Солтүстік Америка A-5 Vigilante: АҚШ Әскери-теңіз күштерінің супероникалық бомбалаушысы

Cold War era U. S. carrier based supersonic bomber

The North American A 5 Vigilante is an American carrier based supersonic bomber designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) for the United States Navy. Before the 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations, it was designated A3J. Development of the A 5 had started in 1954 as a private venture by NAA, who sought to produce a capable supersonic long distance bomber as a successor to the abortive North American XA2J Super Savage. It was a large and complex aircraft that incorporated several innovative features, such as being the first bomber to feature a digital computer, while its ability to attain speeds of up to Mach 2 while carrying a nuclear strike payload was also relatively ambitious for the era. This aircraft was envisioned as a successor to the abortive North American XA2J Super Savage. Much of this early work was undertaken by NAA's recently acquired Columbus division, overseen by chief of preliminary design Frank G Compton. During the mid 1950s, the notion of a nuclear armed aircraft capable of speeds of up to Mach 2 was considered to be quite ambitious, and only more so for that same aircraft to be operable under the unavoidable constraints imposed by aircraft carrier operations. The company's preliminary design studies had been typically centred around a twin vertical fin/rudder arrangement, but this was substituted for a single large all moving vertical fin as design definition proceeded. During July 1955, an initial design contract, which included the production of a mockup, was issued to NAA. During September 1956, a follow on contract for the production of a pair of flight worthy prototypes, was awarded to the firm. By this point, the role envisioned for the aircraft within the US Navy had shifted somewhat. According to Gunston and Gilchrist, officials had viewed the aircraft through the lens of the Korean War and placed a high value on performing low level conventionally armed attack missions, but had subsequently shifted towards viewing the in development bomber as a successor to the Douglas A 3 Skywarrior in the strategic nuclear attack role instead. Thus, the design team implemented a somewhat unorthodox bomb bay as to accommodate the stowage of a nuclear weapon, which was also designed to accommodate both fuel tanks and reconnaissance payloads.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, NAA worked on an improved bomber model, designated A 5B. It had a slightly greater wing area and added a long canoe shaped fairing under the fuselage for a multi sensor reconnaissance pack, which housed an APD 7 side looking airborne radar (SLAR), AAS 21 infrared line scanner, and camera packs, as well as improved electronic countermeasures. An AN/ALQ 61 electronic intelligence system could also be carried. The RA 5C retained the AN/ASB 12 bombing system, and could, in theory, carry weapons, although it never did in service. Later build RA 5Cs had more powerful J79 10 engines with afterburning thrust of 17,900 lbf (80 kN). The reconnaissance Vigilante weighed almost five tons more than the strike version with almost the same thrust and an only modestly enlarged wing, resulting in reduced acceleration and climb rate, though it remained fast in level flight. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) considered acquiring the RA 5C as its principal bomber to succeed its fleet of English Electric Canberras. Various other aircraft, such as the McDonnell F 4C/RF 4C, Dassault Mirage IVA, and the BAC TSR 2 were also considered for the role. However, the General Dynamics F 111C, a variant of the TFX (F 111) tailored to fulfil the requirements of the RAAF, was procured to meet the service's needs instead. Due to the F 111C's protracted development, a team of RAAF officers advocated for an interim fleet of 36 Vigilantes to be acquired by the RAAF, having determined that the aircraft satisfied the service's requirements and could be delivered within a shorter time frame. The Australian Government rejected this advice and no such procurement occurred.

The North American A 5 Vigilante was a supersonic carrier based bomber. At the time of its introduction, the Vigilante was one of the largest and by far the most complex aircraft to operate from an aircraft carrier. It was furnished with a high mounted swept wing with a boundary layer control system (blown flaps) to improve low speed lift. The wings, vertical stabilizer and the nose radome all folded to enable easier stowage onboard aircraft carriers. Two widely spaced General Electric J79 turbojet engines were supplied with air through inlets with variable intake ramps. While the same engine was used by several other US military aircraft, such as the Convair B 58 Hustler and the McDonnell Douglas F 4 Phantom II, the powerplants used on the A 5 differed in some ways, such as the use of a somewhat uncommon air impingement starter along with a single igniter. Both engines were equipped with constant speed drives for alternators to generate a steady 30kVA for the onboard electrical systems, a hydraulically driven emergency supply generated by a ram air turbine was also installed. According to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Vigilante was the first bomber to feature a digital computer. In practice, the system was not reliable and no live weapons were ever carried in the linear bomb bay. In the RA 5C configuration, the bay was used solely to accommodate fuel. On three occasions, the shock of the catapult launch caused the fuel cans to eject onto the deck; this phenomenon reportedly resulted in one aircraft loss. Early production Vigilante were outfitted with a pair of wing pylons, which were intended primarily for drop tanks. The second Vigilante variant, the A3J 2 (A 5B), featured two additional wing hardpoints, for a total of four, and also incorporated internal tanks for an additional 460 gallons of fuel (which added a pronounced dorsal "hump"). In practice, these hardpoints were rarely used. Other improvements to the type included blown flaps on the leading edge of the wing and stronger landing gear. While designated by the US Navy as a "heavy" aircraft, the A 5 was surprisingly agile; without the drag of bombs or missiles, even escorting fighters found that the clean airframe and powerful engines made the Vigilante very fast at high and low altitudes. However, its high approach speed and high angle of attack contributed to a high workload during carrier landings.

