Vought (LTV) A-7 Corsair II Projects

[BlackBat242]

Looking at the A-7 designations, I think that there's something missing. Namely, the A-7F and A-7J

'But', I hear you say, 'that was the transonic version tested in the late 1980s.' Yes, it was. But that was out of sequence.

You see, after the US Navy's A-7E, the next available designation was A-7F. But instead, we got:

• No A-7F until 1985
• The abortive A-7G for Switzerland in 1972
• The TA-7H prototype two-seater, later redesignated TA-7E
• The A-7E for Greece
• No A-7J
• The USAF two-seat A-7K
• The USN electronic aggressor EA-7L

Yes, the 'A-7H' for Greece is claimed to come from 'Hellas'. But I don't believe any such equivalent (or precedent) exists for Switzerland to receive the 'G' suffix. And, moreover, the A-7K and EA-7L form part of this sequence. Which means the A-7F and A-7J were either skipped for some reason, or assigned to a project that never materialised.

It's a distinct possibility that the A-7J was skipped to avoid confusion with the use of 'J' for Japan. But 'K' wasn't skipped for the United Kingdom, and there have been plenty of other J-suffix aircraft, so that's not conclusive. Skipping 'F', though, doesn't have any obvious explanation.

Looking at the timelines, any abandoned A-7F would likely date between about 1969 and 1972, while the A-7J would date between 1975 and 1979.

A-7P and TA-7P... A-7As & TA-7Cs sold to Portugal.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

I have quite a few personal photos of the A-7 from the 80's somewhere if those would be of interest.

 

[Archibald]

I like the SLUFF, the ugly fatty aircraft that could a lot...

 

[Scott Kenny]

Vought building two seat A-7E derivative (Vought V-519) as advanced trainer; seat advanced attack version, with F100 turbofan and second crew member space given over to 30mm cannon ammo also considered.

Source:

• Air Enthusiast June 1972, p330

The bit about the "F100 turbofan" leads me to believe that the YA-7F had a very long gestation period.

It took a long time to work the bugs out of the F100 engine.

Per wiki, one of the proposed engines was simply the TF41 RR Spey with a modified F100 afterburner. The greater bypass ratio of the Spey meant 26klbs in afterburner instead of the F100's 23k.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Who has some good stuff on the YA-7F? Talk about 'coming full circle," it almost re-evolved into the supersonic F-8 Crusader...

Still wasn't as long as the Crusader.
A-7E was 46ft long with a 39ft wingspan.
YA-7F was 50ft long with a 39ft wingspan.
F-8E was 56ft long with a 36ft wingspan.

But it did have a much better wing than the Crusader.

 

[Archibald]

Holy cow ! Look what I've just found. The original "USAF A-7" (not the A-7D yet) was to add an afterburner to its TF30. then they created the A-7D with a non afterburning TF41.

"A-7A""afterburner" - Recherche Google

 

[Archibald]

"TF-41""B-32K" - Recherche Google

Shazam ! Vought proposal against the Hornet, 1975-76. Was an A-7E with an afterburning TF41, called "B-32K". Unfortunately not good enough to threaten the Hornet.

 

[SSgtC]

"TF-41""B-32K" - Recherche Google

Shazam ! Vought proposal against the Hornet, 1975-76. Was an A-7E with an afterburning TF41, called "B-32K". Unfortunately not good enough to threaten the Hornet.

The V-526 was the better option for a Hornet competitor as it was able to fulfill both the fighter and strike roles. Meanwhile, the Corsair, at its heart, was still a bomb truck.

 

[Archibald]

That one. Vought "VFAX entry", the one before NACF circa 1974. Amusing how it looks like a navalized F-16... V-1600, cough.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/vought-v-526-x-100-fighters-to-1974-vfax-requirement.15854/

 

[Scott Kenny]

The V-526 was the better option for a Hornet competitor as it was able to fulfill both the fighter and strike roles. Meanwhile, the Corsair, at its heart, was still a bomb truck.

Given 90% of what the F-16 does today, an afterburning, stretched A-7 would do just as well. If not better, since the A-7F had a slightly bigger bombload (wiki/Jane's says "up to 17klbs" for the F16 versus "over 17klbs" for the A7F)

 

[SSgtC]

Given 90% of what the F-16 does today, an afterburning, stretched A-7 would do just as well. If not better, since the A-7F had a slightly bigger bombload (wiki/Jane's says "up to 17klbs" for the F16 versus "over 17klbs" for the A7F)

The A-7F was also a denavalised version. A carrier capable "A-7F" would have a lower bomb load. Though likely still more than the Legacy Hornet did

 

[Grey Havoc]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISD36G6DVAQ

 

[Christopher Wang]

I known that is not in service, neither the Hellenica AF o Portuguese AF (last users), but Could have been possible to integrate a moder designator pod like LANTIRN or Litening?
thanks

If you're willing to spend the money on it, and the onboard generator can handle the increased electrical demands, sure

For the A-7 Corsairs, where could the targeting pods (e.g. ATFLIR, LANTIRN, LITENING, Sniper, etc.) be carried?

 

[BlackBat242]

Right where the Texas Instruments AN/AAR-45 LANA (Low-Altitude Night Attack) Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) pod was carried on the A-7E.

