordnance carried on each of these pylons was limited to 570 pounds, which restricted them to a single 500-lb bomb, rocket pod, mine, or small Bullpup. The automotive-style windshield wiper was replaced by a system using compressor bleed air ported from the base of the windscreen. An improved air conditioning and heating system was also incorporated which made the cockpit much more comfortable at both low and high altitudes. The A-4E replaced the A-4C in the fleet beginning in late December 1962 with deliveries to VA-23. Production of the A-4E totaled 500 airplanes.

The fuselage of the two-seat variant was only lengthened by 28 inches ahead of the wing compared to the space required for a second seat, dual controls, and instruments of at least 50 inches. Any greater stretch, since the 20mm cannon were to be retained, would have required a more extensive redesign to re balance the airplane, such as shifting the wing forward or extending the fuselage aft of the wing to compensate for the weight forward. In order to provide the total volume required for the second cockpit, Douglas had to reduce the capacity of the fuselage fuel cell by 130 (140?) gallons. In its place, Douglas proposed the addition of a 300-gallon fuel tank in a dorsal fairing aft of the canopy. It more than replaced the fuel capacity lost in reduction in the size of the fuselage fuel cell and was also positioned over the center of gravity so there was no trim change with fuel burn. The Navy decided that since the two-seater was to primarily be a trainer and therefore not require the capability for more than two hours of so for a given flight, the reduction in fuel capacity was acceptable considering the increase in development and unit cost associated with the dorsal tank. Since these aircraft were to be primarily shore-based as well as flown by student pilots, the crosswind landing shortcomings of the basic Skyhawk design were finally addressed with the addition of nose-wheel steering and wing lift spoilers. The latter were essentially a duplication of the split flap on the upper surface of the wing, only they pivoted upward after touchdown to kill lift rather than increase it. The changes resulted in an increase in the crosswind landing limit from a maximum of 25(?) knots to a more acceptable XX knots. A full-sized mockup of the TA-4E was created by adding a wooden forward fuselage to a surplus airframe. After review by the Navy, it was taken on a marketing tour to Europe. Since it was a relatively straightforward change from the basic airframe and the existing A-4E engine was installed, the first TA-4E, BuNo 152102, flew on 30 June 1965, only eight months after the authority to proceed. Because of the detail changes that had been made to the basic A-4E configuration, primarily the installation of the more powerful J52 engine for production, the two-seater designation was subsequently changed to TA-4F. The first TA-4Fs were delivered to VA-125, the west coast A-4 training squadron, in May 1966. Production totaled 241 airplanes, including the first two TA-4Es.

The TA-4J was externally almost identical to the TA-4F. Unlike the replacement air group squadrons, however, the training command airplanes did not need armament. To reduce cost and weight—which allowed the use of lower thrust J52-P-6 engines—the TA-4Js were therefore built without the 20 mm Colts (although they could still be installed if required), the two outboard wing pylons, and weapons sights and associated hardware. Provisions for operating as an in-flight refueling tanker were also removed, although the receiver capability was retained. The first TA-4J flew on 17 December 1968. The first production airplanes were delivered to VT-17 at NAS Kingsville, TX, in mid-1969, with the first TA-4 students graduating from VT-22 at Kingsville in 1970.

At the start of the Vietnam War, the conventional weapons being used were 20 mm cannon and unguided rockets and so-called iron bombs. The Bullpup was the only guided and standoff weapon in the inventory. Flak suppression was in part accomplished with 2.75- and 5.0- inch diameter FFAR (folding fin aircraft rocket), the former in a 19-shot pod and the latter, also referred to as a Zuni, in a four-shot pod. The Zuni was favored for its accuracy and hitting power. The 2.75” FFAR was considered an area suppression weapon, since the pilot was not entirely sure where all of them were going. According to Ray Powell, out of a 19-shot pack, at least one would have a mind of its own because a fin had not extended. An alternative to the folding fin rocket and 20 mm cannon as an anti-personnel weapon was the CBU (Cluster Bomb Unit). This was a streamline canister containing numerous grapefruit-size bomblets. After being dropped, the canister could split open, scattering the bomblets over a wide area. One technique to increase the area suppressed on the preferred single pass was to have different delay times between the CBUs on the right and left wing pylons. The pilot would drop the two slightly apart, creating a devastating figure-eight pattern of lethality. A Snakeye-finned bomb was generally dropped with the fin-retarded function disabled on missions over North Vietnam. Snakeye was created to allow low-altitude drops for close air support, increasing bombing accuracy while avoiding the risk of being hoist by your own petard. Since there was no close air support other than necessary for combat rescue in North Vietnam and going below 3,000 feet added yet another layer, the barrage-fired rifle, to the air defense arsenal, the Snakeye capability was not need. The A4Ds flown by the Marines in South Vietnam made more use of the Snakeyes and Mk 4 gun pods because there missions were primarily close air support and interdiction.

The Walleye: In a reversion back to unpowered, television-guided Glombs, NOTS began development of the Walleye in the early 1960s. Like the World War II weapons, the guidance was by video, only instead of a TBM or PV filled with avionics and an additional crewman to do the guidance, it was provided by the missile itself after being dropped from a single-seat airplane. The attack pilot locked on the target displayed on his multi-mode APQ-116 radar display and then transferred control to the missile’s guidance system. When dropped, the Walleye would then steer itself to the selected image. At 1,140 pounds, it was a heavy weapon with an 825-pound warhead and required a stores station to carry the data-link pod, which weighed 600 pounds. Because of its CEP of 10 to 20 feet, however, it was easily worth three conventional 500-lb bombs, not to mention the vulnerability reduction of dropping it at a distance from the target and not having to follow it in to guide it. It could only be used against targets, however, that could be discerned and tracked by the guidance system. This meant a high-contrast target that was well-illuminated and not obscured by smoke or dust. Since the weapon was unpowered, its range depended on the drop altitude—assuming the pilot could clearly see the target on the TV—but was on the order of a few to 15 miles.
The first combat use of Walleye occurred on 11 March 1967, when A-4Es of VA-212 from Bon Homme Richard successfully attacked military barracks and small bridges. The following day the target was the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge. However, three direct hits only resulted in superficial damage, demonstrating its limitations. In August, it was used by VA-163 flying from Oriskany to attack the Hanoi thermal power plant, hitting it with all five of the Walleyes dropped. Against relatively soft targets like power plants, it was the weapon of choice in clear weather and assuming that the enemy wasn’t able to obscure them with smoke. In 1972, the punch of the Walleye was significantly improved. The Walleye II weighed twice as much as the Walleye I, but it also incorporated a 1,900-lb warhead. In October, it was used to destroy what was left standing of the Thanh Hoa Bridge. A subsequent improvement to the Walleye allowed the pilot to drop it first and designate the target while it was enroute. The designation could also be accomplished by another pilot in an aircraft carrying a data-link pod. This version was known as the Extended Range Data Link. The Walleye II ERDL also had slightly larger wings than the standard Walleye which gave it a maximum range, when dropped from high altitude, of more than 30 miles.

Adapting Sidewinder for Air to Ground: One of the attempts to provide a more effective, fire-and-forget guidance system was the adoption of the Sidewinder control system on an air-to-ground weapon. The initial demonstration used a basic AIM-9D (IR) Sidewinder equipped with the larger canards used on the radar-guided AIM-9C (SARAH) for more control power. The target was a burning 25-lb bag of charcoal. The pilot simply dove the aircraft toward it and on receiving a good tone from the Sidewinder seeker, fired and pulled up. The first attempt on 8 April 1967 was a miss, with the missile over controlling in its attempts to home in on the charcoal bag. After a little tweaking of the guidance system, the next shot drilled it. Tests were also accomplished with the guidance system substituted for radio control of the Bullpup, leading to yet another China Lake missile creation, the Bullwinder. The next step was to adapt the guidance system to a bomb, sacrificing range—but not accuracy—for more explosive. Since bigger and more accurate were a devastating combination, the China Lake engineers decided to demonstrate it with the biggest conventional bomb that the Skyhawk could carry, the Air Force’s 3,000-lb M-118. On September 21, 1967, the so-called “Built-In Guided M-118 Under Terminal Homing for Accuracy” or BIG MUTHA was first dropped by an A-4. It proved as lethal to the charcoal bag as the Bullwinder. However, it was similarly limited to targets that provided a well-differentiated heat source.
China Lake also tested a modified Sidewinder where the lead sulfide IR cell was replaced by a selenium crystal tuned to the visible light frequency. Called FOCUS (Fixed Optical Contrast Universal Spectrum), this seeker guided the missile to a target with strong optical contrast to the background, like truck headlights at night. Neither the Bullwinder or the Big Mutha were used operationally. The necessary signature limited it to a short list of potential targets. In any event, the accuracy imperative was about to be addressed by a new concept, the laser.

