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From Wikipedia:

The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II is a carrier-based subsonic light attack aircraft design that was introduced to replace the A-4 Skyhawk in US Naval service and based on the successful supersonic F-8 Crusader aircraft produced by Chance Vought. The A-7 was one of the first combat aircraft to feature a head-up display (HUD), doppler-bounded inertial navigation system (INS), and a turbofan engine. It initially entered service with the United States Navy during the Vietnam conflict and was then adopted by the United States Air Force to replace their A-1 Skyraiders that were borrowed from the Navy as well as with the Air National Guard. It was exported to Greece (in the 1970s), Portugal and Thailand (in the late 1980s).

In 1962, the United States Navy began preliminary work on VAX (Heavier-than-air, Attack, Experimental), a replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk with greater range and payload. A particular emphasis was placed on accurate delivery of weapons to reduce the cost per target. The requirements were finalized in 1963 and in 1964, the Navy announced the VAL (Heavier-than-air, Attack, Light) competition. Contrary to USAF philosophy, which was to employ only supersonic fighter bombers such as the F-105 Thunderchief and F-100 Super Sabre, the Navy felt that a subsonic design could carry the most payload the farthest distance. One story illustrated that a "slow fat duck" could fly nearly as fast as a supersonic one, since carrying dozens of iron bombs also restricted its entry speed, but a fast aircraft with small wings and an afterburner would burn up a lot more fuel.

To minimize costs, all proposals had to be based on existing designs. Vought, Douglas Aircraft, Grumman, and North American Aviation responded. The Vought proposal was based on the successful F-8 Crusader fighter, having a similar configuration, but more short and stubby, with a rounded nose. It was selected as the winner on 11 February 1964, and on 19 March the company received a contract for the initial batch of aircraft, designated A-7. In 1965, the aircraft received the popular name Corsair II, after Vought's highly successful F4U Corsair of World War II.

Compared to the F-8 fighter, the A-7 had a shorter, broader fuselage. The wing was made larger, and the unique variable incidence wing of the F-8 was deleted. To achieve the required range, the A-7 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-6 turbofan producing 11,345 lbf (50.5 kN) of thrust, the same innovative combat turbofan produced for the F-111, but without the afterburner needed for supersonic speeds. Turbofans achieve greater efficiency by moving a larger mass of air at a lower velocity.

The aircraft was fitted with an AN/APQ-116 radar which was integrated into the ILAAS digital navigation system. The radar also fed a digital weapons computer which made possible accurate delivery of bombs from a greater stand-off distance, greatly improving survivability compared with faster platforms such as the F-4 Phantom II. It was the first U.S. aircraft to have a modern head-up display, now a standard instrument, which displayed information such as dive angle, airspeed, altitude, drift and aiming reticle. The integrated navigation system allowed for another innovation – the projected map display system (PMDS) which accurately showed aircraft position on two different map scales.

The A-7 enjoyed the fastest and most trouble free development period of any American combat aircraft since World War Two. The YA-7A made its first flight on 27 September 1965, and began to enter Navy squadron service late in 1966. The first Navy A-7 squadrons reached operation status on 1 February 1967, and began combat operations over Vietnam in December of that year.

Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara prodded the Air Force to adopt not only the hugely successful F-4 Phantom II, but also the Navy's A-7 Corsair as a low-cost follow-on to F-105s until the troubled F-111 came online, and as a close-air support replacement for A-1 Skyraider. On 5 November 1965, the USAF announced that it would purchase a version of the A-7, designated the A-7D, for Tactical Air Command. The Air Force ordered the A-7D with a fixed high speed refueling receptacle behind the pilot optimized for the KC-135's flying boom rather than the folding long probe of Navy aircraft. The most important difference from the preceding Navy versions was the adoption of the Allison TF41-A-1 turbofan, a license-built version of British Rolls-Royce Spey. With 14,500 lbf (64.5 kN) of thrust, the engine offered a considerable boost in performance. The M61 Vulcan cannon was selected in place of the twin single-barrel 20 mm cannon. In addition, avionics were upgraded, and the inflight refueling method was changed from probe-and-drogue to the boom. The YA-7D prototype with TF30 flew on 6 April 1968, with the first TF41 aircraft taking to the air on 26 September 1968. The aircraft were later updated to carry the Pave Penny laser spot tracker to add the capability to drop guided bombs. A total of 459 were built.

The Navy was so impressed with the performance gain of USAF A-7D that they ordered their own version with the TF41 engine and M61 cannon, the A-7E. The first prototype flew on 25 November 1968. In 1986, 231 A-7E were equipped to carry the LANA (Low-Altitude Night Attack) pod which projected amplified light image on the HUD and, in conjunction with radar, provided terrain following down to 460 mph (740 km/h) at 200 ft (60 m). A total of 529 were built (not counting 67 A-7Cs).

