Grumman A-6 Intruder Bomber

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Grumman A-6 Intruder
The Grumman A-6 Intruder was an American, twin jet-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft built by Grumman Aerospace. In service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps between 1963 and 1997, the Intruder was designed as an all-weather medium attack aircraft to replace the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider. As the A-6E was slated for retirement, its precision strike mission was taken over by the F-14 Tomcat equipped with LANTIRN pod. A specialized electronic warfare derivative, the EA-6B Prowler, remains in service as of 2011.

A-6's 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.

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

Armament

  • Hardpoints: 5 total: 4× wing and 1× fuselage with 18,000 lb (8,170 kg) load
  • Rockets:
    • 2.75 in (70 mm) CRV7 Rocket Pod
    • 5 in (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
    • AGM-88 HARM
  • Bombs:
    • Mk 81 250 lb (113 kg) GP bombs
    • Mk 82 500 lb (227 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.]
  • Others:
    • Up to 4× 330 US gallons (1,200 L) external drop tanks for extended range/ferry flight/loitering time (only pylon stations no. 1, 2, 4 & 5 are wet-plumbed)

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