A-7E NAS Lemoore October 11 1979



A-7E USS Eisenhower CVN-69 July 2 1988



A-7E with AN-AAR-45 1 Feb 1982






A-7Es aboard CVN-65 Arabian Gulf 24 Oct 82

 

[BlackBat242]

Here are some USAF/ANG A-7Ds with various laser-related sensors:

A-7D with AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny Laser Spot Tracker under intake:



a trio with Pave Pennys and deployed speed brakes and tail hooks:




There was a proposal for a more-complete sensor suite for the A-7Ds - A-7D 67-14582 Front View with Mockup Hughes FLIR LST:

 

[BlackBat242]

Right where the Texas Instruments AN/AAR-45 LANA (Low-Altitude Night Attack) Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) pod was carried on the A-7E.

A-7E NAS Lemoore October 11 1979

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I should put a note here...
I have a little personal experience with the AAS-45 LANA.

I was an A-6E FLIR/laser repair tech in the USMC - at "intermediate" level.
What that meant was the squadron guys pulled malfunctioning assemblies out of the aircraft, then sent them to me - if I couldn't fix it it was sent back to a "depot level" repair center. I was, along with all the rest of the avionics techs, working inside what NavAir calls "Mobile Maintenance Facility units" - white enclosures similar to shipping containers, each with one (or two) heating/AC unit(s), and all connected together with power cables etc.

At the end of April 1984 VMA(AW)-242, one of the two A-6E squadrons at MCAS El Toro, California, was sent to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan for a 6-month deployment rotation - and I was part of the "I-level" contingent that deployed with them. After about 2 weeks at "Lack-o nookie" we went down to NAS Cubi Point, Philippines for 6 weeks, returning at the and of June.

Shortly before we got back to Iwakuni a Navy A-7E squadron (VA-105) showed up - they were on an experimental deployment, forward-deploying to our land base to supplement the Marine Air Wing in Japan instead of deploying aboard a carrier.

They had not done a land deployment before, so we had to help them set up their MMFs, etc.
They had a test bench for the AAS-45 with them (and several pods) - it was a variant of the test bench we had (AN/AAM-60(V)5 - ours was a (V)4, and aboard the carriers was an AAM-60(V)6 bench, that could be used with the FLIR/laser systems on the A-6E. A-7E, and S-3A/B. The (V)1, (V)2, and (V)3 editions of the test bench for the P-3C, S-3A/B and OV-10D FLIRs were smaller (3 bays instead of 4) and manually-operated via an array of programming buttons, whereas the (V)4 and up were run by a HP1000 minicomputer).

I helped teach them how to set up and deal with all the new equipment etc - finally getting them fully operational just in time for us to head back stateside at the end of October.

Ironically, in late 1985 VMA(AW)-121 (based at El Toro) was assigned to CVW-2 (the Carrier Air Wing attached to USS Ranger CV-61) - and I was assigned to deploy with them. Ranger was fresh out of an extended overhaul in Puget Sound Naval Yard, and we spent most of November 1985 inventorying everything, and ordering all the assorted stuff that hadn't made it back aboard yet.

The USN had not yet gotten around to outfitting Ranger or USS JFK CV-67 for F/A-18s, and they were busily retiring the A-7s - so Ranger & JFK were to deploy with an extra A-6E squadron (us) and no A-7s.
In order to save money, the USN had decided not to outfit Ranger for F/A-18s at all, as she was to be retired soon (her SLEP had been postponed and then canceled).
I was tasked with finding, inventorying, and preparing for shipment to NAS Cecil Field, Florida all the A-7E-related equipment (adapters, cables, tools, etc) that went with the AAS-45 and the test bench - a job made easier by my experience with VA-105 the year before!

This is from the squadron history for VA-105 at https://www.airlant.usff.navy.mil/O...ike-Fighter-Squadron-VFA-105/Command-History/

On 8 June 1984, the entire squadron and its twelve Corsairs arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, and became the first Navy unit to operate under the control of the Marine Corps since World War II. The Gunslingers were a component of Marine Aircraft Group TWELVE, First Marine Aircraft Wing. VA-105 won its fifth Battle “E”, the Navy Unit Commendation medal, and the Commander, Light Attack Wing One Maintenance Department of the Year award. In December 1984 the squadron returned to its home on NAS Cecil Field.

Here are some pics and drawings of MMFs:





Below is a "double-wide" set in the hangar of HMS Queen Elizabeth for support of the USMC F-35B squadron aboard QE for her extended deployment a few years ago.

This is the same layout as for the AN/AAS-33A DRS (Detecting and Ranging Set) work center and the AAS-45 work center (the AAM-60 test bench took up about 3/4 the length and 2/3 the depth of one unit - both units had one long wall removed to create a pretty spacious enclosure. You can see the removed walls atop the enclosures.






Here is a MMF "in the sandbox" in the Muddle East. Power came from either nearby buildings or diesel-powered generators (which is what we used in 1984 on NAS Cubi Point).

 

[TomS]

Always nice to get some inside scoop. Thanks for that.

 

[Hydroman]

Right where the Texas Instruments AN/AAR-45 LANA (Low-Altitude Night Attack) Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) pod was carried on the A-7E.

A-7E NAS Lemoore October 11 1979

View attachment 739804

A-7E USS Eisenhower CVN-69 July 2 1988

View attachment 739805

A-7E with AN-AAR-45 1 Feb 1982

View attachment 739806


View attachment 739807

A-7Es aboard CVN-65 Arabian Gulf 24 Oct 82

View attachment 739808

I was on that West Pac, '82/'83!