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This 'Ugly' Jet Could Strike in Any Weather – And Nothing Could Replace It

PilotPhotog

568,856 views

When bad weather grounded every sleek fighter on the carrier deck, the United States Navy turned to one ugly, subsonic bomb truck: the Grumman A-6 Intruder.

It carried a heavier payload than the F-4 Phantom, flew blind through pitch-black storms over Vietnam using the revolutionary DIANE radar system, and laid the foundation for the EA-6B Prowler. Yet, right after proving its unmatched precision-strike capability in Desert Storm, the Navy retired the Intruder—leaving carrier air wings without a true long-range, heavy-payload successor after the stealth A-12 Avenger II was canceled.

In this deep dive, we break down how the "Iron Tadpole" became the ultimate all-weather bomber, its terrifying cold-war nuclear strike mission, and the defense budget spreadsheet decisions that ultimately grounded it forever.

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Credits/Attributions: "The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement." Department of Defense Northrop Grumman Lockheed Martin Boeing Raytheon Pratt & Whitney General Electric
All animations are produced by me, Tog and are property of this channel.
Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of the DOD, any government or company, now you know!

20 Comments

@ShempBob 1 month ago

Not ai written or narrated. Much appreciated bro! 👍

@dmorox 1 month ago

I was an AQ (Diane system tech) in VA-176 from 1968 to 1974. Navy training amounted to a 2 year degree in electronics. Working on our planes was an honor and truthfully fun.

@RobertWilliams-ox4hz 1 month ago

Flight of the Intruder is an underrated movie

@robert506007 1 month ago

Sir your content is a true successor to the old Discovery wings programs from the 80's and 90's.

@teddy.d174 1 month ago

I’ve watched Flight of the Intruder 3 times this year. It’s nice to see this ugly, iron tadpole get some love. Exceptional work, as usual.

@bd5av8r1 1 month ago

The A6 was brutally effective at its job. I know. I maintainted them in the 90s.

@9HighFlyer9 1 month ago

I recently did some work at a ladies house. Above her couch she had a picture of an A-6 on a carrier flight deck. I asked about the picture and she told me her father was a pilot involved in the weapons systems testing.

@mikeck4609 1 month ago

Thank you for this! The A-6 is one of the greatest military aircraft ever made. Born in ‘72, I grew up in the heart of the late Cold War. To me, it was the A-6 and not the F-14 that was the symbol of American power projection at sea. I was a military nerd so I knew more about what this thing could do than my friends whose knowledge of naval aviation came from top gun

@aggressivelychad 1 month ago

The Intruder to me is one of the best looking aircraft ever.

@rogesc7183 1 month ago

It just got old. The F/A-18 could do what it can do and escort itself and still be a fighter when needed.

@jetpilot-jp3kh 1 month ago

The should have kept the A-6. The military leaders often get starry eyed with new tech and forget what works.

@howardsiebel5229 1 month ago

My father worked as an aeronautical engineer for Grumman for over 30 years. He worked on the A-6, the F-111, the F-14, the X-15 and all of the Lunar Shots. He was in nine invasions in the Pacific and came home and finished college using the GI Bill, then raised Five kids. Those Guys and Gals were The Greatest Generation. I Love and miss My Pa.

@joeyho5134 1 month ago

Thank you so much for not using an AI narrator. The Grumman A-6 Intruder was beautiful.

@michaelbarfield528 1 month ago

When I served in VA-34 the Blue Blasters in the mid 80's, the squadron joked an A-6E could carry two F/A-18C fully loaded with ordinance under each wing and dropped on designated targets without the Hornets having to attack the target more than once....

@williamcarl4200 1 month ago (edited)

As an MMFN, I steamed my mighty carrier until we qualified to conduct flight ops. I think it was 4 underways with no planes, no airwing personal, and tons of drills and inspections. When the airwing first showed up the size of the crew doubled. When the planes showed up I was amazed. Oh sure, the 14s were the hero's, the 18s looked fragile, the S3s were interesting, and the Hawkeyes barely fit in our 1950s hanger. Then the Intruders and the Prowlers showed up. Talk about love at first sight?

@DisHammerhand 1 month ago

I remember seeing these in the 80s. You could tell what they were even miles away. My sister was an A6 maintainer. They're not as glamorous as the F14 but I like the looks of them. All business like an A10.

@amadablam8229 1 month ago

On an impractical tangent, we’ve all seen the rich guys buying and flying retired military aircraft but not this one. This plane would be pretty awesome for canyon blasting.

@limf.m.4823 1 month ago

To me the Intruder looks great. It looks like a tapole with wings

@JohnGaltAustria 1 month ago

Willem Dafoe did a Death Star run against Charlie with that jet.

@Redfour5 3 weeks ago

Nuclear capable as I remember. As a Marine, we watched one doing a practice drop where he dived in then went close to straight up and they told us that was how it was done, circa 1974. AND, I remember our neighbor 155 battery (We were a 105 battery A Battery 1/10 2nd Mar Div) being trained to fire nuclear weapons. They didn't seem all that excited about it as I remember. But they came in with trucks and everything having anything to do with the nuclear capability was painted with like red and yellow stripes. Being next door to them we talked and watched...