The A-6 Intruder was a folding wing, carrier-based attack aircraft which was used by the US Navy from 1963 to 1997. The Intruder was designed and manufactured by Grumman, which was given the contract in 1957. The prototype, the A2F-1, performed its first flight on April 19, 1960, and entered service in February 1963. Its wing was mounted mid-way up the fuselage. The cockpit used an unusual double pane windscreen and side-by-side seating arrangement in which the pilot sat in the left seat, while the bombardier/ navigator sat to the right and below.

The A-6 Intruder was an all-weather, twin-engine aircraft designed to replace the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider medium attack aircraft. The A-6 became both the US Navy’s and US Marine Corps’s principal medium and all-weather/night attack aircraft from the mid-1960s through the 1990s, seeing action in the Vietnam War. Most U.S. Marine Corps A-6 Intruders were shore based in South Vietnam at Chu Lai and Da Nang. The Grumman A-6 also saw action in April 1986 operating from the aircraft carriers USS America and Coral Sea during the bombing of Libya. Variants: A-6A, A-6B, A-6C, A-6D, A-6E, A-6F, and A-6G.

Specifications

Engine: powered by two Pratt & Whitney J52-P8B turbojets.
Maximum speed: 648 mph (1,040 km/h).
Range: 3,245 mi (5,222 km)
Service ceiling: 40,600 ft (12,400 m).
Length: 54 ft 7 in (16.6 m).
Wingspan: 53 ft (16.2 m).
Crew: two (pilot, bombardier/navigator)
Weapons: one 2.75" (70 mm) CRV7 Rocket Pod and one 5" (127 mm) Zuni Rocket Pod; four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles; six AGM-45 Shrike air-to-ground missiles, or six AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles.

A-6 Intruder in Vietnam (Documentary)