The A-6 was the answer. Expected to replace the ageing, prop-driven A-1 Skyraider, the A-6 actually coexisted with the A-1 in service until 1973, at which point the A-1 was finally retired from ...

Conceived during World War II, the Skyraider saw extensive service during the Korean and Vietnam Wars ... Among its variants, the AD-5N was a specialized version of the Skyraider, featuring ...

That’s because the Pentagon needed a plane that could fly low and hover for protracted periods over a battlefield—a niche that jets couldn’t fill. In other words, the A-1 was America’s original Close ...