Designated A3J 1, the Vigilante first entered service with Heavy Attack Squadron Three (VAH 3) in June 1961 at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida, replacing the Douglas A 3 Skywarrior in the heavy attack, e. g., "strategic nuclear strike" role. All variants of the Vigilante were built at North American Aviation's facility at Port Columbus Airport in Columbus, Ohio, alongside the North American T 2 Buckeye, T 39 Sabreliner and OV 10 Bronco. Under the Tri Services Designation plan implemented under Robert McNamara in September 1962, the Vigilante was redesignated A 5, with the initial A3J 1 becoming A 5A and the updated A3J 2 becoming A 5B. The subsequent reconnaissance version, originally A3J 3P, became the RA 5C. The Vigilante's early service proved troublesome, with many teething problems for its advanced systems. Although these systems were highly sophisticated, the technology was in its infancy and its reliability was poor. Although most of these reliability issues were eventually worked out as maintenance personnel gained greater experience with supporting these systems, the aircraft tended to remain a maintenance intensive platform throughout its career. The A 5's service coincided with a major policy shift in the U. S. Navy's strategic role, which switched to emphasize submarine launched ballistic missiles rather than manned bombers. As a result, in 1963, procurement of the A 5 was ended and the type was converted to the fast reconnaissance role. The first RA 5Cs were delivered to VAH 3, the A 5A and A 5B Replacement Air Group (RAG)/Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), subsequently redesignated as Reconnaissance Attack Squadron Three (RVAH 3), at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida in July 1963. As they transitioned from the attack version to the reconnaissance version, all Vigilante squadrons were subsequently redesignated from VAH to RVAH. Under Commander, Reconnaissance Attack Wing One (COMRECONATKWING ONE), a total of 10 RA 5C squadrons were ultimately established. RVAH 3 continued to be responsible for the stateside based RA 5C training mission of flight crews, maintenance and support personnel, while RVAH 1, RVAH 5, RVAH 6, RVAH 7, RVAH 9, RVAH 11, RVAH 12, RVAH 13 and RVAH 14 routinely deployed aboard Forrestal, Saratoga, Ranger, Independence, Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Enterprise, America, John F. Kennedy and eventually the s to the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Western Pacific. Eight of ten squadrons of RA 5C Vigilantes also saw extensive service in the Vietnam War starting in August 1964, carrying out hazardous medium level post strike reconnaissance missions. Although it proved fast and agile, 18 RA 5Cs were lost in combat: 14 to anti aircraft fire, 3 to surface to air missiles, and 1 to a MiG 21 during Operation Linebacker II. Nine more RA 5Cs were lost in operational accidents while serving with Task Force 77. Due, in part, to these combat losses, 36 additional RA 5C aircraft were built from 1968 to 1970 as attrition replacements. In 1968, Congress closed the aircraft's original operating base of Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida and transferred the parent wing, Reconnaissance Attack Wing One, all subordinate squadrons and all aircraft and personnel to Turner AFB, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing B 52 Stratofortress and Boeing KC 135 base in Albany, Georgia. The tenant SAC bomb wing was then inactivated and control of Turner AFB was transferred from the Air Force to the Navy with the installation renamed Naval Air Station Albany. In 1974, after barely six years of service as a naval air station, Congress opted to close Naval Air Station Albany as part of a post Vietnam force reduction, transferring all RA 5C units and personnel to Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. Despite the Vigilante's useful service, it was expensive and complex to operate and occupied significant amounts of precious flight deck and hangar deck space aboard both conventional and nuclear powered aircraft carriers at a time when carrier air wings, with the introduction of the F 14 Tomcat and S 3 Viking, were averaging 90 aircraft, many of which were larger than their predecessors. With the end of the Vietnam War, disestablishment of RVAH squadrons began in 1974, with the last Vigilante squadron, RVAH 7, completing its final deployment to the Western Pacific aboard USS Ranger in late 1979. The final flight by an RA 5C took place on 20 November 1979 when a Vigilante departed Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. Reconnaissance Attack Wing One was subsequently disestablished at Naval Air Station Key West in January 1980. The Vigilante did not end the career of the A 3 Skywarrior, which would carry on as photo reconnaissance aircraft, electronic warfare platforms, aerial refueling tankers, and executive transport aircraft designated as RA 3A/B, EA 3A/B, ERA 3B, EKA 3B, KA 3B, and VA 3B, into the early 1990s. Fighters replaced the RA 5C in the carrier based reconnaissance role. The RF 8G version of the Vought F 8 Crusader, modified with internal cameras, had already been serving in two light photographic squadrons (VFP 62 and VFP 63) since the early 1960s, operating from older aircraft carriers unable to support the Vigilante. The Marine Corps' sole photographic squadron (VMFP 3) would also deploy aboard aircraft carriers during this period with RF 4B Phantom II aircraft. These squadrons superseded the Vigilante's role by providing detachments from the primary squadron to carrier air wings throughout the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s, until the transfer of the recon mission to the Navy's fighter squadron (VF) community operating the F 14 Tomcat. Select models of the F 14 Tomcat would eventually carry the multi sensor Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) and the Digital Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod (D TARPS). Up to present day, the weight of carrier based fighters such as the F 14 Tomcat and Boeing F/A 18E/F Super Hornet have evolved into the same class as the Vigilante.

On 13 December 1960, Navy Commander Leroy A. Heath (pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (bombardier/navigator) established a world altitude record of 91,450.8 feet (27874 m) in an A3J Vigilante carrying a 1,000 kilogram payload, beating the previous record by over 4 mile (6 km). This new record held for more than 13 years. The attempt was accomplished by reaching a speed of Mach 2.1, then pulling up to create a ballistic trajectory beyond the altitude at which its wings could continue to function. The engines flamed out in the thin atmosphere, and the aircraft rolled onto its back. This had already been experienced in previous flights, and so the pilot simply released the controls and the aircraft regained control naturally as it descended back into the thicker air of the lower atmosphere.