Grumman A-6E Intruder

The first version of the A-6 Intruder entered fleet service in 1963 as the world's first all-weather attack aircraft, capable of operating at night and in all conditions. It used more sophisticated bomb-targeting systems than other attack aircraft, with a second crew member, the weapons system officer, operating those systems while the two crew members sat side by side in a large cockpit. The Intruder carried 18,000 pounds of ordnance, almost as much as the largest heavy bombers of World War II, but had no internal armament, carrying all weapons externally on four wing pylons and one centerline pylon under the fuselage, with all external attachments also able to carry fuel tanks. Grumman built 687 Intruders, and 90 were converted to in-flight refueling tankers. Intruders were used extensively throughout the Vietnam War and flew from the new larger supercarriers, though they were too large and heavy for smaller Essex-class carriers like Intrepid. The attack versions of the A-6 were retired in 1997, while the EA-6B Prowler electronic countermeasures variant remained in service until 2019. One surviving A-6E was used in 1988 to test prototypes of more sophisticated radar and avionics.

New York, New York · United States