Heatblur A-6 Intruder

I would so love this, during my days in the Operation Desert Storm and Southern Watch days, I was attached to 2 A-6E Intruder squadrons.

 

Needless to say, this bird could carry a metric ###-ton of ordnance. I should know... I loaded damn near everything that bird could carry.

 

This was also an interesting aircraft because the B/N (Bombardier/Navigator) sat next to the pilot instead of behind. This was also the first all weather attack aircraft in the Navy to utilize Night Vision technology.

 

Heatblur, if you need some ordnance information (non-classified of course) on the bird, let me know, I still have some of that information rattling around in my head, somewhere in there.

 

Oh the stories I could tell you from my time in the Persian Gulf...

Nice. The APQ-156 on the A-6E TRAM and onward was also a beast of a radar from what I've read.

Needless to say, this bird could carry a metric ###-ton of ordnance. I should know... I loaded damn near everything that bird could carry.

Of course, you had to keep a few hundred pounds in reserve to account for the Pilot's and B/N's balls once they stepped into the cockpit! :smartass:

All weather was definitely where it was at. I wanted to be an A-6 B/N, but they retired the bird about the time I started flight training. Stupid A-12. :(

The Intruder is definitely one of my favourite aircraft and very capable in it's day. Regarding the APQ-156/APQ-148. I've read that some of the 'A' pilots preferred the earlier system (independent search and track radar/displays) and this helped with low altitude flight, because the pilot could back the B/N up by calling up the search radar display. Apparently pilots weren't as comfortable with extremely low level flying with the new system because this feature was lost.

KA-6 & EA-6 AI versions?

KA-6 has planned by Heatblur, EA-6 not yet.

It's interesting to wonder what could have been if the A-6F had been produced since it brought a new radar that would have allowed the A-6 to carry AIM-120s:D along with being fitted with F404 engines which no doubt would have improved the thrust-to-weight ratio.

It's interesting to wonder what could have been if the A-6F had been produced since it brought a new radar that would have allowed the A-6 to carry AIM-120s:D along with being fitted with F404 engines which no doubt would have improved the thrust-to-weight ratio.

One of the proposed upgrades:

Agree , no need to be scared of MiG 15s when you fly at night

 

And for a Day Alpha strike ? Do your Mission! And let the fighters do their job. A F-4 with A-A configurations is better for fighting migs than a intruder with guns .

 

Multirole kills diversity ;)

I know A6 isn't supposed to fight MIgs. you mistook what i meant. Self defending against interceptors thats closing on your trail isn't trying to play an F4. its simply entails evasive maneuvers or firing back weapons in self defense purpose. I simply said in that regard A7 is probably better suited.

and afraid of Mig15's? when the A6 went into service well after the korean war. the threat at its initial service would have been Mig19's and Mig21's ranging from day fighter Mig21F13's to the radar equipped Mig21PF. Depending on the intruder variant added, A6E is certainly within the realm of Mig21BIs and Mig23 and given the A6E's long service life can lead well into the era of Flankers and fulcrums.

I'll pick up the tomcat for sure event though I'm a rotorcraft guy, but there's just something about this one that makes me want it even more.

I know a guy who was a crew chief for one. He spoke very very highly of it.

...but there's just something about this one that makes me want it even more.

Pretty simple:

holy bejesus

Sorry you didn't convince me. I still prefer The D (I'm talking about tomcats of course!) as next HB module.

Regards

lol it is kinda funny setting here reading peeps response to the A6 and its variants. CAP and strike are two totally different worlds. At some point the strike teams will get going and the EA6B will needed to spoof the MIG's its great that the governments of the world make a design requirement that an aircraft be a Air Superiority Fighter and then the budget lumpy get in there and say "we just cant afford a new strike AC" and they hang bombs all over an F-15 i just wonder how long it will be before the 34 is scrapped and they put bombs in the f-22.

fire up the foundry at Grumman Iron Works and let's get those Intruder's on the flight deck.

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

Fox 2!