Laser-guided Bombs: The last carrier-based A-4s involved in the Vietnamese War overlapped with the introduction of laser-guided bombs. These were conventional bombs modified with a laser seeker, simple guidance computer, and controllable fins. The target was designated by a laser beam that the seeker could detect and home in on. The accuracy was outstanding, with CEPS of a few feet. The first laser-guided bomb drop at China Lake was made in early 1970, using a ground-based laser and a simple deviation meter in the cockpit of the A-4 carrying the bomb. The next step was to develop an airborne laser designator. This was also done at China Lake. The first one was hand-held and only about the size of s shoebox. It was used to designate targets from the back seat of a TA-4F.

New light attack aircraft request: Douglas tried to short-circuit the process in 1962 with an unsolicited proposal of an A4D derivative to be powered by a non-afterburning TF30. As described by a Standard Aircraft Characteristics chart dated 1 August 1962, the so-called A4D-6 was similar to the A4D-5, then in production, and retained the same five stores stations. However the proposed airplane was the A4D on steroids, bigger in every dimension to accommodate and take advantage of the bigger TF30, which had almost 3,000 pounds more thrust than the A4D-5’s J52. Internal fuel was increased by 290 gallons (36%). As a result, while retaining the overall look of the Skyhawk, it was significantly different in detail, particularly the structure. With more fuel and the efficient TF30, it had a radius of action with a Mk43 and two 300-gallon tanks of 960 nm, 52% more the A4D-5’s. Unfortunately for Douglas, OSD was insisting on a competition.

The Specific Operational Requirement for a subsonic light attack airplane, VA(L), renamed to distinguish it from the supersonic VAX program, was released by the Chief of Naval Operations in May 1963. Flyaway Cost ($) A-4 = 700,000    A-7 Corsair II = 1,400,000.

In an unusual twist, the next Skyhawk model was a single-seat version of the two-seat TA-4F that was in production, in part because the Navy needed more light attack aircraft as soon as possible. In order to do so, some of the material on order for two-seat Skyhawks was diverted to expedite production of more single-seat ones. The A-4F therefore incorporated the nose gear steering, lift spoilers, Escapac 1C-3 ejection seat, and more powerful J52-P-8A engine introduced on the TA-4F. In 1965, ordering the A-4F was deemed necessary because of the unplanned attrition to the light attack force caused by Vietnam War losses. Although the loss rate averaged about six per month, in July 1965 there were 14 Skyhawks lost against a production rate of about 10 per month. The A-4F also represented a hedge against delays in (likely) or failure or (unlikely but not unknown) the A-7 program. An A-4E airframe, BuNo 152101 was used for the prototype.

The ever-expanding amount of avionics and electronics equipment that was being added to the A-4 finally overcame the trend toward miniaturization, necessitating the addition of a hump-back fairing—Douglas called it the aft avionics package—on the top of the fuselage between the canopy and the dorsal fin. This was accomplished after the first A-4Fs were delivered but retrofitted to the earlier aircraft. It was a very simple addition that was removable and allowed relocation of the avionics that had been located in the ammunition bay, restoring the original capacity of 20 mm rounds. A later addition to some Fs (and other late model A-4s) was the squared-off fin tip with an ALR-45 antenna mounted on it. Some A-4Es were rebuilt with the wing spoilers and the avionics hump. The first air wing to deploy with the new Fs was 19 aboard Ticondoroga in late 1967, with VA-23 and VA-93. By then over 100 A-7As had been provisionally accepted and it was long since clear that Vought had made a success of its program. VA-147 was the first to take the A-7A into combat, flying from Ranger in December 1967, on station off Vietnam with Tico. In accordance with the Navy’s usual conservative approach, the air group embarked with only one A-7 squadron. The other was equipped with A-4s.

At least a couple of VA-164’s Fs aboard Hancock for its October 1971 to June 1971 cruise were reportedly modified to have the Angle Rate Bombing System (ARBS) that was to become standard on the A-4M. ARBS relieved the pilot of having to simultaneously achieve a given dive angle, speed, altitude, and g level with the sight cross-hairs on the target. ARBS utilized a dual mode TV/laser tracker, analog computer, and head-up display to allow the pilot to designate the target at the beginning of the weapons delivery dive. The system then provided steering signals to the pilot via the display until it released the bomb at a predetermined altitude. (?)

One hundred Fs were retrofitted with an uprated J52, the P-408, and a slightly larger engine inlet to accommodate its higher mass flow. Although normally this would have resulted in yet another letter designation, it did not. Instead, these were referred to as the Super Foxes. These were the highest performing of all the U.S. Navy A-4s, particularly when the hump and other non-essential equipment were removed.

A-4L: As newer models of aircraft became available, they replaced older ones in the deploying squadrons. The older ones were handed down to reserve and training squadrons. The Vietnam War had an impact on this practice because of the unanticipated attrition of deployed aircraft. The operational experience in Vietnam also resulted in the additions of tactical and defensive electronic equipment in the aircraft operated by the fleet squadrons, making those operated by the reserves even more obsolescent. The reserves were primarily operating A-4Cs (A4D-2Ns) in the late 1960s. The Navy contracted with Douglas to develop a kit to upgrade them with electronic and hardware changes to more closely match the aerodynamic and equipment configuration of the A-4Fs, while retaining the J65 engine and only three external stores pylons. The additional electronics in the short-nose Cs necessitated the fuselage hump along with the requisite antennas. The wings were also to be modified to have the lift spoilers introduced with the Fs. An uprated J65 was also installed. Douglas produced 100 conversion kits and modified one A-4C, BuNo 148307 to qualify the kit installation and the aircraft configuration. It flew on 21 August 1969. The remaining 99 kits were delivered to Naval Aviation Repair Facilities where a select group of A-4Cs were converted to this A-4L configuration as part of the periodic overhauls that military aircraft undergo for refurbishment and upgrade.

In 1970, the Navy decided to upgrade the aircraft in the reserve squadrons and organize them into two carrier air wings that could be deployed as a unit and combat ready. A-4Ls also flew with Marine Corps reserve squadrons and VC (composite) squadrons.

The Marine Corps elected not to buy the A-7. For their close air support requirement, range was not a major consideration, while low cost and basing flexibility were.

The first A-4M flew on 10 April 1970 and was delivered to the Navy on 3 November, the same month that the first McDonnell-built Harrier flew. Only 158 were built, since it was hoped that it would only be a placeholder until the VTOL AV-8A Harrier could replace the Skyhawks.

One major change introduced during production of the A-4M was the Angle Rate Bombing System. Up until then, the Skyhawk, like most of its predecessors, was equipped with a simple fixed optical sight. It basically was only adjustable with respect to the depression angle of the aim point on the sight. The pilot was therefore required to calculate and preset a mil depression for a given weapon and attack profile. That setting was only good for a specific airspeed, slant range to the target, and dive angle with no g loading, positive or negative, on the airplane. Cross and/or head/tail wind components had to be compensated for by rule of thumb. Slant range and dive angle defined the altitude of release, corrected for target elevation since the airplane altimeter was indicating high above sea level.

The avionics suite continued to be expanded during production. There were basically three production configurations. The nose of the first A-4Ms was indistinguishable from the A-4F. Next, the nose began to sprout more antennas. Finally, the late production aircraft had the full Angle Rate bombing System. The empty weight increased accordingly. Landing weight was already a problem with the A-4F. With the additional armor and MERs, the maximum allowable landing weight only allowed for 1,200-lbs of fuel. If the pilot was coming back with an unexpended Shrike, the fuel was reduced to only 800 lbs.

Although the A-4M was intended to be shore-based, the ability to operate from an aircraft carrier was important in the event that a Marine light attack squadron had to fill-in for a Navy one for an air group deployment, which happened from time to time. In any event, the A-4M was very infrequently flown onto an aircraft carrier and never deployed on one.