In 1985, the USAF requested proposals for a fast strike aircraft because of concerns that A-10 Thunderbolt II was too slow for interdiction. The design called for a new engine, either the Pratt & Whitney F100 or General Electric F110. LTV responded with the YA-7F, a supersonic version of A-7 powered by an F100-PW-220 with 26,000 lbf (116 kN) of thrust. To accommodate the new engine, the fuselage was lengthened about 4 ft (1.22 m). New fuselage sections were inserted in both the forward and aft fuselage - a 30 in (76 cm) section in front of the wing and an 18 in (46 cm) section behind the wing. The wing was strengthened and fitted with new augmented flaps, leading edge extensions and automatic maneuvering flaps. The vertical stabilizer height was increased about 10 in (25 cm). Ironically, but unsurprisingly given its antecedents, the end result resembled the F-8 Crusader from which the A-7 was originally derived. Two A-7Ds were modified, the first one flying on 29 November 1989 and breaking the sound barrier on its second flight. The second prototype flew on 3 April 1990. The project was cancelled in favor of the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Production of Corsairs continued through 1984, yielding a total of 1,569 aircraft built. The A-7 Corsair has the distinction of being the only United States single seat jet fighter/bomber of the 1960s that was designed, built, and deployed directly into the Vietnam War.

The A-7 Corsair II was tagged with the nickname "SLUF" ("Short Little Ugly Feller" was the polite version) by pilots.

Pilots of the early A-7s lauded the aircraft for general ease of flying (with the exception of poor stability on cross-wind landings) and excellent forward visibility but noted a lack of engine thrust. This was addressed with A-7B and more thoroughly with A-7D/E. The turbofan engine provided a dramatic increase in fuel efficiency compared with earlier turbojets – the A-7D was said to have specific fuel consumption one sixth that of an F-100 Super Sabre at equivalent thrust. An A-7D carrying 12 x 500 lb (227 kg) bombs at 480 mph (775 km/h) at 33,000 ft (10,000 m) used only 3,350 lb (1,500 kg) of fuel per hour. The integrated weapons computer provided highly accurate bombing with CEP of 60 ft (20 m) regardless of pilot experience. The doppler navigation system required a mere 2.5 minutes on the ground for partial alignment, a big improvement over 13 minutes required in F-4 Phantom II. In addition, the A-7 required only 11.5 man hours of maintenance per mission resulting in quick turnaround and high number of combat-ready aircraft.

In Vietnam, the hot, humid air robbed even upgraded A-7D and A-7E of power. Takeoff rolls were lengthy and fully-armed aircraft struggled to reach 800 km/h. Pilots quipped that the Corsair "is not very fast, but it sure is slow." ^[1] For dissimilar air combat training, and the Blue Angels, the Navy would choose the more nimble A-4 Skyhawk as a subsonic maneuvering platform, as some considered the A-7 to be inadequate in air combat. The Marine Corps would also pass on the Corsair, they would opt instead for the V/STOL vertical landing AV-8 Harrier as their light attack aircraft to replace their A-4F/M Skyhawks.

The first U.S. Navy A-7As were deployed to Vietnam in 1967 with VA-147 Argonauts aboard USS Ranger. The aircraft made their first combat sortie on 4 December 1967. In the following months, VA-147 flew around 1,400 sorties losing only one aircraft. In January 1968, USS Ranger participated in the incident surrounding the capture of USS Pueblo in the Sea of Japan by North Korea. The Navy's improved A-7B model arrived in Vietnam in early 1969, with the definitive A-7E following in 1971. The U.S. Navy's first A-7 loss occurred on 22 December 1967, less than three weeks after entering combat.

The USAF A-7Ds were also widely used in Vietnam and Cambodia with 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, and the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying from Korat RTAFB, Thailand. A-7s from the 354th TFW entered action in October 1972 and attacked targets as far as 800 km from airbases, extensively utilizing mid-air refueling. The A-7Ds were quickly assigned the "Sandy mission" of providing air cover for Combat Search and Rescue missions of downed pilots. Taking over for A-1 Skyraiders (and adopting their call sign of "Sandy"), the A-7's higher speed was somewhat detrimental for escorting the helicopters but the aircraft's high endurance and durability were an asset and it performed admirably. On 18 November 1972, Major Colin A. Clarke led a successful CSAR mission near Thanh Hoa to rescue a downed F-105 Wild Weasel crew. The mission lasted a total of 8.8 hours during which Clarke and his wingman took a number of hits from 0.51 cal (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft fire. For his actions in coordinating the rescue, Clarke was awarded the Air Force Cross, the USAF's second-highest medal, and his A-7D (S/N 70-0970) was placed on display on 31 January 1992 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

The USAF A-7D flew a total of 12,928 combat sorties during the war with only six losses – the lowest of any U.S. fighter in the theatre. The aircraft was second only to B-52 Stratofortress in the amount of ordnance dropped on Hanoi and dropped more bombs per sortie with greater accuracy than any other U.S. attack aircraft.

