The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace that was operated by the U.S. Navy.
The A-6 was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s in response to a requirement issued by the United States Navy for an all-weather jet-powered carrier-based attack aircraft. It was designed as a successor for multiple existing medium-sized attack aircraft, such as the piston-engined Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Unlike its predecessors, and even some contemporaries, the A-6 made extensive use of interconnected avionics. Operated by a crew of two in a side-by-side seating configuration, the workload was divided between the pilot and weapons officer. In addition to conventional munitions, the type was also compatible with the Navy’s air-based nuclear weapons, which were deployable via a toss bombing techniques. On 19 April 1960, the prototype performed the type’s maiden flight.
The A-6 was in service with the United States Navy and Marine Corps between 1963 and 1997, multiple variants of the type being introduced during this time. From the A-6, a specialized electronic warfare derivative, the EA-6B Prowler, was developed. It was deployed during various overseas conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. The A-6 was intended to be superseded by the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II, but this program was ultimately canceled due to cost overruns. Thus, when the A-6E was scheduled for retirement, its precision strike mission was initially taken over by the Grumman F-14 Tomcat equipped with a LANTIRN pod.
DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITY
CREW: 2 – Pilot and Bombardier/Navigator (BN)
SIZE: LENGTH 54 ft 9 in (16.69 m),
WINGSPAN 53 ft 0 in (16.15 m),
HEIGHT 16 ft 2 in (4.93 m),
EMPTY WEIGHT 26,660 lb (12,093 kg)
MAX TAKE OFF WEIGHT: 60,400 lb (27,397 kg) (shore-based operations)
PERFORMANCE
SPEED: 560 kn (640 mph, 1,040 km/h) at sea level
SERVICE CEILING: 42,400 ft (12,900 m)
RANGE: 878 nmi (1,010 mi, 1,626 km) (with max payload)
Armament:
Hardpoints: Five hardpoints with a capacity of 3,600 lb (1,600 kg) each (4 under wings, 1 under fuselage), 18,000 lb (8,200 kg) total,with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
12x LAU-10 4-round 5 inch Zuni pods
12x LAU-68 7-round 2.75 inch FFAR pods
12x LAU-61/LAU-68 19-round 2.75 inch FFAR pods
Missiles:
AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar missile
AGM-78 Standard ARM anti-radar missile
AGM-62 Walleye TV-guided glide bomb
AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile
AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile/AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile
AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile
AGM-123 Skipper air-to-ground missile
AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile
ADM-141 TALD decoy missiles
Bombs:
28× Mk 82 500 lb (227 kg) GP bombs or Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster bomb
13× Mk 83 1,000 lb (454 kg) GP bombs
5× Mk 84 2,000 lb (907 kg) GP bombs
5x GBU-12/16/10 laser-guided bombs
5x CBU-72 Fuel-Air Explosives
Up to three B43/B57/B61 “Special Weapons”
Other:
Mk 60 Captor Mine
Up to 5 300 US gal (250 imp gal; 1,100 L) drop tanks
Various practice stores, chaff launchers, baggage pods, flares