Douglas had already designed a beefed-up landing gear to allow a 1,000 (?) lb higher landing weight of 16,000 pounds. The struts were slightly bigger around, the wheels were thicker, and a different shock system with a torque link (scissors) was incorporated in the main landing gear. The wheel well doors had to be increased in size to accommodate the thicker wheels and the scissors. The change was evaluated on A-4M BuNo 160036 and incorporated in production beginning with BuNo 160241. However, at that point (1971), the AV-8A was becoming operational and preferred over the runway-dependent A-4. As a result, 160241 was the beginning of the end. Only 23 more A-4s were to be produced, all A-4Ms. The landing gear change was presumably retrofittable but there is no indication that it was.

A-4F: "For a non-afterburning aircraft, the Skyhawk was pretty petty, particularly with the J52-P-8 engine. It had excellent power response, fairly good economy, and at that point, great reliability. Unlike the fighters, we usually didn’t have to tank. Before we got the Super Foxes with the P-408 engines, we could out-turn the F-8s but couldn’t follow them in vertical maneuvers. Instead we had to wait for them to come back down. When we got the Super Foxes, going vertical was no longer a way for them to disengage.

The additional power in the -408 was very noticeable. With a formation takeoff with the -8 engine, the flight would run the power up to 85% while holding the brakes. With the -408, the brakes couldn’t hold the airplane at anything like 85%. Fortunately for workload in carrier approaches, the Super Fox came with an Approach Power Compensator (APC), which was an auto-throttle. Otherwise, the pilot had trouble with how far aft the throttle was when on speed."

***
Some of the obsolescent A-4As and A-4Bs were assigned to the training command for use in advanced training. Some of these were subsequently re designated as TA-4As and TA-4Bs in 1968 to insure that the Congressional Budget Office did not lump them in with the more capable A-4Cs and Es and thereby conclude that the Navy had more deployable combat aircraft than they really did.

***
Top Gun
t was small and therefore hard to acquire and easy to lose track of during an engagement. It not only had a very fast roll rate but low roll inertia so a roll could be started or stopped almost instantaneously. Its acceleration and rate of climb without the burden of drop tanks and non-essential equipment was adequate even without an afterburner. Its turn radius was relatively small. All-in-all, it provided a rude introduction to most fighter pilots encountering it for the first time

The A-4 received a new nickname, Mongoose, as an expression of respect for its air-to-air prowess.
***
VC squadrons: In order to make air-to-air training more readily available, some composite squadrons were assigned an adversary role. These included a reserve composite squadron, VC-12, established at Detroit, Michigan in September 1973. It moved to NAS Oceana in July 1975.

Some VC (composite) squadrons simulated airborne threats for the training surface and air units. These included towing or launching targets that live fire could be employed against and simulating attacks for ground controller training. Some, like VC-12 operating from NAS Oceana, also provided air-to-air adversary training with A-4s, which expanded the frequency and availability of the experience beyond what could be provided by Top Gun.

The tow target used for ship exercises was the TDU-34A. It was a streamlined shape about 10 feet long that weighted only 75 pounds. It was streamed from a self-powered reel hung on the center pylon of the A-4. About 22,000 feet of steel cable, approximately four miles, was used to insure adequate separation between the target at which the ship was shooting and the tow plane.

Walt Fink provided a memoir of his time in an A-4 utility squadron in the mid 1960s:

"My time in A-4's during my tour with VU-1 (later VC-1) was all in B models, which were our squadron's first Skyhawks.  We had five, BuNos 142842/UA40, 142865/UA41, 142950/UA42, 145012/UA43, and 144876/UA44.  Each bird flew a little differently and had its own personality.

Our squadron's unofficial motto was "Skeet For The Fleet" and we worked with Fleet Training Group Pearl Harbor and COMFAIRHAWAII, pretty much providing "bad guy" type missions for both.  Exercises ending with the codename CC were radar training ones where we'd provide a Bogey aircraft and a Shooter aircraft for shipboard controllers to practice their radar intercepts and calibration runs.  Exercises ending with the code name G were Gunnery exercises involving our being targets for hips to track.  We didn't tow any targets for them with the A-4, so there were no live firing episodes.

 We also flew scheduled FLETRAGRUPearl Battle Problems for surface ships in which we had a specific Time On Target (or two) where we'd come in right on the water and cross amidships, setting off their battle scenarios.  Sometimes it was just one pass and other times the specific BP would have us making more than one.

As carriers would transit the Hawaiian area on their way to WESTPAC, COMFAIRHAWAII would administer Operational Readiness Inspections (ORIs) to them, which would last anywhere from three days to a week, and we'd fly against the ships as raid aircraft for the Air Wing's F-4's and F-8's to intercept. The directed procedure was to fly a predetermined inbound course and altitude to the ship with transponder and anticollision lights off, then turn both on when we were intercepted, so the controllers could wipe us off their screens as kills. We weren't permitted to engage the fighters nor take any evasive actions, but toward the end of an ORI, the fighter jocks would be getting pretty testy with their long hours and little sleep, so we'd get "bounced" with gusto, and probably a couple times there was some "spirited maneuvering" to try and get out of a Phantom's path after turning the parrot and beacon on.

We also provided Bogeys for the Hawaiian Air Defense. Similar to the ORI's, we'd head outbound to a predetermined point (they had me go westbound one early morning as far out as French Frigate Shoals), then reverse course and head back inbound, while the HADD controllers would vector the Guard's F-102's to intercept us.  As with the ORI's, we were directed not to engage the Deuces when we were intercepted, but they'd come up and fly wing on us and we'd exchange...well, salutes.  I knew a 102 could easily outrun an A-4, but I can also tell you that if flown properly, they can fly slower than a Skyhawk, too, which I wouldn't have thought until I saw it.

We assumed a limited ECM capability for training purposes with the arrival of ALQ-99 pods that we carried on the centerline. Using those, we'd see the interceptors either pass by or be well abeam of us, until at the direction of the controller we'd turn the pods off, at which time the fighters would pounce. We also acquired Beech AQM-34 target drones---missiles---which we carried on the centerline and could launch for live fire Fleet exercises.  The missiles were "smart" for that time, meaning that unless all was copacetic with their innards and the electronics in the aircraft, they wouldn't launch, which saved having them go expensively stupid and fall into the sea. To ensure a good target, we sent up a section of A-4's, each carrying an AQM, and both pilots would go through the countdown to launch. If the primary aircraft's AQM didn't fire, the wingman would punch his off, saving the exercise. I saw this up close and personal on the only AQM launch I ever flew. The firing group (F-4's, if I remember correctly) was in a downrange holding pattern while the launch aircraft (us) were in a similar pattern uprange.  We wanted to time everything so that when we reached the firing point, the fighters would be on their inbound leg for a down-the-throat shot at the AQM with Sparrows.  What this meant for us was that there were going to be some missiles coming our way. Quickly!  So, our procedure was to launch the AQM, then break down and away, and get the hell out of Dodge. The only way to be sure you had a good AQM launch was to punch the missile off, feel the thump as it left the rack, then roll up on a wing and look down at it to be sure you saw the booster rocket fire. On my launch, we were IFR in turbulence anyway and when I hit the pickle, I couldn't tell if the telltale thump was the AQM's going on its way or the turbulence, and when I rolled up on a wing, all I saw was whiteness. For all I knew, the thing was on its way in the clouds. But my best buddy "Skbortz", flying wingman, saw the missile still on the rack, and according to procedure, pickled his AQM off---and this one worked. The thing roared by me trailing fire and was then gone in a flash. Pretty impressive show, and not one I was prepared to see quite that close up and personal.

We received a couple of buddy stores and practiced inflight refueling. My understanding was that we were being considered for utilization as ready tankers for Air Groups' ORI's but that never materialized, at least during my tour.
I've heard it said that Composite Squadrons were tasked with doing the jobs that Fleet Squadrons wouldn't do.  We seemed to have interesting missions, though, plus a lot of low-level flying that was great duty.

