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PAGE 77/ROBERT LAWSON
Flexibility and endurance are the watchwords of the Skywarrior designed by Ed Heinemann, facing page. The “Whale” is still flown 33 years after the first XA3D-1, above, took to the skies as the prototype of a strategic attack aircraft. On the previous page, an EA-3B surveillance version of the Skywarrior is seen landing aboard the Constellation (CV-64).
The oldest first-line carrier aircraft in U. S. Navy service—which has survived its successor—can be expected to remain in service at least into the 1990s. The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, which is also the largest aircraft ever designed to fly from aircraft carriers, still operates regularly from forward-deployed carriers, flying electronic surveillance missions. This passive role is a far cry from the mission envisioned more than 30 years ago when the first Skywarrior, the XA3D-1, took to the sky.
In 1954, as the Skywarrior was about to enter service, then-Rear Admiral Paul H. Ramsey told an audience at the Naval War College that the plane “will be able to deliver, in all weather, all atomic weapons except the very largest thermonuclear types and to ranges slightly in excess of 1,000 miles at altitudes over 40,000 feet.” Then known as the A3D, the Skywarrior was the first naval aircraft to be designed from the outset specifically for the nuclear strike role.
At the end of World War II many American political and military leaders believed that the atomic bomb had alleviated the need for naval forces, especially aircraft carriers. But Navy leaders counterattacked, proposing more flexible military forces, including nuclear-strike aircraft launched from the existing aircraft carriers as well as a new class of “super” carriers. One of the leaders of this Navy cabal, the late Rear Admiral Daniel Gallery, in a report dated 17 December 1947, urged the Navy to “start an aggressive campaign aimed at proving that the Navy can deliver the Atomic Bomb more effectively than the Air Force'can.”
The initial Navy effort to develop a nuclear strike capability was the conversion of a dozen land-based P2V Neptune patrol bombers to carry an atomic bomb and take off from the large, Midway (CVB-41)-class aircraft carriers. Although 128 “traps” were made with a P2V-3C at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, the decision was to not risk landing one of the planes—with a minimum landing weight of some 50,000 pounds— coming aboard ship. Simultaneously, the decision was to adopt a large carrier-capable aircraft being developed by
North American Aviation as a conve® tional heavy bomber for carrier use- The Navy looked to this aircraft as 3 possible nuclear bomber for carrier operation. This aircraft was the AJ Savage, a three-engine aircraft with twin piston radial engines and a turn jet mounted in the after fuselage f°r “boost” speeds up to 466 miles pet ^ hour. Deliveries of the Savage beg3^1 September 1949 with the plane, hav! a loaded weight of almost 48,000 pounds, being capable of landing taking off from the smaller Essex 9)-class carriers as well as the larger Midways.
As early as the fall of 1947, how ever, the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was seeking a still more-c3" ble nuclear strike aircraft for carrier operation. BuAer specified a grosS, takeoff weight of 100,000 pounds plane intended to operate from the planned supercarrier United States (CVA-58). The leading designer at Douglas Aircraft, Ed Heinemann, 1 ^ stead began work on a 68,000-p°UI^. plane that could operate from the ways and possibly from modernize ^ .sex-class ships. He had doubts tha large carrier would be built. (The , a United States was in fact cancel^ ^jl few days after being laid down if 1949.) )d
78
Proceedings/Decern
b«r
Heinemann believed that he c°u meet the performance requiremen >
I lch included a 10,000-pound bomb N°ad- Few would agree with him; one , avy captain is quoted as telling him, thought you were an honest engi- ^eet, Ed. You know good and well you ,an 1 produce an airplane of that capa- 'hty for that weight!”1 to ^urtlss Aircraft Company sought develop a competitor to the Heine- ann design, while North American /°duced an A2J prototype, a turbo- |r°P version of the Savage.
I einemann’s airplane was a sleek-look- aircraft with a high, swept-back with two turbojet pods slung er the wings. The A-3’s outer wing nels and tall tail fin could fold for j >er operation. The three-man Warrior crew—pilot, bombardier- ^v'gator, and flight engineer—was Used in a pressurized cockpit for- 12 A maximum bomb load of in ’ 00 pounds could be accommodated Sj he internal weapons bay with provi- p0ns for carrying up to four 2,000- 2q nd bombs. For defense, a pair of ^'tttm. M3 guns with 500 rounds per tfel were fitted in a remotely con- rqajtail turret. The Skywarrior’s Vgaj ®n flight on 28 October 1952 re- 140 e<a[1]hat the planned Westinghouse anj ed8ines were not powerful enough, repia ter several months, they were tyj,?Ced by the Pratt & Whitney J57.
