The A-4 Skyhawk in Australian Service
The A-4 Skyhawk was one of the most recognisable fighter aircraft from the Vietnam era. A small, agile, carrier-ready design, it could fill a variety of roles. Although it has been largely forgotten, these aircraft once operated in Australian service.
HISTORY
In 1954, the first prototype of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk took flight. This new aircraft was under development for the US Navy and Marines. With a small airframe, it boasted a high load capacity, and was advanced for its time. Its small size was an important selling point that actually went against the trend at the time, when larger carrier-based aircraft were in vogue.
By the late 1950s, the Royal Australian Navy was facing a crisis with its aircraft. The aircraft operating from HMAS Melbourne were increasingly obsolete - the primary aircraft being the de Havilland Sea Venom. It was also believed that the Melbourne wouldn’t be fit to operate newer naval aircraft, and so the Fleet Air Arm was uncertain about its future. Considerations were made to upgrade the carrier - but this proved to be too costly - and it was proposed that it become a helicopter carrier only. There didn’t seem to be any attractive offers on the table.
However, by 1963 - perhaps thanks to World War 2 veteran senator John Gorton - it was decided that the Melbourne would remain a fixed wing carrier for the next decade or so, continuing to operate the Sea Venoms. There was still no viable replacement for these aircraft at the time, but this would change the following year. The Royal Canadian Navy had used the Melbourne’s sister ship – the majestic-class carrier HMCS Bonaventure - to trial the new A-4 Skyhawk. The trials were a success, proving that the majestic-class Melbourne could also successfully operate these new aircraft.
In July 1964 the Melbourne itself would undergo similar trials. Sent to US Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines, the Melbourne was trialled using both Skyhawks and S-2 Trackers. The trials immediately proved the viability of both. The Skyhawk in particular was small, took up very little space, and offered a sufficient payload to act in both an air-defence and ground-attack role with ease, operating against ships and land targets. The Navy was quickly on board to purchase the aircraft, and within a few months a proposal had been drawn up for the Navy to purchase 18 Skyhawks and 16 S-2s.
However, the navy ambitions for these Skyhawks came up against an Air Force argument that their newly purchased F-111Cs would fulfil the proposed Skyhawk role. Nevertheless, with further efforts by the Navy, in early 1965 the Australian government approved a smaller purchase of ten Skyhawks. Eight of these would be a new model, the A-4G, while two would be two-seater trainers, the TA-4G.
DELIVERY
With the purchase confirmed, designers got to work on producing the new aircraft. The A-4G would look slightly different to what was made publicly known at the time. It would have no avionics compartment behind the pilot, making the airframe sleeker. It would also have better protection from ground fire, better air-to-air capability, including the integration of the latest AIM-9 sidewinders, and a better engine. In fact, most of the design was based on the A-4F - a new variant, which at the time hadn’t even been delivered to the US Navy. The only drawback - in comparison to the A-4F - was that the Australian variant would not have the latest technology to field guided air-to-ground munitions, but at the time unguided bombs were still the standard.
The first flight of the A-4G would occur on July 19th, 1967, and the aircraft were accepted from the US on July 26th. Ferried to Australia on the Melbourne, the aircraft were then flown to Jervis Bay, and transferred to Naval Air Station at Nowra. Here they would be assigned to VF 805 Squadron, who’s tasks included air defence, strike missions, and utilising the aircraft to its maximum abilities.
By this point the Skyhawk had already been battle tested, although not by the Australians. In Vietnam, the A-4C had been operating since day one - taking part in Operation Pierce Arrow the day after the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This had occurred just prior to the Australian decision to purchase the Skyhawks, and from 1964 to the arrival of the A-4G in 1967, a lot had been learned about the Skyhawks’ operational abilities.
The Americans found that the A-4 was a particularly capable but finicky aircraft. In the right hands it was highly efficient, nimbler than a large aircraft like the Phantom, and perhaps technologically easier to manage. On the other hand, if not treated with care, things could become deadly. In addition to the already difficult task of carrier landings, the A-4 - returning to carrier depleted of fuel and weapons - was very light, and naturally more affected by wind, turbulence, and pilot inputs. It was also more prone to technical issues, and ten royal Australian Navy Skyhawks would crash, often as a result of mechanical failures.
In 1969, the Royal Australian Navy was given permission to purchase another eight A-4Gs and two trainers. These would be US Navy A-4Fs, which would undergo an upgrade program, bringing them up to A-4G standards.
OPERATIONAL HISTORY
From the first delivery of Skyhawks in 1967, several proposals circulated regarding the RAN aircraft serving in Vietnam. In 1967, with planned refits to occur on HMAS Melbourne, it was considered beneficial for the A-4 pilots to be sent to the US Navy to keep them gaining experience on the aircraft. This, however, did not occur. The Minister for Air suggested sending the Skyhawks to Ubon Air Base in Thailand to relieve 79 Squadron and their old Sabres who were doing air base patrol duties, but again this was never followed through.
Later that year, prime minster Harold Holt, announced that the defence force wished to post the A-4 pilots to Chu Lai air base in South Vietnam. They would stay with the US Marines, who were also operating A-4s, in the hope of further training and taking part in troop support in South Vietnam. The Marines would regularly head out on missions into the north, but the Australians would stay at base during these missions, as Australia’s stance by then was to limit operations to South Vietnam.
However, this too would never eventuate, and before long the Melbourne’s refitting was complete, and the A-4 pilots were needed on the carrier.
By 1968, the Skyhawks were also flown by operational conversion unit seven-two-four-Squadron. Here, pilots would undergo their six-month conversion course. Air-to-air and air-to-ground missions were practiced, as well as mock carrier landings, of which pilots had to complete around 100 before being cleared to land on the Melbourne. Pilots also practised air-to-air refuelling during the course, using each other’s Skyhawks equipped with D-704 external tanks.
Throughout the 1970s, the Skyhawks would not see action in a theatre of war, although they would consistently take part in exercises across Australia and in the pacific. Pilots flew in joint operations with the Royal Navy and US Navy, and at home would operate from a variety of air bases during exercises.
Over the years, the Melbourne would earn the reputation as being the smallest carrier to regularly operate the Skyhawk, which she would do until her decommission in 1982. That year, the Navy wanted to keep the Skyhawks, and procure a new carrier to also operate Harrier jump jets, but all this came to a halt in 1983 with the appointment of the Bob Hawke government. That year, it was announced that the Fleet Air Arms fixed wing force would come to an end, and that there would be no future purchase of a carrier, nor the harriers, or any other fixed wing aircraft.
The Skyhawks would go to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984, after much debate over keeping the aircraft for a land-based role. The Royal New Zealand Air Force would operate these Skyhawks until 2002. During this time, they would play the role of fleet air defence for Australian Navy ships during exercises, which they did well, but nevertheless, without aircraft carriers it was never quite the same again for the Royal Australian Navy.
CONCLUSION
The retirement of the Skyhawks marked a significant change in Australian military capabilities. For decades Australia had a seafaring force with aircraft carriers. The Navy’s fixed wing aviation gave them an edge over a Navy without such air power. The retirement of the Skyhawks brought this era to an end, and the RAN would no longer have such air power.
This remains a matter of controversy. The retirement of Australia’s aircraft carriers, and the aircraft that operated from them, along with the cancellation of any future purchase of newer ships and aircraft, was clearly a political decision, which many, to this day, would argue was made without sound strategic consideration.
The Skyhawks are now a distant memory for Australia, representing a time in which the Navy operated a small, but potent, fixed wing force over the oceans.