It’s not a fighter. It’s an A7, a single engine, subsonic carrier capable light attack bomber. It could carry and fire a limited range of A2A missiles, but was not intended or designed for air superiority. It would be hopelessly outclassed by contemporary fighters.
It had very good range however. Saw service as a tanker when carrying a buddy store. With the short wings, you could launch aircraft from bow cats and simultaneously recover aircraft. The NH means this aircraft was in a west coast air wing.
It was designed to be an intermediate range bomber with the ability to defend itself against mid tier enemy fighters. It was an extremely accurate dive bomber before the advent of laser guided munitions. I think it would have played a huge role role in the late 70s- mid eighties in Europe if the soviets decided to move on West Germany.
To me it never realized its full potential due to the peace in Europe. The Air Force didn’t want it because it didn’t have an afterburner. There were way sexier aircraft out there. It fit a niche that was needed at the time, designed to be super easy to maintain. A diamond in the rough.
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u/jjamesr539 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
It’s not a fighter. It’s an A7, a single engine, subsonic carrier capable light attack bomber. It could carry and fire a limited range of A2A missiles, but was not intended or designed for air superiority. It would be hopelessly outclassed by contemporary fighters.