Per l a ma)timum speed of 643 miles Slty °Ur (Mach 0.84) at sea level, the pi0arrior provided the forward-decarriers with a far more realistic CeSsar strike capability than its prede- »fi(j the piston-driven AD Skyraiders \!ept Savages (the 12 converted retire^es *laving *ong since been
Skywarrior reached the fleet in fes,al 1^56, going on board the For-
''""A-59) and Midway classes in
nine- to 12-plane squadrons, and on the modernized Essex (later called Hancock [CVA-19] class) carriers in three-plane detachments. The first squadron to receive the Skywarrior was Heavy Attack Squadron One (VAH-1), which had been reorganized from Patrol Squadron Three (VP-3) some six months earlier. Heretofore the heavy aircraft (Savages and Neptunes) had been in composite squadrons (VCs); with the formation of VAH-1, the heavy attack concept seemed to have come of age. More squadrons were formed or redesignated; VP-29 became VAH-2, while composite squadrons VC-5 through -9 became heavy attack squadrons with the same numbers. New squadrons were established with a total of 13 being formed, VAH-1 through -12 plus VAH-123 as a fleet transition squadron.
Special-mission Skywarriors would be assigned to other squadrons, especially in the electronic intelligence (ELINT) and reconnaissance versions. The ELINT EA-3 versions flew with fleet air reconnaissance squadrons VAQ-1 and VAQ-2, and the specialized recce RA-3 with heavy photographic squadrons VAP-61 and VAP-62.
A total of 282 Skywarriors were produced before production ended in late 1960. Several different variants emerged from the Douglas plant at El Segundo, California, with older aircraft later undergoing conversion to specialized roles.2
XA3D-1 prototype; 2 built.
YA3D-1 preproduction prototype; 1 built.
A3D-1 (later A-3A) first production strike aircraft; 49 built.
A3D-1P (later RA-3 A) photo reconnaissance aircraft converted from A3D-1. A3D-1Q (later EA-3 A) electronic countermeasure (ECM) aircraft converted from A3D-1.
A3D-2 (later A-3B) standard
strike aircraft; 164 built. A3D-2P (later RA-3B) photo aircraft; 30 built.
A3D-2Q (later EA-3B) electronic surveillance aircraft; 24 built.
A3D-2T (later TA-3B) operational training aircraft; 12 built. A3D-2Z (later VA-3B) executive transport converted from A3D-2.
EKA-3B ECM-tanker aircraft converted from A3D-2.
KA-3B tanker aircraft converted from A3D-2.
Early in the Skywarrior program the Navy also looked into a fighter configuration that would be an “aerial picket,” with search radar and air-to- air missiles, stationed aloft some 80 to 175 miles from the carrier task force. An extensively modified version of the Skywarrior was also produced for the U. S. Air Force with the popular name Destroyer. Although initially intended as a strike aircraft and designated B-66, most of the more than 200 Air Force planes flew in specialized electronic (EB-66), reconnaissance (RB-66), or weather (WB-66) configurations. A pair of B-66B aircraft were modified for use by NASA for high-altitude parachute drops of space equipment (becoming NB-66s), and two WB-66D models were modified for laminar-flow tests (X-21). (A modification of A-3B aircraft by NASA for further research into upper surface wing blowing as part of the effort to develop a quiet short-haul research aircraft [QSRA] has also been considered.)
The Navy’s Skywarrior nuclear strike aircraft soon became familiar sights as they flew from the decks of forward- deployed carriers. Heinemann continued to improve his product and demonstrate the upper limits of its performance. In 1959, a tanker version made three catapult shots from the Independence (CVA-62) with a gross weight of 84,000 pounds—a record for carrier- based aircraft.
Aircraft at this weight were later approved for fleet operation from carriers, although a maximum of 70,000 pounds became the practice. The performance of the Skywarrior was often demonstrated as the planes established several transcontinental flight records. And, in 1975, a KA-3B from VAQ-208 made the longest non-stop flight ever made by a carrier-based jet aircraft— from Rota, Spain, to Alameda, California, 6,100 miles in 13 hours.
The Skywarriors, however, served as the principal heavy attack aircraft for only a few years. In the quest for more performance and hence survivability, the Navy sponsored the development of a supersonic attack aircraft, the North American A3J Vigilante (later designated A-5). The “Viggie” was to replace the Skywarrior, but by the time of the first A-5 squadron’s delivery in 1961, the aircraft carriers were being deleted as primary nuclear strike platforms in favor of Polaris missile submarines; also, the development of smaller nuclear weapons meant that the diminutive A4D/A-4 Skyhawk, called “Heinemann’s hot rod,” and fighter-
79
type aircraft could deliver tactical nuclear weapons.