A-7Ds from Korat flew combat operations over Vietnam until mid-Jan 1973, in Laos until 22 February 1973, and in Cambodia until 15 August 1973. The last shot fired in anger by United States military forces in Southeast Asia was fired by an A-7D of the deployed 345th TFW / 353 TFS assigned to Korat RTAFB on 15 August 1973.

During the war in Southeast Asia, U.S. Navy A-7 Corsairs were gray/white in color; USAF A-7s were normally painted in full camouflage paint schemes. The U.S. Navy did experiment with camouflage paint schemes for some of their aircraft during the war, but during landing operations, the flight deck crews found their duties complicated, due to the inherent changing of the weather conditions aboard a moving ship and the color coded uniforms of the flight deck crew; with the added dangers involved to an already cluttered flight deck, it was determined to keep naval aircraft readily visible for the sake of safety.

On 15 May 1975, A-7D aircraft assigned to the 388th TFW / 3d TFS at Korat RTAFB provided air cover in what is considered the last battle of the Vietnam war, the recovery of the SS Mayagüez after it was hijacked by Cambodian communists.

Navy A-7E squadrons VA-15 and VA-87, from the USS Independence, provided close air support during the Invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, in October 1983.

Navy A-7s also provided air support during the U.S. mission in Lebanon in 1983. Along with an A-6 Intruder, one A-7 was shot down by Syrian surface-to-air missiles (SAM) on 4 December 1983.

On 24 March 1986, during the Gulf of Sidra dispute with Libya, Libyan air defense operators fired SA-5 missiles at two VF-102 F-14s from USS America orbiting on a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) station. The next day, a Navy A-7E aircraft accompanied the fighters and responded to the SA-5 radar emissions by firing the first AGM-88A HARM missiles used in combat and destroying the Libyan radar.

In April 1986, Navy Sixth Fleet A-7Es from VA-72 and VA-46 aboard USS America also participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon, the retaliatory attack on Libya using HARM and Shrike anti-radar missiles.

During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, continued Iranian and Iraqi attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf were becoming so frequent that by 1987 the Kuwaitis requested U.S. assistance and Operation Earnest Will, designed to maintain freedom of navigation within that body of water, was initiated. At the outset, 11 Kuwaiti tankers were “re-flagged,” the Middle East Force escorting the first ships through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf to Kuwait, and then returning outbound, beginning on 22 July 1987.

During escort duty while steaming 55 miles (89 km) northeast of Qatar on 14 April 1988, lookouts on board guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts spotted three mines ahead. Going to general quarters, the ship soon struck a fourth mine that exploded and blew a 21-foot (6.4 m) hole in her port side near frame 276, injuring 10 sailors, and inflicting "considerable damage to the hull, deckhouse and foundation structures, essentially breaking the ship’s back."^{[citation needed]} Herculean damage control efforts by the crew, however, saved the ship. Over the next ten days, Coalition mine countermeasures vessels located eight additional mines, examination of which left little doubt as to their Iranian origins.

Operation Praying Mantis was designed as a "measured response" to this incident, as well as to repeated Iranian shipping harassment and provocations; A-7Es from VA-22 and VA-94, along with A-6E Intruders from VA-95 participated in sinking the Iranian Frigate Sahand, which had fired missiles at two American A-6Es.

The Ohio Air National Guard 180th Tactical Fighter Group was in Panama when hostilities began in late December 1989 and participated in Operation Just Cause. They were among the ANG units that rotated to Howard Air Force Base to provide a presence in Panama Cornet Cove deployment exercises.

While USAF A-7s stayed home in favor of A-10s, the US Navy deployed two of their last A-7E squadrons to Operation Desert Shield in August 1990 aboard USS John F. Kennedy, the only carrier of six deployed to Desert Storm to operate the A-7. VA-46 and VA-72 made the last combat sorties of the A-7 in Operation Desert Storm flying from the Red Sea to targets throughout Iraq. The A-7 was used both day and night to attack a wide range of heavily-defended deep interdiction targets in Iraq as well as "kill boxes" (geographically defined kill zones) in Kuwait, employing a variety of weapons including precision-guided munitions (PGM's), such as the TV-guided Walleye glide bomb, unguided general purpose bombs, and High Speed Anti-Radiation missiles (HARM). The A-7 was also used as a tanker in numerous in-flight refueling missions.