EA-4F
The Fleet Electronic Warfare Support Group (FEWSG), formed in 1969 and based at NAS Norfolk Virginia, was assigned the role of providing realistic electronic warfare training for fleet units.
AQ-33 was assigned as FEWSG’s air component. It operated a mixed fleet of airplanes including the R7V Constellation, A3D Skywarrior, F4H Phantom, and as would be expected, the Skyhawk. These deployed up and down the east coast and to the west coast and Hawaii as required to provide training. VAQ-33 relocated to NAS Key West, Florida in 1980.
The first two EA-4Fs were modified by McDonnell-Douglas at Long Beach and delivered in 1970. The second two were modified at Norfolk and available in 1973. One result of the modifications is that the EA-4Fs were no longer operable from carriers.
Four EA-4Fs, BuNos 152852, 152869, 153481 and 154655, were created from TA-4Fs by modifications to allow the carrying of external stores that electronically simulated the signals of incoming Soviet missiles and aircraft. The stores were updated over time to the latest electronic threat configuration. A control panel for operating the equipment was installed in the aft cockpit. The armament was deleted since it wasn’t required. The EA-4Fs were even more unique because they were modified with a different radome. The installation of the jammer for which this change was intended doesn’t seem to have occurred, but the empty nose cone proved convenient for the stowage of crew baggage on the frequent trips to assignments.
Typical missions involved the laying of chaff corridors using ALE-41 and -43 bulk chaff dispensers, simulating an incoming cruise missile attacking the ship while carrying an AST-4 pod that generated a signal similar to a cruise missile, and jamming with an ALQ-167 pod in concert with jamming and simulated attacks by other aircraft.
BuNo 152869 was lost in April 1980 due to a failure of the engine oil system, with the pilot successfully ejecting. It was replaced with a TA-4J that was subsequently modified to an extent for the EA mission but not re designated. Five years later, BuNo 154655 was lost following another engine failure. The pilot was killed but the NFO’s ejection was successful. It was also replaced with a TA-4J. VAQ-33 replaced the two remaining EA-4Fs and the TA-4Js with Vought TA-7C Corsair IIs in 1988. One of the EA-4Fs was transferred to VC-8 and the other to VC-10 to continue serving along with other TA-4Js that had been configured to carry the AST-4 and ALQ-167 pods. They were both retired in October 1990.

The CVS CXRS and fighters: In the mid 1950s, small detachments of fighters were added to some ASW-specific carriers being deployed to Europe and the western Pacific. The west coast ASW carriers were subsequently deployed with detachments from VSF-1 based on the west coast These aircraft were subsequently removed from the CVSs and assigned to VA squadrons due to shortages of A-4s caused by the attrition of the Vietnam war and the lack of evidence of a real threat. In 1961, Essex (CVS-9) itself deployed with a detachment of four A4D-2s from VA-34. In addition to the two 20 mm cannon, these were armed with two AIM-9 Sidewinders. There were at least 11 more CVS deployments with A-4s aboard, including a few augmented by Skyhawks from a Marine squadrons. The Skyhawks were not only used to intercept and escort Soviet patrol bombers, they also participated in ASW search efforts. At least some of these detachments were marked with the squadron number, only preceded with VSF instead of VA, probably to signify, at least to the detachment, their fighter assignment without potential for confusion with a “real” VF squadron. For example, detachments from VA-22 and VA-153 deployed with CVSG-33 aboard Kearsarge in 1963 and 1964. It may also have been factiously intended to stand for Very Small Fighters. Deeming the experiment with Skyhawks to be a success, the Navy decided in 1965 to form a real VSF squadron based at NAS Alameda, California specifically for the purpose of providing CVS detachments with suitably armed Skyhawks and pilots trained for the interception and air-to-air mission, in addition to attack. The first, VSF-1, was to have a complement of 24 A-4Bs. As it happened, four-plane A-4 detachments on ASW carriers continue to also be provided from attack squadrons. As part of this program, China Lake modified an A-4B BuNo 145002 with a fighter’s ranging radar and gun sight to provide a more effective air-to-air capability. The new nose shape invited humorous comment, with the airplane not only being referred to as Rudolph but having the nose painted red. Rudolph was eventually assigned to VSF-1 and then VSF-3 at NAS Alameda as the sole example of an A-4B with a fighter-type gun sight. Before Rudolph ever deployed, it was modified back to the standard A-4 configuration that included Shoehorn. In 1966, just before VSF-1 was to send its first detachment out with Yorktown, most of the squadron was ordered to deploy with Air Wing 8 on Shangri-La to the Mediterranean, replacing a VA Skyhawk squadron that had been assigned to a Viet Nam bound CVA. It left behind a detachment in Alameda, which soon became a separate squadron, VSF-3.
Still scrambling to provide enough attack carriers and attack squadrons for the war effort, the Navy temporarily reassigned and east coast ASW carrier, Intrepid (CVS-11), as an attack carrier and made VSF-3 in its entirety part of the air group. The squadron was disestablished at the end of that deployment.

VSF-3 flying from Intrepid in 1967 was also assigned targets on shore. One was a barge repair facility on an island near Cam Pha northeast of Haiphong. The surrounding terrain required a near vertical dive to hit the target, which necessitated using a grease mark on the windshield since the gun sight wouldn’t adjust that high. The attack was a success even though it wasn’t the attack profile that the pilots trained for and the Skyhawk’s dive brakes couldn’t keep the airplane from accelerating even at idle power.

VSF-1 continued its schizophrenic career as both a deployable attack squadron and a parent squadron providing ASW carrier detachments until the end of 1970, when its last detachment returned to NAS Alameda from a Yorktown deployment. VA-45, the east coast A-4 replacement air group squadron at Cecil Field, was then tasked to provide five-plane A-4E VSF detachments for the ASW carriers Intrepid (CVS-11) in the Atlantic and Ticonderoga (CVS-14) in the Pacific.

Two reserve ASW fighter squadrons, VSF-76 and -86 were also created in 1968 and assigned A-4C/Ls. However, they were never called upon to deploy and were disestablished in 1973, there being no carriers left to protect that were dedicated to ASW.

Combat TA-4s as Laser Designators: The Air Force developed laser-guided weapons to improve delivery accuracy and began to employ them during the Vietnam War. There were two different means of providing the laser “dot” that the missile guided on, a heavy and complex pod and a relatively small hand-held device. The Navy accomplished an early combat evaluation of laser-guided weapons by the simple expedient of deploying two TA-4Fs with Attack Carrier Air Wing 21 aboard Hancock in 1973. These aircraft were assigned to VA-164.

A McDonnell Douglas TA-4F Skyhawk (BuNo 153491 416NP) of Attack Squadron VA-164 Ghost Riders, Attack Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21), aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) deployed 8 May 1973 to 8 Jan 1974. Also VA-212 and VA-55 were also in this air wing.

OA-4M: The Marine Corps had successfully used the TA-4F as a forward air controller in the Vietnam War. Twenty-three were subsequently converted between 1979 and 1980 to a Fast Forward Area Controller (FastFAC) configuration, OA-4M, for reconnaissance and close air support control operations. A-4M avionics were adapted for this conversion. In order to accommodate the additional avionics, the dorsal hump initially developed for the A-4F was used. The nose sensor group of the OA-4M was basically the same as that of the A-4M, but the Angle/Rate Bombing system was not fitted, and the laser spotting and tracking window was faired over, since neither of these were needed on an aircraft that was not to be employed in a pure bombing role. Other avionics additions included the ground bombing system, a KY-28 secure voice system, an APN-194 radio altimeter, and ARC-159 UHF and ARC-114 VHF radios. Extra cockpit side armor plating was added in view of its utilization

The conversions were accomplished at the Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF) at NAS Pensacola. The first TA-4F inducted was BuNo 152856. The OA-4M was evaluated at NATC Patuxent River in mid 1958 before being delivered to operational units. The mission requirement was known as TACA: Tactical Air Coordinator, Airborne. The OA-4M was considered to be underpowered due to the added avionics and other equipment. Consideration was given to swapping out the J52-P-8 for the higher thrust J52-P408 installed in the A-4M, but this was determined to be impractical.
These aircraft were subsequently used for utility missions such as target towing.

Blues:
As it happened, the A-7’s replacement of the A-4 had begun to result in the availability of J52-P-408 engine powered A-4Fs, the so-called Super Fox. Although it did not have an afterburner, a clean A-4 with a dry weight of 11,200 pounds powered by the J52-P-408 engine, which had about the same thrust, had excellent acceleration and climb. Combined with its high roll (variously reported at between 400 and 720 degrees per second) and turn rates, it would prove to be an excellent air show performer. Eight A-4F airframes supposedly in good condition, the first one was rejected because it had too many structural and skin repairs of combat damage, with low flight time were provided to Douglas at its Long Beach facility in late 1973 for modification to the Blue Angel configuration. A new TA-4J was also made available to the team. The narrator used it to fly to air shows and also for guest pilot flights and trips to pick up spare parts. Other than the folding ladder and drag parachute installations, the team’s TA-4J was a stock airplane. The changes to the Super Foxes included the removal of all armament, the chaff dispensing system, non-essential avionics, all the stores pylons except for the centerline, and the avionics hump to reduce weight and drag. The special conditions of the Blues’ demonstration and operational requirements resulted in the addition of a drag parachute for short field landings, a smoke system, an inverted fuel system, an improved pilot’s restraint system, and a container extending from the left wing root leading edge to house a foldable ladder. An additional 3 degrees of nose-down trim and a control load bungee were added to provide the nose-down force on the stick desired by the Blue Angels for close formation flying. The wing slats were locked up to avoid any risk of an asymmetric deployment or a perturbation if the slats on one airplane in a tight formation deployed or retracted and those on the other airplanes hadn’t. The small takeoff and landing distance penalty was considered acceptable.
The aircraft were available for the usual winter training session at Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro, California and debuted at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska on 18 May 1974 for the start of the grueling air show season. Because of the accident history experienced by the Blues with the F-4, the play list for the first season was somewhat conservative. In the second season, the team leader added more maneuvers and some five-aircraft formations. The roll rate began to be incorporated in the solo performance along with negative-g push-outs. The Farvel, in which the team flew by in the diamond with the leader inverted, was one of the formations that was omitted the first year. The second year it was reintroduced, with both the leader and the slot inverted.

