September 2nd, 2023
7minute read
The Grumman A-6 Intruder first flew in April of 1960.
It was declared operational three years later.
Versatile, rugged, reliable, and mean, the Intruder was a workhorse in Cold War Naval Aviation.
The A-6 Intruder was so ugly it was cool. The plane soldiered on for more than three decades in active service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Image: DoD
The Intruder was originally intended as a replacement for thepiston-driven A-1 Skyraider.
The A-6 was the big stick for American carrier battle groups.
A Tidy Little Slaughter
Resident Libyan lunatic Muammar Gaddafi was always more than a little bit crazy.
The A-6 Intruder featured no defensive armament. The U.S. Navy opted instead for a greater offensive payload. Image: DoD
A classic old school despot, Gaddafi stirred up trouble around the globe.
By 1986, President Ronald Reagan had had about enough.
What kicked off this party was essentially a territorial dispute.
An A-6 Intruder aircraft prepares for launch from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USSDwight D. Eisenhower(CVN-69.) Image: Ph1 David Maclean/U.S. Navy
Every sensible country on the planet acknowledges that a nations sovereign territorial waters begin 12 miles off shore.
Thats everybody except Libya in those days.
In addition, he had quietly begun exploiting the rich uranium reserves in nearby Chad.
A U.S. Navy Grumman A-6E Intruder from Attack Squadron 52 (VA-52) “Knightriders” in flight in 1981. Image: NARA
Nobody wanted that nutjob to acquire nukes.
By February 1986, Reagan was ready to call his bluff.
The Navy christened this effort Operation Attain Document.
Sailors load bombs onto the pylon of an A-6E Intruder aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 6 (CVW-6.) Image: NARA
I can only presume that all the cool military operation names had already been taken.
Attain Document was a subset of the overarching Operation Prairie Fire, which was obviously a bit cooler.
These guys came ready to play.
A crewman watches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USSAmerica(CV-66) as an A-6 intruder aircraft approaches for a landing. Image: PH1 Dave Maclean/U.S. Navy
The American task force led with fighter aircraft that were promptly fired upon by Libyan SAMs.
TheF-14 Tomcatsevaded the missiles with the assistance of EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft.
The fuse was lit.
A LibyanNanuchka-class corvette burning in the Gulf of Sidra after being attacked by U.S. Navy A-6E Intruders. Image: USSAmerica1986 Cruise Book/U.S. Navy
The Libyan attack boat was disabled and set ablaze, but not sunk.
Now that shots had been fired, the naval air assets went to work.
One of the Intruders centerpunched the Waheed with a Harpoon missile, leaving it dead in the water.
A view of bombs on the flight line prior to loading operations with A-6E Intruder aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 6 (CVW-6.) Image: NARA
The sinking of the Waheed by A-6 Intruders represented the first operational aerial deployment of the Harpoon antiship missile.
No Americans were hurt, and no U.S. assets were lost.
This profoundly one-sided engagement laid the groundwork for Operation El Dorado Canyon three weeks later.
Staff Sgt. Clifford Sanford applied the final paint to a retiring A-6A Intruder: “This aircraft has flown 553 combat missions and has dropped 3,320 tons of ordnance.” Image: Sgt. R. B. Williams/U.S. Marine Corps
Throughout it all, the A-6 Intruder played an outsized role.
The Plane
The requirement for the A-6 was issued in 1957.
The Intruder was to be an all-weather day-or-night strike aircraft.
The Catapult Officer of The USSAmerica(CVA-66) signals the launching of an A-6 “Intruder.” The photo was taken during flight operations in the Indian Ocean, May 1970. Image: PH3 C.P. Pruitt/U.S. Navy
The resulting aircraft featured a two-man crew of a pilot and a Bombardier/Navigator (BN).
The A-6 was radical for its day by its inclusion of rudimentary computers to assist in ordnance delivery.
The Intruder was actually the worlds first true all-weather attack aircraft.
Based on the A-6 Intruder, the four-seat EA-6B Prowler was designed to dominate the enemy’s electromagnetic spectrum on the modern battlefield. Image: Master Sgt. Lance Cheung/U.S. Air Force
A subsequent variant, the EA-6B Prowler, was a dedicated electronic warfare version of the plane.
The Prowler was a stretched version of the Intruder crewed by a pilot and three Electronic Countermeasures Officers.
The primary weapon deployed by the Prowler was the AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile).
From this angle, you can see three of the four seats in the EA-6B Prowler. Based on the Intruder, this Prowler was assigned to the Gray Wolves of VAQ-142. Image: Devin Wray/U.S. Navy
All of the Intruders ordnance was carried externally on hardpoints.
The plane also had a nuclear mission.
Thank goodness we never had to test that out for real.
Lieutenant Colonel Ronald L. Townsend climbs aboard his A-6 Intruder in Da Nang, Vietnam. Townsend commanded Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 255. Image: Staff Sgt. Bill Fisher
A total of 10 fell to SAMs and two to MiGs.
56 aircraft were shot down by AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery).
The Intruder saw extensive action in Lebanon, Grenada, the First Gulf War and Bosnia.
An A-6 Intruder aircraft engages an arresting cable during a landing aboard the aircraft carrier USSSaratoga(CV-60). Image: NARA
During Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1991, A-6 crews flew some 4,700 combat sorties.
The Marines retired their Intruders in 1993, while the Navy followed suit in 1997.
The A-6 strike mission is currently filled by the F/A-18 Hornet multi-role aircraft.
The Intruder was never exported to Allied services.
The ugly plane was generally beloved by its crews.
The A-6 Intruder was a harbinger of the extraordinary Information Age strike jets currently in action today.
