Air International 2000-02
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R.Francillon - Still Standing in the Ring /Military aviation/
N13-154907, an A-4G of VF-805, Royal Australian Navy, aboard HMAS Melbourne. Note the Douglas D-704 buddy refuelling pod on the centreline station.
Еще одним прозвищем A-4 было "Тарахтелка", применявшееся по отношению к A-4K новозеландских ВВС. Последние эксплуатировали самолет почти 30 лет и в начале 1990-х годов модернизировали их.
McDonnell Douglas A-4K Skyhawk of the RNZAF
Three-ship formation of two RNZAF A-4Ks and a TA-4K from 2 Squadron, based at NAS Nowra, Australia. Among their many upgrades the RNZAF A-4s have been equipped with a Westinghouse AN/APG-66 (NZ) radar optimized for maritime tracking and HOTAS controls.
A-4 ВВС "Свободного Кувейта" в период проведения операции "Буря в Пустыне"
Kuwait Air Force A-4KUS Skyhawks are now kept in storage at the Ahmed al Jaber Air Base. They were withdrawn from service shortly after the Gulf War. During Desert Shield, 9 and 25 Squadron aircraft (including 160184A shown here) received a 'Free Kuwait' inscription, still carried on its fuselage.
Three A-4AR Fightinghawks and a single TA-4AR test flying over California prior to delivery to the Argentine Air Force. After six initial aircraft were modified by Lockheed Martin Aircraft Services at its Ontario, California, facility, the remainder of a total of 36 former VS Marine Corps A-4M/OA-4M Skyhawks are being upgraded locally in Argentina by Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA at Cordoba. The first five aircraft were formally handed over to the FAA on December 23, 1997, at El Palomar air base after ferry from the USA.
"Скайхок" бразильского флота
N-1001, the first jet aircraft of the Forca Aeronaval da Marinha do Brasil. Brazilian pilots are among the last class of Naval Aviators being trained on TA-4Js by VT-7 at NAS Meridian, Mississippi.
Currently equipped with six A-4S Skyhawks, the RSAF Black Knights aerobatic team was formed in 1974 with Hunters. The team converted to F-5 Tiger IIs in 1981 and received their A-4s in 1990.
Установка 30-мм пушки DEFA на израильском "Скайхоке"
Developed by Israel Military Industries for the A-4Hs of the Heyl Ha’Avir, the 30mm DEFA 553-4 cannon installation was retrofitted in Argentina to six A-4Cs and six A-4Ps during the mid-1980s.
A-4 индонезийских ВВС
An Indonesian Air Force A-4E o/Skadron Udara 11 flares for touchdown at its Hasanuddin base in July 1999. The TNI-AU initially acquired a batch of 14 A-4Es and two TA-4Hs from the Israeli Defence Force/Air Force via the US Department of Defense in 1980, followed by a similar number in 1983 from the same source. Originally also operated by Skadron Udara 12 at Pekanbaru, this unit retired its Skyhawks when they were replaced by BAe Hawks in 1996, leaving Hasanuddin as the TNI-AU’s sole remaining Skyhawk base.
Maintenance of the RSAF Skyhawks is carried out in one of the French Air Force's hangars at Cazau, with three aircraft typically undergoing maintenance at any one time. Note that like many other 'fifties aircraft, the fuselage is split to allow for the removal of the engine.
After a large number of Ahits were lost to SA-7s during the Yom Kippur War, the Heyl Ha’Avir had its A-4s retrofitted with an extended jet pipe to reduce the exhaust’s thermal signature. In spite of the censor's crude work, traces of the bird of prey markings of Tayeset 140 ‘Nesher Ha’Zahav’ (140 'Golden Eagle' Squadron) can still be seen on the fin of this ex-USN A-4E.
A total of 18 Republic of Singapore Air Force Super Sky hawks (ten TA-4SUs and eight A-4SV single seat variants) are currently based at Cazau, France, for a variety of training purposes, Letters of agreement for the deployment, covering a five year period, were exchanged in December 1998. The 'double-bubble' canopy configuration of the TA-4SU, may clearly be seen in this view of a 150 Squadron aircraft.
The most extensively modified Skyhawk, the TA-4S-1 was the unique two-seat trainer version of the A-4S Super Skyhawk reworked by Singapore Aerospace Technologies for the Republic of Singapore Air Force and which achieved initial operational capability in 1989. The single-seaters were subsequently further updated to A-4SU standard from 1992.
Key: 1 General Electric F404-GE-100D non-afterburning engine, 2 Shallow S-shaped exhaust transition duct, restores original thrust line, 3 Modified and strengthened centre-fuselage frames, 4 New engine mounting, raised position above accessory gearbox, 5 Airframe-mounted auxiliary drive gearbox (AMAD) with variable speed constant frequency generator, 6 ADF antenna, 7 AMAD and generator cooling air heat-exchanger, intake/ejector duct on port intake flank, 8 Intake transition duct, 9 Instructor’s cockpit, 10 Extended forward pilot's cockpit, 11 Student pilot’s cockpit, 12 Centreline external fuel tank.