The turn rate and maneuverability of the A-4s allowed the team to keep the airplanes visible to the crowd more of the time. It also permitted in the development of a “flat” show, which allowed the Blues to fly when the weather only just met visual flight rules of three-mile visibility and a 1,000-foot ceiling, conditions which would have required canceling a show and disappointing the spectators in earlier years. The team would use the A-4Fs for 12 seasons, finally retiring them at the end of the 1985 in favor of the F/A-18A Hornet that had replaced the Vought A-7. During that time, only 18 different A-4Fs were used to provide the six jets that were flown in each show.

Foreign:

Douglas was prepared to propose an export Skyhawk based on the A4D-2 in 1958. In the 1960s, Douglas used the designations CA-4E and CA-4F to identify export versions of the single and two-seat Skyhawks respectively. In the case of the CA-4F, the reduction in internal fuel that was required by the addition of the second seat was more than replaced by the addition of fuel in a hump on the upper fuselage similar to the avionics hump introduced during A-4F production. The CA-4F was proposed with full ordnance capability; a CTA-4F was also defined for an advanced trainer role that did not require armament. Douglas estimated that the market for the CA-4s the replacement of up to 2,000 obsolescent F-84s and F-86s being operated by international military air forces. Although there was a lot of competition for this market, the A-4 was considered to be a proven, relatively low cost option.

Canada
Its last aircraft carrier was HMCS Bonaventure, a Majestic-class carrier started but not completed as HMS Powerful. It was in service from 1957 to 1970. Primarily intended for antisubmarine warfare, its air defense up until 1962 was provided by former U.S. Navy F2H-3 Banshees. Both the A-4 and A-7 were considered to replace the F2Hs. Although Canada elected not to proceed with the procurement of any more aircraft for the Bonaventure, its at-sea evaluation of the A-4E in 1964 paved the way for other countries operating Colossus/Magestic-class carriers to have confidence in the compatibility of the Skyhawk with one having the upgrades, including an angled flight deck and mirror landing system, made to Bonaventure.

The U.S. Navy provided two A-4Es, one an NATC-instrumented airplane and the other borrowed from VA-43, for at-sea trials aboard Bonaventure off Norfolk, Virginia in early May 1964. These were marred by a landing gear shock strut problem that resulted in damage to the left wing of the instrumented aircraft after only two arrested landings. The trials were successfully concluded with the second airplane, however.

Bonaventure was equipped with a BS-4 steam catapult with a nominal power stroke of only 103 feet and a maximum power stroke of 115 feet. The arresting gear was a Mk-12 which had a maximum engaging speed of 107 knots in the landing weight range of the A-4E. The arresting gear had a run out of 180 feet and a span of 60 feet. There were five cross-deck pendants spaced 18 to 20 feet apart, with the first wire located 70 feet from the ramp. The mirror provided a 3¾ degree glide slope.

Argentina

In 1965, the Argentine Air Force decided to replace its Gloster Meteors and North American F-86 Sabres with 50 used A-4B Skyhawks to be refurbished by Douglas at its Tulsa, Oklahoma facility. These were designated A-4P by the U.S. military but were usually referred to by their original A-4B designation by the Fuerza Aerea Argentina (FAA). The first 25 were ferried to Argentina in late 1966 and early 1967. The second 25 were reportedly delayed by the potential need for these aircraft for U.S. Navy requirements but were finally delivered in 1970, reportedly with the Ferranti D126R weapons sight system. The A-4Ps were distributed among four squadrons and assigned FAA serials of C-201 through C-250.

In consideration of the shore-based nature of the FAA’s operations, the A-4Ps were equipped with the wing lift spoilers and nose wheel steering. The avionics suite was completely redone. A Bendix CNA-4 navigation system was installed in place of the AN/ASQ-17 with a VOR antenna added to the tail fin; Bendix RTA-41B/RNA-26C VHF com/nav was added with its blade antenna sticking up just behind the canopy; a large flat antenna fairing was added on top of the fuselage for a DFA-73 direction finding antenna and associated avionics to replace the UHF/ADF AN/ARA-25; and a UHF AN/ARC-27 and the IFF AN/APX-6B IFF were added with the original TACAN and radar altimeter installation being removed. Training was provided by the Navy at Olathe, Kansas.

At the time, Argentina operated an aircraft carrier, Veinticinco de Mayo and a small fleet of Grumman F9F Panther fighters. The carrier was the former British Royal Navy HMS Venerable, which had been sold to the Netherlands in May 1948 and operated as HMNLS Karel Doorman. It was sold on to Argentina in 1968. In 1971, The Comando de Aviacion Naval Argentina (CANA), ordered 16 A-4Bs to replace the F9Fs. These again were used aircraft, refurbished and updated by Douglas at Tulsa to the A-4P configuration plus Sidewinder capability and a 8,400-lb thrust Wright J65-W-20 in place of the original -16A. (The lift spoilers and nose wheel steering were included since the aircraft would primarily be shore based.) These were designated A-4Q. CANA assigned them serial numbers 654 through 669 and side numbers of 3-A-301 through 314. The aircraft were assigned to 1 Escaudron de Ataque, based at Commandante Espora Base.

In 1975, the FAA added an additional 25 used A-4Cs to its roster. These were refurbished and updated by Lockheed Air Services of Ontario, California. The modifications included the addition of the extra pair of pylons. These aircraft were also reportedly modified to fire Israeli Shafrir air-to-air missiles similar to the Sidewinder. More modernization was accomplished after the airplanes reached Argentina. These aircraft entered service between 1976 and 1978.

During the 1978 crisis with Chile over mutually claimed territory, the Skyhawks provided air defense and were used to tactically probe the Chilean air defense. However, no combat resulted.

In 1981, some of the FAA A-4s were equipped with the navigation system Omega, which used extremely low frequency radio signals from a chain of ground stations to determine the aircraft’s position. These aircraft had towel bar-shaped antennas on the vertical fin for the Omega. However, except for these few and six A-4Cs that had working APG-53 radar, the rest of the Argentine Skyhawk fleet had no navigation system or radar.

The FAA and CANA Skyhawks were to play a significant role in the unfortunate clash between Argentina and the United Kingdom over a long-standing dispute over the nationality of a group of small islands off the coast of Argentina. England had functionally abandoned them in 1776. Spain subsequently established a settlement there and possession devolved to Argentina. Britain, not having formally renounced its claim to the Islands, returned to seize possession of them in 1833 to provide a strategically located way station for its ships. In early 1982, the ruling military junta in Argentina decided to put an end to the disagreement by retaining the islands, successfully invading Islas Malvinas (known to England as the Falkland Islands) on 2 April and the others the next day. In doing so, the junta probably assumed that the United Kingdom’s response would be limited to diplomatic protests and appeals to the International Court of Justice.

Counting those in storage or maintenance, the FAA had about 46 A-4P/Cs and CANA, 10 A-4Qs available to attack the invasion force, each carrying one 1,000-lb bomb or two to four 500-lb bombs. Like the FAA A-4P/Cs, the CANA A-4Qs were flown from shore bases because Veinticinco de Mayo had returned to port after the British submarine Conqueror torpedoed and sunk the Argentine Navy cruiser General Belgrano on 2 May. Even with aerial refueling from FAA KC-130s, the A-4s were operating at maximum range because low-level entry and egress was necessary to minimize the risk of interception by British Sea Harriers. In addition to the strikes against the Royal Navy task force and the British beachhead, A-4s were used along with Mirages and Learjets to divert the Royal Navy Combat Air Patrol away from other strike airplanes.