With all this talk about KA-6D's why had no one brought up Buddy stores? I was Assigned to A-6's from August of '81 until October of '88 As a Marine Aviation Ordnaceman. I managed to rack up 18 months of "Blue Water" time on the Ranger in '87 -'88. we never had any KA-6D's. The old War Hovers did most of tanking. Our sister squadron an us did some tanking with buddy stores from time to time.

"Strikes Deeper,Lingers Longer, And carries a Bigger Load!"

:thumbup:

How did the buddy store system work from a switchology perspective? Was a new panel mounted or did it work off of already existing controls?

You know,I don't remember. I know it was on the B/N's Right and down. We had to arm a "guillotine" that would cut the hose in an emergency, then lead-wire seal the switch cover on the panel. I'm not sure if it was left in the bird or removed when not in use.

The A-6E along side the Tomcat and Hornet would certainly be a dream come true as well someday...

The A-6E along side the Tomcat and Hornet would certainly be a dream come true as well someday...

The funny thing is, flight sim'ing is making a full circle. Gunship to Jane's Longbow to Huey/and hopefully Cobra.

F15 Strike Eagle to Falcon 3.0 to F16 from ED.

And Flight of the Intruder to A6 from Heatblur.

May MicroProse and Spectrum Holobyte rest in peace! :joystick:

Funny enough I just read this in a book by a Gulf War I pilot flying off of Ranger. Yes, the panel is on the B/N's side, and they did not have KA-6's either.

I know that the KA-6 was a dedicated tanker, which hinders the air wing ultimately by using valuable space on the boat that could be used by strike or AWS aircraft (S-3) to put on buddy stores. Maybe that was the reason, kinda like how the B's were strictly SEAD birds. When were either or both phased out?

As I said above,I worked on SkyPigs for 7 years back in the 80's and I never saw ether one.

When I first got to VMA(aw)242 in August of 81,They only had a few strait E's left. They were changing over to the E CAIN's. It has the Hard points for the TRAM,but no ball. You can see a small section just forward of the nose wheel with no opening. Slowly,E CAIN's were replaced by the E TRAM's. That's what I worked on most of my time in.

I know that the KA-6 was a dedicated tanker, which hinders the air wing ultimately by using valuable space on the boat that could be used by strike or AWS aircraft (S-3) to put on buddy stores. Maybe that was the reason, kinda like how the B's were strictly SEAD birds. When were either or both phased out?

The KA-6D was phased out because they were the highest hour airframes and the aircraft was being retired as they wore out. So for the last few years of A-6 service they applied centerline buddy stores to to A-6Es which meant carrying a bit less gas between the higher empty weight of the A-6E and the lower center tank capacity due to fitting the hose and reel into the tank itself (vs fuselage for the KA-6D).

Certainly the KA-6D was far more valuable than the space it consumed. Tankers are essential aircraft for combat operations and the KA-6D could give away far more gas than the S-3B. So most airwings had to task about twice as many tanker assets per cycle compared to before the KA-6D's retirement. The KA-6D could launch with 26,000 lbs of fuel and give away 16,000-18,000 lbs depending on the cycle length. This is twice as much giveaway as the S-3B!

The KA-6D was phased out in the early 90s, perhaps a deployment or two before the A-6E depending on the squadron. The A-6Bs were either converted to A-6Es or retired in the late 70s since the A-6E was given the same SEAD capability.

I agree, Angles of Attack is a good book. :)

-Nick

How did the buddy store system work from a switchology perspective? Was a new panel mounted or did it work off of already existing controls?

Hi Tirak.

I believe a new panel, the Air Refueling Store Control Panel A/A42R-1 (a slightly different, older panel had been used previously in conjunction with the air refueling store) was fitted to the BN's/Observers right side console on late A-6Es. This was pretty much the only area available to place it. For KA-6D aircraft that could carry a buddy store (not all were cleared/equipped to do so), a buddy refueling panel was fitted to the BN/Observer forward instrument panel, just to the right of the standard air refueling panel.