As a result, the strike version of the Vigilante was replaced on the production line by the RA-5C reconnaissance aircraft and the heavy attack squadrons became RVAH squadrons. (Other VAHs converted to tactical electronic warfare squadrons [VAQs], flying the EA-3Bs or EKA-3Bs until they converted to the Grumman EA-6B Prowler.) The RA-5C Vigilante served in the fleet until 1979, when the last squadron, RVAH-7, stood down. But in 1979 the A-3 Skywarrior was still in front-line service. Indeed, during the 1960s and early 1970s the Skywarrior compiled an outstanding combat and support record in the Vietnam conflict.
During the war Skywarriors served ashore and afloat in the reconnaissance,
The results of Ed Heinemann’s fertile mind are displayed in his diminutive A4D-1 Skyhawk alongside his A3D-1 Skywarrior. The A-4 was the smallest U. S. nuclear strike aircraft, so small that the wings did not fold. At right, A3D-ls of VAH-1, the first Skywarrior squadron, join the fleet in March 1956.
electronic countermeasure, electronic surveillance, conventional strike, and tanker roles. Generally referred to as the “Whale” because of its size, the Skywarrior flew over North and South Vietnam, with some aircraft painted black for clandestine missions, various shades of camouflage for low-level flights, as well as standard Navy gray. In the tanker role, a KA-3B could carry 34,178 pounds of fuel, of which two-thirds could be transferred to other aircraft via a drogue system. The Skywarriors themselves generally had a fixed refueling probe on the port side of the fuselage.
Almost every strike launched from U. S. carriers on the Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam was accompanied by a Whale to refuel aircraft losing fuel because of enemy damage, or to help out if the landing cycle was slowed, or if there was a rescue operation. One tanker detachment was credited with 71 “saves” of aircraft that would otherwise have been lost during one eight-month deployment. Perhaps the strangest tanker operation occurred in 1967 when an Air Force KC-135 tanker saved six Navy aircraft, including two KA-3 tankers that had just given most of their fuel to Navy strike and fighter aircraft.
The KC-135 was on a routine miS' sion over the Gulf of Tonkin, refuel>n® two Air Force F-104 fighters, when 1 e tanker was directed to rendezvous wit two KA-3B tankers from the carrier Hancock. The F-104s went along to provide fighter cover. When the KC- 135 reached the two Skywarriors, °ne of the Navy planes had only three nut utes of usable fuel on board. The KA-3B did have 4,000 pounds of fue that could be transferred to other aircraft but because of mechanical diff1'^ culties the Skywarrior could not use fuel itself. The Air Force tanker tran* ferred a token amount of fuel to the first KA-3B to keep it aloft; it then plugged in the second KA-3B. Duritr this refueling another rendezvous was set up for the emergency fueling F-8 Crusader fighters from the Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). The mo critical of the Crusaders had only 3 (
80
pounds of fuel remaining and could wait for the KA-3B to break away from the Air Force tanker. The F-° slipped in behind the KA-3B and hooked up with the Navy tanker. ' three planes—KC-135, KA-3B, F- flew along linked by fuel hoses. f In the midst of this operation an° emergency rendezvous was ordered, this time for two F-4 Phantoms in a
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p, ,cal fuel situation. After helping the fbept0ms t*le RC-135 pumped more tia, lnto the escorting F-104s and then tat *1° *)rea*c °ff and make for an alter- an<fing field in the South, being fja, le to reach its own base. All six k ^ Planes involved in the operation ched their carriers safely. f]e ”e Photo aircraft of VAP-61 also fli fr°m carriers in the Vietnam con- bas ’ hut operated mostly from land ive,|S in Guam and the Philippines, as as from Don Muang in Thailand V,\pDa NanS in South Vietnam. The I MthS Were lhe Navy’s only squadrons tj0a a cartographic capability in addi- s5ii l° conclucting tactical reconnais- theCe’ an<l were invaluable in updating Vlf„maPs needed for operations in the , nam conflict.
r°amtlle recce role RA'3Bs would UP and down the Ho Chi Minh l0ss Coring the day and then, after the at ntWo aircraft to small arms fire, j^'ght. Painted black and fitted with videared sens°rs as well as a real-time 500 ° display, the RA-3Bs would fly at >Cet or Iess’ seekmg the “hot Call h Produced hy supply trucks and Pou °Wn orbiting attack planes to ciaj . e °n the traffic. Fitted with spe- co'^ed film, RA-3B cameras lati0a|so detect whether or not vege- n Was alive, thus finding cut foli- Afte'V?s being used for camouflage. iiver hve-and-one-half years of inten- Service over Southeast Asia, VAP- disestablished in 1970.