In 1994, Argentina was finally allowed to renew its Skyhawk fleet with 32 ex-Marine Corps single-seat A-4Ms and four OA-4Ms. The first four single-seaters and one two-seaters were refurbished and modified by Lockheed-Martin Aircraft Services at Ontario, California. The rest were completed at the Lockheed-Martin facility in Cordoba, Argentina. The first airplane was inducted into program in August 1995, first flown in mid-July 1997. It and the other four airplanes completed in California were ferried to Argentina at the end of 1997. Lockheed-Martin also provided simulators, manuals, and hands-on training in Argentina to FAA pilots and maintainers. The changes included a new radar, navigation/attack system, multifunction and head-up displays, and radar warning system. The Hughes Angle Rate Bombing System was deleted but the Sidewinder and Maverick capability was retained. The single-seat airplanes were designated A-4AR (Fightinghawk) and the two-seaters, TA-4AR.
The FAA retired the last of its A-4Ps at the end of 1998. A-4AR deliveries were completed in 1999. The Fightinghawks were still in service in 2010.

Australia

Australia followed closely behind Argentina in acquiring Skyhawks. At the time, DeHavilland Sea Venoms provided air defense for Royal Australian Navy (RAN) aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, the former Royal Navy HMS Majestic. In May 1965, before the decision to acquire Skyhawks was final, a US Navy A-4B from VA-113 Det Q deployed aboard Bennington (CVS-20) was used for an informal cross-deck visit to Melbourne to demonstrate compatibility. One arrested landing and one launch were accomplished, with the Skyhawk in a clean configuration.

In October 1965, the Royal Australia Navy announced that it would procure 10 new Skyhawks, eight single-seat and two two-seat as the A-4G and TA-4G, respectively. The aircraft were basically A-4Fs optimized for air defense rather than strike. Douglas finally received a formal go-ahead in April 1966. The changes included the removal of the dorsal avionics fairing and the addition of the capability to carry as many as four AIM-9B Sidewinders. Both the A-4Gs and TA-4Gs were equipped with nose wheel steering. The A-4G first flight was on 19 July 1967; the first TA-4G, only two days later. These and the rest of the production order were stored at NAS North Island, California until Melbourne arrived to pick them up in October 1967.

The U. S. Navy A-4 RAG squadron, VA-125, at NAS Lemoore, California trained a cadre of RAN pilots and maintainers in 1967, including carrier qualifications on Kearsarge (CVS-33). Since there was no fighter phase in VA-125’s syllabus, the Australians (who had far more fighter than attack experience) were provided with a one-week deployment to MCAS Yuma for air-to-air gunnery training, including firing Sidewinders at parachute flare targets. Their instructors were former VSF pilots. The lack of a gyroscopic, radar ranged gun sight was noted in the lack of hits on the banner.
Number 724 Squadron was established at Nowra as the Australian equivalent of the U.S. RAG squadron, operating a few A-4Gs and all of the TA-4Gs. In contrast to U.S. operation of the TA-4s, the two-seaters were not cleared for landings on Melbourne due to their more forward cg, which did not provide adequate nose-up rotation on the short deck in the event of a bolter. The operational squadron, Number 805 (later VF-805), was also based at Nowra and deployed (with up to eight A-4Gs?) aboard Melbourne from time to time.
In 1970, to provide for expected attrition in accidents and replacement of aircraft in repair/rework, an additional eight A-4Gs and two TA-4Gs were created from former US Navy A-4Fs and TA-4Fs and transported by ship to Australia in 1971. The A-4Fs were put through the Navy Air Rework Facility at Pensacola, Florida, to remove the dorsal avionics fairing and the ECM/ESM avionics suite before delivery.
In 1982, the aging Melbourne was retired. All surviving A-4Gs were briefly assigned to VC-724, the former Number 724 Squadron, for target towing and other utility duties. In 1984, the remaining seven A-4Gs and two TA-4Gs were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which had them refurbished and modified to its A-4K and TA-4K configuration, respectively.
Brazil

Brazil
In 1956, Brazil purchased the Colossus-class HMS Vengeance from Great Britain and renamed it Minas Gerais. The Navy initially operated only helicopters from it and then, beginning in the early 1960s, Grumman S-2 ASW airplanes as well. When the S-2s had to be retired in 1997, the Navy decided to reequip and upgrade its air arm with jet airplanes for air defense and attack missions. With Boeing (which now owned McDonnell-Douglas) acting as an intermediary, Brazil purchased twenty A-4KU and three TA-4KUs from Kuwait. These arrived in Brazil by ship in September 1998 and were designated the AF-1 and AF-1A, respectively, by Brazil. After modification (the aircraft reportedly had low flight time and were in excellent condition) and initial pilot training by VT-7 at NAS Meridian, Mississippi, the AFs were placed in service with  1o Esquadro de Aviões de Interceptaçao e Ataque (VFA-1), based at Naval Air Station Sao Pedro d'Aldeia. The first landing and launch were finally accomplished aboard Minas Gerais on 18 January 2001.

The Minas Gerais was replaced with NAel Sao Paulo, formerly the French carrier Foch, in 2000. As of 2009, at least nine AF-1s and three AF-1As were to be upgraded by Embraer for continued service with the Brazilian Navy.

France

France has had at least one aircraft carrier in service since 1927, operating a variety of French, British, and American designed aircraft. In the late 1960s, it had been expected that the Dassault Étendard IV would be replaced by a carrier-based derivative of the Jaguar, a small strike aircraft being developed jointly by Britain and France. A prototype, Jaguar M for maritime, was designed and built by the French partner Breguet, with a first flight in November 1969. After development and shore-based tests, at-sea trials were accomplished in July 1970 aboard Clemenceau and again in October 1971, with a high approach speed and inadequate wave-off thrust being considered major deficiencies. The Aéronautique Navale then considered the A-4M and the A-7E and evaluated both, with initial flights of a VMA-214 A-4M at MCAS El Toro, California. Two A-4Ms were ferried to France for shore-based trials and then at-sea operations aboard Foch in September 1972 off Brest. Seventeen takeoffs and landings were accomplished with the only problem being that the catapult track cover deflector load limit was reached at a launch weight of 21,500 lbs. Although the trials were successful, the French decided to contract with Dassault, which had taken over Brequet, for the Super Étendard instead. Quelle Surprise!

Indonesia

In the late 1970s, Indonesia decided to replace its aging fleet of Soviet airplanes used for attack and reconnaissance missions with Skyhawks. The initial force consisted of 14 former Israeli A-4Es and two former Israeli TA-4Hs purchased in 1979 with the U.S. government acting as a middleman. These were assigned to Number 11 Squadron at Hasanuddin Air Base near Ujung Pandang.

In 1982, faced with increasing requirements to support anti-guerrilla activity in East Timor and Papua New Guinea, Indonesia acquired 16 more A-4Es, this time directly from U.S stored inventory. These aircraft were refurbished and assigned to Number 12 Squadron based at Pekanbaru Air Base, Riau Province. In 1996, this squadron was disestablished and all Skyhawks were based at Hasanuddin. Two TA-4Js were purchased from the U.S. in 1999 and placed in service after refurbishment and modification in New Zealand.
The Skyhawks were retired by the (Indonesian Air Force) in 2004.

Israel

Douglas was in talks with Israel as early as 1963 about sales of new or used Skyhawks. The capability and cost effectiveness of the A-4 was notably confirmed in 1966 when Israel elected to buy new production Skyhawks for its Defense Forces requirements, although it wasn’t its first choice. The French government had embargoed delivery of the 50 Mirage 5s that Israel had purchased from Dassault. Following U.S. government approval, Israel ordered 48 Skyhawks based on the A-4E, designated A-4H, and renamed Ahit (Vulture). It was optimized to operate from land bases, with a braking parachute housed in a canister under the aft end of the fuselage and nose wheel steering. The tip of the vertical fin was squared off to mount an AN/APX-46 IFF antenna.

The A-4H first flight was on 27 October 1967. The first aircraft arrived in Israel in December 1967, too late to participate in the Six Day War. In 1970, the Israelis replaced the 20 mm Colts with 30 mm DEFA cannon and made other local modifications based on their combat experience. The order was subsequently increased to a total of 90 A-4Hs along with 10 TA-4Hs, which were based on the U.S. Navy’s TA-4J, and included one (BuNo 158503) converted from a TA-4J. The TA-4H first flight was accomplished on 15 April 1969. The two-seaters were delivered between 1969 and 1975.