The 4450th Tactical Group stationed at Nellis AFB, Nevada had the unique distinction of being the last active USAF unit to operate the A-7 Corsair II. The mission of the 4450th TG was the operational development of the F-117 Nighthawk, and the unit needed a surrogate aircraft for pilot training and practice. A-7Ds and A-7Ks were obtained from various active-duty and national guard squadrons and were assigned initially to the "(P)" unit of the 4450th TG, redesignated the 4451st Tactical Squadron in January 1983.

The A-7s were used as a deception and training aircraft by the group between 1981 and 1989. It was selected because it demanded about the correct amount of pilot workload expected in the F-117A, was single seat, and many of the F-117A pilots had F-4 or F-111 backgrounds. A-7s were used for pilot training before any F-117As had been delivered to bring all pilots to a common flight training base line. Later, the A-7s were used to chase F-117A tests and other weapon tests at the Nellis Range.

A-7 flight operations began in June 1981 concurrent with the very first YF-117A flights. The A-7s wore a unique "LV" tailcode (for Las Vegas) and had a dark purple/black paint motif. The A-7s were based officially at Nellis Air Force Base and were maintained by the 4450th Maintenance Squadron.

In addition to providing an excuse for the 4450th's existence and activities the A-7s were also used to maintain pilot currency, particularly in the early stages when very few production F-117As were available. The pilots learned to fly chase on F-117A test and training flights, perform practice covert deployments, and practice any other purpose that could not be accomplished using F-117As, given the tight restrictions imposed on all F-117A operations.

Some A-7s operated from the Tonopah Test Range Airport, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Tonopah, Nevada where the F-117s were being operationally tested and care was taken to leave them outside the aircraft hangars during the daytime. The existence of A-7s on the Tonopah flight line would not interest Soviet intelligence agencies when examining spy satellite imagery of the base. That way the Soviets would see that Tonopah operated nothing more exciting than some Corsairs.

As part of the deception and to develop deployment procedures, the 4451st TS deployed A-7s to Kunsan AB, South Korea in 1984 to participate in Team Spirit 1984. The word was purposely leaked that the 4450th TG A-7Ds were carrying "super secret" atomic anti-radar devices that would render the aircraft invisible. To maintain the deception, each A-7D was outfitted with old napalm canisters painted black with a flashing red danger light in the rear. The canisters carried a radiation warning tag over an ominous-looking slot on which was printed: "Reactor Cooling Fill Port." When the 4450th TG deployed carrying these bogus devices, the Security Police closed down the base and ringed the field with machine gun toting jeeps. They forced all the runway personnel to turn their backs to the A-7s as they taxied past, and actually had them spread-eagled on the deck with their eyes closed until the 4450th TG A-7s took off.

There were approximately 20 A-7D aircraft used in developing the F-117, including several two-seat TA-7K trainers. In January 1989, just three months after the USAF admitted the F-117A existed, the A-7s were retired to AMARC and were replaced by AT-38B Talons as training aircraft and the 4451st TS was deactivated.

U.S. Navy A-7 Corsairs began being phased out of the fleet during the mid 1980s with the arrival of the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet. The last Navy A-7s were retired by the last fleet operational squadrons (VA-46 and VA-72) in May 1991 shortly after their return from Desert Storm. The F-16 Fighting Falcon would also largely replace the A-7 as the Air Force's high performance attack fighter. Even with an advanced technology afterburning turbofan, some still remark that the F-16 lacks the range of the old A-7. The complaint that the Hornet lacked range reached such a level that the even larger F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was scaled up to carry more fuel.

By 1981, the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II took over the Air Force close air support (CAS) role from the A-7s with active duty units. With the exception of the A-7s used in the F-117 program, the last active-duty Corsairs were used by the 23d Tactical Fighter Wing at England Air Force Base Louisiana in 1991. Many active duty pilots missed the performance and sophistication of the Corsair.

Active duty U.S. Air Force A-7Ds were transferred to Air National Guard (ANG) units beginning in 1974, with new twin seat A-7Ks built starting in 1979 being sent directly to the ANG. The last USAF Air National Guard Corsairs were retired in 1993 by the ANG units at Rickenbacker ANGB (Ohio), Des Moines (Iowa), Tulsa (Oklahoma) and Springfield (Ohio).

Some of these surplus aircraft were passed to Greece, Thailand and Portugal; however by the end of 1998, with the exception of some airframes used as static displays, all US A-7s were disposed of by AMARC.

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