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.
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)