In February 1968, the Ahits were being used to strike targets in Jordon. In 1969 and 1970 they were employed in the War of Attrition with Egypt. They also played a major role in the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 but at the cost of almost 50 being shot down by Egyptian and Syrian air defenses. They were also used for strikes in Lebanon in 1982 and 2006.

From an air-to-air standpoint, the A-4 pilots appeared to have little to fear, in part due to the air superiority achieved by Israeli fighter squadrons. Only one was reportedly shot down by an enemy fighter but an Israeli A-4 pilot more than evened the score by shooting down two MiGs.

During their service life, the A-4Hs were updated to the Super Fox intake/engine configuration. In October 1973, they received the avionics hump so that a new navigation system could be installed.

Early on, the A-4Hs were used for operational training of Israeli pilots before they were assigned to frontline squadrons. The TA-4s replaced the two-seater Fouga Magisters for the preceding course of lead-fighter training. As a result, the Israeli air force may well be the last one to fly A-4s.

The A-4H order was followed by one for the A-4N. It was based on the airframe of the Marine Corps A-4M, and retained the uprated J52-P-408 engine but did not have self-starting capability. It also differed from the A-4M by having a new navigation/weapons delivery system, including a Lear Siegler digital computer, a Singer-Kearfott inertial platform, and an Elliott Automation heads-up display. An AN/APQ-145 radar was fitted along with a state-of-the-art DECM system. The A-4N was produced with the 30-mm DEFA cannon (with 150 rounds each) instead of the U.S. Navy Colts. Standoff weapons included the Gabriel 3 radar-guided missile. The A-4N was first flown on Jun 8, 1972. A total of 117 were built between 1972 and 1976. In 1982, some were subsequently modified to add the AN/ABS-19 ARBS and laser guided bomb delivery capability.

The 1973 Yom Kippur war resulted in heavy A-4H losses, in part due to man-portable surface-to-air missiles. A request was made to the U.S. government for immediate replacements. The U.S. Navy was authorized to do so and set Operation Nickel Grass in motion to refurbish and ferry A-4Es and Fs to Israel as soon as possible. Because of the political sensitivity of this support and the lack of time for diplomatic machinations to gain approval for the use of foreign air bases, the initial ferry plan was to use aircraft carriers as mid-Atlantic and Mediterranean bases.  Kennedy was to be positioned near the Azores, Roosevelt in the western Mediterranean, and Independence in the eastern Mediterranean. A fleet of pathfinders and tankers was also organized, with the Navy reserves providing KA-3s, the Marines KC-130s, the Air Force KC-135s, and carriers in the Med, KA-6Ds.

As it turned out, the Navy and Marine Corps ferry pilots were allowed to use Lages Field on the island of Terciera in the Azores, so Kennedy was repositioned near Gibraltar as a divert option, which was required once when a pilot experienced an electrical failure. The first leg of the trip was therefore from Norfolk to Lages with frequent in-flight refueling from path-finding KA-3s or KC-135s to maintain a divert option to Bermuda or St. Johns, Nova Scotia. After an overnight stop at Lages, the flights departed for Roosevelt, overflying Kennedy. Four KC-130s provided refueling 500 miles east of Lages and then returned to the Azores, along with the KA-3s. The flights were picked up by Kennedy KA-6s for path-finding and enroute refueling on route to Roosevelt. After overnighting on FDR, the A-4s flew on to Israel, with Independence providing a midpoint divert and KA-6 pathfinding and refueling. Israeli F-4s intercepted the A-4 flights about 200 miles east of Israel and escorted them to a landing. The first two groups of aircraft departed NAS Norfolk on 18 October 1973. Two days later and 5,700 nautical miles later, they landed at Eqron Airfield in Israel. There are anecdotal reports that some of the aircraft were remarked with Israeli national insignia and in combat two hours after arrival. A total of 38 badly needed A-4s were delivered to Israel by this process in less than two weeks.

After the Yom Kippur War, surviving A-4Hs and the new A-4Ns were fitted with extended tailpipes to make the aircraft less vulnerable man-portable heat-seeking missiles; the missiles might still home on the exhaust but theoretically detonate far enough behind the airplane that their small war heads wouldn’t do significant damage. DECM and chaff dispensing capability were also added.

By the end of the 1990s, the Ahits has been largely replaced by the F-16, but substantial numbers still remained in service or flyable storage.  Several have also been sold to other countries or to companies needing military jet airplanes for test and/or training requirements. In 2002, surviving Ahits began to be inducted into a refurbishment and avionics upgrade program to allow them to continue in their training role for at least another decade and perhaps longer. The first of these flew in December 2004. They are still combat capable, however, and still available for that purpose if needed.

Kuwait
In the mid-1970s, the Kuwati government decided to establish a more obvious and effective deterrent to neighboring Iraq’s claims of sovereignty over their country. In 1974, it announced an order of 30 single-place A-4KUs and six two-place TA-4KUs, to be armed with Sidewinders for air-to-air missions. These were to be based on A-4M Skyhawk II, with its most sophisticated strike capability and weapons to be removed. Douglas was authorized to proceed with production in January 1975.

The first A-4KU flew on 20 July 1976. Because it had the most powerful J52 engine and the least mission equipment, it was considered to be one of the best performing Skyhawks. The TA-4KUs were similar to the OA-4Ms in that they were delivered with the A-4F avionics hump. However, it was different in that it was powered by the J52-P-408 like the A-4M. It also had the squared-off fin tip for the ALR-45 antenna(?). Its first flight was on 14 December 1976.

Douglas set up a training program for Kuwaiti pilots and crewman at Yuma, Arizona, using TA-4Js borrowed from the U.S. Navy. The A-4KUs were ferried to Kuwait in 1977 and 1978. These were operated by the numbers 9 and 25 squadrons at Ahmad al-Jabr.

Kuwaiti concerns proved valid when Iraq invaded on 2 August 1990. Some Kuwaiti Air Force pilots were able to sortie and attack the invasion forces but were forced to withdraw to Saudi Arabia on 4 August when it became apparent that their airfields were about to be overrun. During the subsequent Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations, the exiled Kuwaiti pilots and their Skyhawks were integrated into the Royal Saudi Air Force, and continued to fight against the Iraqis as part of the Coalition. The Free Kuwaiti Air Force, as the group came to be known, flew 1361 sorties, losing only one aircraft.

After the Gulf War and the liberation of Kuwait, the Skyhawks was replaced in Kuwaiti service by F/A-18C/D Hornets. The 19 surviving A-4KUs and four TA-4KUs were placed in storage pending sale. Unsuccessful proposals were reportedly made to Bosnia and the Philippines. In 1997, they were finally bought by Brazil to modernize its carrier-based air force capability.

Malaysia

In 1980, the Tentara Udara Diraja Malaysia (TUDM, or Royal Malaysian Air Force) bought 88 surplus Skyhawks, 25 A-4Cs and 63 A-4Ls. The program was subsequently delayed by Malaysian defense budget issues and then reduced to 40 flyable aircraft with the remainder held in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for spare parts.

After a competition held by the Malaysian government, yet another company, Grumman Aerospace, got into the Skyhawk refurbishment business. It was awarded the contract in December 1982 to perform the refurbishment and modification of the Malaysian A-4s.  The work was accomplished at Grumman’s St. Augustine, Florida facility. The extensively modified aircraft were designated A-4PTM, reportedly standing for Peculiar To Malaysia but actually the acronym for Persekutan Tanah Melayu (Federation of Malay States). The work included a complete rewiring, plus the addition of the two outboard under-wing pylons introduced with A-4E. Updated avionics were substituted for the original equipment, including an AN/ARN-118 TACAN, a SAAB RGS-2A lead-computing weapons sight, a Lear Siegler altitude heading reference system, and an AN/ARC-164 UHF transceiver. The A-4Cs were fitted with the dorsal avionics hump. A drag chute was installed below the tailpipe. A new bulged canopy was fitted. Provisions were made for the aircraft to carry the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile. The first A-4PTM flew for the first time on April 12, 1984.

Six of the 40 A-4C/L airframes were converted into two-place Skyhawks. This was done by inserting a 28-inch plug into the fuselage. Canopy and tandem seating arrangements were generally similar to those of the Douglas-built TA-4s. (For some reason, these aircraft had J52-type inlets.) These aircraft (?were delivered with the single-seat equipment additions and substitutions and?) were designated TA-4PTM.

Training was accomplished by a private contractor headed by and employing former Navy A-4 pilots.

