The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace and operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.It was designed in response to a 1957 requirement issued by the Bureau of Aeronautics for an all-weather attack aircraft for Navy long-range interdiction missions and with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability for Marine close air support. It was to replace the piston-engined Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The requirement allowed one or two engines, either turbojet or turboprop. The winning proposal from Grumman used two Pratt & Whitney J52 turbojet engines. The Intruder was the first Navy aircraft with an integrated airframe and weapons system. Operated by a crew of two in a side-by-side seating configuration, the workload was divided between the pilot and weapons officer (bombardier/navigator (BN)). In addition to conventional munitions, it could also carry nuclear weapons, which would be delivered using toss bombing techniques. On 19 April 1960, the first prototype made its maiden flight.The A-6 was in service with the United States Navy and Marine Corps between 1963 and 1997, during which time multiple variants were prototyped and produced. Two of the more successful variants developed were the EA-6B Prowler, a specialized electronic warfare derivative, and the KA-6D tanker version.It was deployed during various overseas conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. The A-6 was intended to be superseded by the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II, but this program was ultimately canceled due to cost overruns. Thus, when the A-6E was scheduled for retirement, its precision strike mission was initially taken over by the Grumman F-14 Tomcat equipped with a LANTIRN pod.As a result of the fair-weather limitation of the propeller-driven Skyraider in the Korean War and the advent of turbine engines, the United States Navy issued preliminary requirements in 1955 for an all-weather carrier-based attack aircraft. The U.S. Navy published an operational requirement document for it in October 1956. It released a request for proposals (RFP) in February 1957. This request called for a ‘close air support attack bomber capable of hitting the enemy at any time’. Aviation authors Bill Gunston and Peter Gilchrist observe that this specification was shaped by the service’s Korean War experiences, during which air support had been frequently unavailable unless fair weather conditions were present.In response to the RFP, a total of eleven design proposals were submitted by eight different companies, including Bell, Boeing, Douglas, Grumman, Lockheed, Martin, North American, and Vought. Grumman’s submission was internally designated as the Type G-128. General characteristicsCrew: 2 (pilot, bombardier/navigator)Length: 54 ft 9 in (16.69 m)Wingspan: 53 ft 0 in (16.15 m)Width: 25 ft 2 in (7.67 m) wing foldedHeight: 16 ft 2 in (4.93 m)Wing area: 528.9 sq ft (49.14 m2)Aspect ratio: 5.31:1Empty weight: 26,660 lb (12,093 kg)Max takeoff weight: 60,400 lb (27,397 kg) (shore-based operations)Fuel capacity: 2,385 US gal (1,986 imp gal; 9,030 L) (internal fuel)Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0144Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J52-P8B turbojets, 9,300 lbf (41 kN) thrust eachPerformanceMaximum speed: 560 kn (640 mph, 1,040 km/h) at sea levelCruise speed: 412 kn (474 mph, 763 km/h)Stall speed: 98 kn (113 mph, 181 km/h) (flaps down)Never exceed speed: 700 kn (810 mph, 1,300 km/h)Combat range: 878 nmi (1,010 mi, 1,626 km) (with max payload)Ferry range: 2,818 nmi (3,243 mi, 5,219 km)Service ceiling: 42,400 ft (12,900 m)g limits: -2.4 to 6.5Rate of climb: 7,620 ft/min (38.7 m/s)Lift-to-drag: 15.2Take-off run to 50 ft (15 m): 4,530 ft (1,380 m)Landing run from 50 ft (15 m): 2,540 ft (770 m)ArmamentHardpoints: Five hardpoints with a capacity of 3,600 lb (1,600 kg) each (4 under wings, 1 under fuselage), 18,000 lb (8,200 kg) total, with provisions to carry combinations of:Rockets:12x LAU-10 4-round 5 inch (127 mm) Zuni pods12x LAU-68 7-round 2.75 inch (70 mm) FFAR pods12x LAU-61/LAU-68 19-round 2.75 inch (70 mm) FFAR podsMissiles:AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar missile × 2AGM-78 Standard ARM anti-radar missile × 2AGM-62 Walleye TV-guided glide bombAGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile× 6AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile/AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile × 4AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missileAGM-123 Skipper air-to-ground missileAIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missileADM-141 TALD decoy missilesBombs:28× Mk 82 500 lb (227 kg) GP bombs or Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster bomb13× Mk 83 1,000 lb (454 kg) GP bombs5× Mk 84 2,000 lb (907 kg) GP bombs5x GBU-12/16/10 laser-guided bombs5x CBU-72 Fuel-Air ExplosivesUp to three B43, B57 or B61 nuclear weaponsOther:Mk 60 Captor MineUp to 5 300 US gal (250 imp gal; 1,100 L) drop tanksVarious practice stores, chaff launchers, baggage pods, flares#a6 #intruder #aircraft