A-6 Intruder

The Grumman A-6 Intruder was a twin jet-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft built in the United States by Grumman Aerospace. In service between 1963 and 1997, the Intruder was designed as an all-weather replacement for the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider medium attack aircraft. A specialized electronic warfarederivative, the EA-6B Prowler, remains in service as of 2009. As the A-6 was slated for retirement, its precision strike mission was taken over by the now retired F-14 Tomcat equipped with LANTIRN pod.

The Intruder was developed in response to a United States Navy specification for an all-weather carrier-based attack aircraft to serve as a replacement for the piston-powered, World War II–era A-1 Skyraider.Grumman was awarded the contract in 1957, and the resulting A2F-1 made its first flight on 19 April 1960.

The jet nozzles were originally designed to swivel downwards, but this was dropped from production aircraft. The pilot sits in the left seat, while the bombardier/ navigator sits to the right and below. A unique CRT gives a synthetic display of terrain ahead which, with the additional crew member, enabled low-level flying in all weather conditions.

The wing is very efficient at subsonic speeds compared to supersonic fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II, which are also limited to subsonic speeds when carrying a payload of bombs. A very similar wing would be put on pivots on Grumman's later supersonic swing-wing F-14 Tomcat, as well as similar landing gear. The Intruder was also equipped with the "Deceleron", a type of airbrake on the wings with two panels that open in opposite directions; in this case, one panel goes up, while another goes down.

Specifications (A-6E)

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot, bombardier/navigator)
• Length: 54 ft 7 in (16.6 m)
• Wingspan: 53 ft (16.2 m)
• Height: 15 ft 7 in (4.75 m)
• Wing area: 529 ft² (49.1 m²)
• Airfoil: NACA 64A009 mod root, NACA 64A005.9 tip
• Empty weight: 25,630 lb (11,630 kg)
• Useful load: 34,996 lb (15,870 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 60,626 lb (27,500 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney J52-P8B turbojets, 9,300 lbf (41.4 kN) each
• * Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0144
• Drag area: 7.64 ft² (0.71 m²)
• Aspect ratio: 5.31

Performance

• Maximum speed: 563 knots (648 mph, 1,040 km/h)
• Range: 2,819 nmi (3,245 mi, 5,222 km)
• Service ceiling: 40,600 ft (12,400 m)
• Rate of climb: 7,620 ft/min (38.7 m/s)
• Lift-to-drag ratio: 15.2

• Hardpoints: 5 total: 4× wing and 1× fuselage with 18,000 lb (8,170 kg) load
• Rockets:
  
  • 2.75" (70 mm) CRV7 Rocket Pod
  • 5" (127 mm) Zuni Rocket Pod
• Missiles:
  
  • AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-air missiles
• Air-to-ground missiles
  • AGM-45 Shrike
  • AGM-62 Walleye
  • AGM-65 Maverick
  • AGM-84 Harpoon and
  • AGM-88 HARM
• Bombs:
  
  • Mk 81 250 lb (113 kg) GP bombs
  • Mk 82 500 lb (241 kg) GP bombs
  • Mk 83 1,000 lb (454 kg) GP bombs
  • Mk-84 2,000 lb (907 kg) GP bombs
  • Mk-117 750 lb (340 kg) GP bombs
  • Mk-20 Rockeye II cluster bombs
  • CBU-89 GATOR mine cluster bombs
  • Mk 77 750 lb (340 kg) incendiary bombs
  • GBU-10 Paveway II laser-guided bombs
  • GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs
  • GBU-16 Paveway II laser-guided bombs
  • B61 nuclear bomb
  • B43 nuclear bomb
  • Various air-dropped landmines
  • Various air-dropped underwater mines
  • Various practice bombs [Mk-76, BDU-45, LGTR, etc...]