Deliveries began in 1985 and were completed by February 1986. In this case, the aircraft were ferried from Florida to Malaysia via Greenland, Iceland, England, Italy, Egypt, Qatar, and India. The A-4PTMs served with Nos 6 and 9 Squadrons, both based the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base at Kuantan. Their operational career was brief. In 1989, it was announced that they were to be withdrawn from service and replaced by British Aerospace Hawks in late 1994. Six Skyhawks were retained as tanker aircraft, using a centerline Douglas D-704 external buddy tank

By September 1999, all of the TUDM Skyhawks appear to have been abandoned in place and derelict at Kuantan.

New Zealand

Although an island nation, New Zealand did not operate an aircraft carrier. Nevertheless, when the Kiwis needed a replacement for their aging Canberras, they eventually opted for A-4 Skyhawks after initially considering the much more expensive F-4 Phantom. In July 1968, New Zealand ordered new Skyhawks, 10 single-seat and four two-seat. These were designated A-4K and TA-4K and were based on the A-4F and TA-4F, respectively. These were equipped with the braking parachute and featured the squared-off vertical fin for an APX-72 IFF antenna.

The A-4K did not initially have a full avionics suite. In fact, there was no equipment in the hump or the ALQ-100 ECM fairing. The former was used for crew baggage and the latter was eventually removed. Its first flight was 10 November 1969.  All 14 aircraft were delivered the following year, craned onto and off of the helicopter carrier Okinawa. RNZAF pilots and ground crews were trained by VA-44, the east coast RAG squadron based at Cecil Field, Florida. These aircraft were operated by Number 75 Squadron based at Ohakea. The assigned missions were close air support, anti-shipping, air defense, and reconnaissance. In 1975, a Skyhawk pilot fired warning shots across the bow of a Taiwanese trawler fishing illegally in New Zealand waters, adding fishery control to the list.

After the Royal Australian Navy decided to beach and not replace HMAS Melbourne, its Skyhawks were increasingly less useful. Only a year later, they were all transferred to New Zealand and modified to the A-4K configuration, including the addition of the drag chute and VHF radios. A second squadron, No 2, was reinstated to utilize the increase in the fleet and provide operational conversion training.

In 1984, New Zealand decided to upgrade its 22 surviving Skyhawks in lieu of procuring a more expensive aircraft like the F-16. The majority of the changes in the upgrade program, Project Kuhu (Maori for hawk), were in the avionics. However, in addition the cockpit area being stripped and completely redone to bring it up to the state-of-the-art, all the wiring was replaced and the wings rebuilt. The AN/APG-53A radar was replaced by the AN/APG-66(NZ). The Litton LN-93 inertial navigation system, Ferranti 4510 wide-angle heads-up display, Vinten airborne video recording system, General Instruments ALR-66 radar warning receiver, and a Tracor ALR-39 chaff/flare dispenser were installed. Two large computer screen displays replaced most of the instruments on the instrument panel.

Because of advances in miniaturization, it was possible to incorporate the additional electronic units entirely within the fuselage without requiring the use of the dorsal hump, which was removed. The Kahu-modified Skyhawk could be recognized by a blade-like ILS aerial on the leading edge of the vertical fin. The Kahu-modified Skyhawk could carry the AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missile, the GBU-16 laser-guided bomb and the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground guided missile.

In 1991, Australia and New Zealand entered an agreement whereby Number 2 squadron would be based at Nowara, Australia. Australia benefited from a fleet air defense training standpoint and New Zealand pilots had access to a larger operating area with appropriate training ranges and target ships.

The RNZAF Skyhawk fleet was grounded at the end of 2001 by the New Zealand government’s decision to disband the entire Air Combat Force due for fiscal reasons. The (17?) surviving Skyhawks were placed in storage and put up for sale. An American firm, Advanced Training Systems International, was an interested buyer in 2003. The successor company, Tactical Air Services (TAS), signed an agreement to buy the Skyhawks in September 2005 but was unable to obtain approval for the purchase from the U.S. government until October 2009. At that point, unfortunately for New Zealand, TAS no longer had the financing lined up to complete the acquisition. As of May 2010, the Skyhawks were still languishing at RNZAF Woodbourne, New Zealand, cocooned in latex and awaiting ATS or another buyer to take possession.

Singapore

In 1972 an island nation with no aircraft carrier, Singapore, purchased 40 A-4Bs that were in storage at MASDC at Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona. They were refurbished by Lockheed Air Service and extensively modified and upgraded. This included the installation of the 8,400-lb thrust J65-W-20 turbojet, which was 20 percent more powerful that the J65-W-16A. The wing was modified with lift spoilers and two additional under-wing stations of the A-4E/F. The 30 mm Aden cannon replaced the 20-mm Mk-12 cannon and a Ferranti lead-computing optical gun sight was installed for air-to-air combat. The braking parachute installation was added to reduce the landing roll. The communication/navigation electronics were replaced by more up-to-date equipment. The avionics changes resulted in a dorsal fairing being added and the nose slightly lengthened. The aircraft were re designated A-4S.

The first eight conversions were done by Lockheed at Ontario, California, with the first A-4S flight on 14 July 1973. They were delivered to NAS Lemoore, California, where the Navy was to provide initial training for the RSAF Skyhawk pilots. (The first tranch of Singapore pilots received transition training at VT-24 in Texas in 1974.) Lockheed Air Services of Singapore performed the remaining 32 conversions.

In accordance with Singapore’s desire to standardize on the J65 engine across its Skyhawk fleet and still have two-seat A-4s, it contracted with Lockheed for an even more extensive conversion. The same 28-inch fuselage extension was used to provide the volume for the second cockpit, but instead of a single canopy, the TA-4S had two separate canopies, with the aft one bulged for more headroom and over the nose visibility.  Seven A-4Bs were modified to the TA-4S configuration.

The first Skyhawk squadron, No 142 (Gryphon), was formed in 1974 at Changi Air Base. A Skyhawk training squadron, No 143 (Phoenix), was established at Changi in 1975. Both were subsequently relocated to Tengah Air Base.

The RSAF purchased 70 A-4B and C airframes in 1980. The Bs were to be stored to provide airframe spares and the Cs were to be converted by the Singapore Aerospace Maintenance Company into a slightly different configuration, the A4S-1. These retained the original 20-mm cannon. Another 16 A-4Bs were acquired in 1983 for conversion into eight TA4S-1 two-seaters.

As part of the increase in the size of the Skyhawk fleet, a third squadron, No 145 (Hornet), was created in April 1984 at Tengah.

In a major upgrade program in the mid-1980s, following at series of crashes attributed to the aging Wright J65s, the RSAF re-engined the A4S-1s with the non-afterburning General Electric F404-GE-100D turbofan engine along with an inlet modification. This engine provided almost 11,000 lbs of thrust, about 29 percent greater than that of the earlier J65, allowing the maximum takeoff weight to be increased to 24,500 lbs. In addition, the RSAF benefited from lower fuel consumption and maintenance. The A-4S-1 Super Skyhawk first flew on September 19, 1986 and became operational with No. 143 Squadron in 1988.

A second phase of the RSAF Skyhawk upgrade program provided a significant enhancement to the A-4S operational capabilities. A GEC-Marconi 4150 heads-up display was installed, a Litton LN-92 ring laser gyro inertial navigation system was added, and the aircraft was given the ability to launch the Maverick air-to-ground missile. The port side of the air intake had an extra air intake for an engine-mounted accessory drive. The single-seat aircraft were re designated A-4SU and the two-seaters, TA-4SU. The first of these re-entered service with No. 145 Squadron in 1989 (1992?).

The RSAF had begun to operate F-16C/Ds in the early 1990s, however, leading to the eventual retirement of the Super Skyhawk. This was a slow process, with the Black Knights RSAF flight demonstration team flying demonstrations with a mix of four A-4SUs and two F-16s in 2000.

The RSAF Skyhawk training unit based at Tengah, No. 143 Squadron, was disbanded in late 1997 with its aircraft reassigned to No 150 training squadron (Falcon), which was subsequently relocated to Cazaux Air Base in southwestern France as an advanced training squadron providing lead-in fighter training for RSAF F-16 pilots. This site was selected because it provided access to bombing ranges and airspace over the North Atlantic.

In 2003, Hornet squadron retired its Skyhawks. The last A-4 Skyhawk squadron based in Singapore, 142 Gryphons, was disbanded at the end of March 2005. However, No 150 squadron operating in France continued to provide weapons training and qualification up through (2007?).