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| Douglas A-4 Skyhawk |
Militarymedia.net | For nearly half a century, the A-4 Skyhawk was one of the most important ground attack aircraft of the US Navy and Marine Corps. The US Marine Corps stopped using this type of aircraft in 1998, while the US Navy in 2003. However, it still remains part of the Brazilian and Argentine Air Forces.
The Skyhawk made its maiden flight in 1954 and two years later, in 1956, was adopted by the US military. Since then, some 2,960 aircraft have been built, primarily by the Douglas Aircraft Company, but later also by their daughter company McDonnell Douglas, before merging with Boeing.
In its half-century history, the Skyhawk saw plenty of action. In the early stages of the Vietnam War, the US Navy used it as the main light attack aircraft. Israel, which was the largest buyer of these aircraft, employed them in combat during the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War, mostly as ground attack aircraft. Skyhawks were also used in the Falklands War by the Argentine Army and were part of the Kuwait Air Force during Operation Desert Storm.
In addition to the United States, the A-4 Skyhawk is used by the air forces of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
The reason why this light aircraft is widely used by many countries, is because it can carry various kinds of rockets and bombs, including nuclear bombs. In the early years of Skyhawk production, this attack aircraft was far more advanced than many of its direct competitors. But today the A-4 Skyhawk is out of date. It is not on the same level as modern light attack aircraft. Because of this, most of the surviving units were used as training aircraft. The Israeli Air Force used them for training since 2008, when they pulled them from frontline duty, until 2015. Singapore still uses the Skyhawks as advanced trainers, as does Argentina, a country that also uses them as fighter jets.
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| Douglas A-4 Skyhawk |
The variant used by the Argentine Air Force is the Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk. This is an upgraded version of the A-4 Skyhawk. This upgrade was implemented on the ex-USMC Skyhawks acquired by Argentina in 1997. Under a program developed by Lockheed Martin, 32 single-seat A-4Ms and 4 two-seat OA-4Ms were rebuilt into the A-4AR and OA-4AR Fightinghawk standards. . The modernization includes a complete overhaul of the airframe, new radar, advanced cockpit display, HUD controls, HOTAS and other equipment. Its ARG-1 radar is a derived version of the F-16 APG-66 radar and allows the use of smart weaponry. This version has a more powerful engine (50 kN compared to 41 kN), better radar, jammers, etc. Out of a total of 36 Lockheed Martin Fightinghawks Argentina, 3 were lost to accidents.
Perhaps the last customer of the A-4 Skyhawk was Brazil. In 1998 the Brazilian Navy acquired 20 ex-Kuwaiti A-4KUs, to place them on their Sao Paulo carrier (former French Navy Foch, acquired in 2000). In 2015, this Brazilian attack aircraft was repaired and upgraded.
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| Douglas A-4 Skyhawk |
