Grumman built the A-6 to put a heavy bomb load on a ship or a target ashore when weather and darkness grounded almost everything else. The Navy wanted a two-man, all-weather attack jet for the carrier deck. The YA2F-1 first flew on 19 April 1960. Fleet training began with VA-42 in February 1963. The Marines flew it too. No foreign customer ever received one.
The crew sat side by side: pilot and bombardier-navigator. Two Pratt & Whitney J52 turbojets gave it modest speed and a long reach with tanks. There was no internal gun. Five hardpoints carried up to about 18,000 pounds of bombs, mines, missiles, or fuel. The early DIANE navigation and attack system, later replaced by more reliable digital gear in the A-6E, was the point of the airplane. Folding wings and a stout landing gear made it a carrier machine.
Intruders went to Vietnam in 1965 and flew the low, ugly missions: night interdiction, weather strikes, mining. Losses were high. The type stayed on the deck through Libya in 1986 and Desert Storm in 1991. KA-6D tankers kept other jets flying. The related EA-6B Prowler handled electronic warfare long after the bomber left.
The Marines retired the A-6E in 1993. The Navy’s last operational launch was from USS Enterprise on 19 December 1996. Formal retirement came on 28 February 1997. The Hornet and Super Hornet took the strike role. Grumman built 693 airframes. None is flying in military service today.
A-6E (published figures)
- Crew: 2
- Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8B, 9,300 lbf each
- Wingspan: 53 ft
- Length: 54 ft 9 in
- Height: 16 ft 2 in
- Empty weight: ~26,700 lb
- Max takeoff weight: 60,400 lb
- Payload: up to ~18,000 lb
- Max speed: about 640 mph
- Combat radius: about 880 nmi
- Ferry range: about 2,800 nmi
- Service ceiling: about 42,400 ft
- Built (all A-6 variants): 693
- First flight: 19 April 1960
- Initial operational capability: February 1963
- Retired: 28 February 1997 (Navy); 28 April 1993 (Marine Corps)