!ty0 **> KA-3B tankers serve only in aval Air Reserve tanker squad
rons, VAK-208 and VAK-308, assigned to Reserve Carrier Air Wings 20 and 30, respectively. These units were formerly designated as tactical electronic warfare squadrons (VAQs), being changed to VAK in October 1979 (with the reserves receiving the EA-6A Intruder for the VAQ role).
The active Navy flies the EA-3B in two fleet air reconnaissance squadrons, VQ-1 based at Agana, Guam, and VQ-2 at Rota. These squadrons, which also fly the EP-3B/E Orion, provide electronic surveillance in direct support of fleet operations. One or two of the Skywarriors normally roost on board forward-deployed carriers.
There is no planned replacement for the EA-3B. Lockheed proposed an ES-3 variant of the ship-based Viking ASW aircraft, and Grumman has put forward a variant of its EA-6B Prowler ECM aircraft for the carrier-based ESM role. But the EA-3B continues to carry on in that role.
A few other Skywarriors are flown by the Navy: TA-3B and VA-3B aircraft, the former with dual controls, are used as VIP transports for the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations; other Skywarrior variants are flown by tactical electronic warfare squadrons, VAQ-33 at Key West, Florida, and VAQ-34 at Point Mugu, California, which simulate Soviet elec- tronic/jamming transmissions for fleet exercise and development efforts. Also, the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu uses Skywarriors in support of missile test programs.
In late 1984, there are 51 Whales still in Navy service: 31 flown by active Navy squadrons (VQ and VAQ), ten by reserve squadrons (VAK), with another ten used by Pt. Mugu, other Navy activities, and Navy contractors for test and evaluation work. Considering that several of these are in fleet squadrons and still operate regularly from carriers, this is remarkable for an aircraft that first flew more than 30 years ago, and will probably remain in service for another decade.
‘Edward H. Heinemann and Rosario Rausa, Ed Heinemcmn—Combat Aircraft Designer (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1980), p. 202; also see Rene J. Francillon, McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 (London: Putnam, 1979) pp 493501, 530-536.
:A11 existing naval aircraft were redesignated in late 1962; see N. Polmar, "Military Aircraft Designations,” Proceedings, September, 1983 pn 135-138.
Author’s Note: Harry Gann, Peter Mersky, and Mary Sprawls kindly assisted in the photo research for this feature.
Norman Polmar is an analyst, author, and editor specializing in U. S. and Soviet naval, aviation, and strategic subjects. He first encountered the Skywarrior when he spent a month on board the attack carrier Forrestal (CVA-59) in the Mediterranean in 1961, and has been a "Whale watcher" ever since. He is the author of the 13th edition of the comprehensive reference work The Ships and Aircraft of the U. S. Fleet, published this fall by the Naval Institute Press.
W,-
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WOMUMUWV1*. U. 8. NAVY (W n. CUR1SN0ER, MARCH »
Looking good and looking big, an A3D conies aboard the Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31), one of the comparatively small carriers of the EssexIHancock (CV-9/CVA-19) class that successfully operated Skywarriors.
Above, an EA-3B from VAQ-130 climbs out after being catapulted from the Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42)
as an F-8 Crusader and another Whale are readied for launching. Below, the Skywarrior’s size—and weight________________________
were also evident when they had to be respotted on the flight deck—here an EA-3B from VQ-1 is moved on the Nimitz (CVN-68).
U. K MAW I I nortun.1, rr-r,,„_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Skywarriors flew in a variety of roles in the Vietnam War. Opposite, top, an EKA-3B from VAQ-130 heads inland from the Bon Homme Richard; note the electronic fairings on the fuselage and tail, and the drogue device under the fuselage. Opposite, bottom, an A-3B from VAH-2 displays its score of 16 bombing missions. Relatively few Skywarriors, however, flew in the bombing role, as is this A-3B from VAH-4 above. Below, an EA-3B from VAQ-1 comes to rest at a South Vietnamese airfield. The plane wears the camouflage colors used by many special-mission Skywarriors that operated over Vietnam; some night-fliers were painted black.
U. S. NAVY (VIA A. M. MC PHERSON)
Three special-mission Sky warriors support U. S. surveillance of the Soviet 1970 Okean exercise opposite, top— an EA-3B from VQ-1 (tail letters PR), a KA-3B from the Oriskany (CVA-34), and an RA-3B from VQ-1 (previously assigned to VAP-61). The Whales made excellent tankers, with the Skywarrior, opposite, bottom, tanking an RA-5C Vigilante. Above, an RA-3B from VAP-62 displays its camera ports. Only the electronic surveillance planes (EA-3Bs) remain in first-line Navy service and tanker variants (KA-3Bs) in the Naval Air Reserve. But others fly for the Navy in the VIP transport and research roles, as this test aircraft, below, demonstrated by launching a Phoenix air-to-air missile.
WESTERN ELECTRIC. MARCH 1968