2007 Põhja-Ameerika A-5 Vigilante is an American carrier-based supersonic bomber designed and built by North American Aviation for the United States Navy. Its service in the nuclear strike role to replace the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior was very short; however, as the RA-5C, it saw extensive service during the Vietnam War in the tactical strike reconnaissance role. Prior to the unification of the Navy designation sequence with the Air Force sequence in 1962, it was designated the A3J Vigilante.
Lisainfo:
2007 Põhja-Ameerika A-5 Vigilante was a carrier-based supersonic bomber that was designed and built by North American Aviation for the United States Navy. It was originally designated as the A3J Vigilante before 1962, when the Navy and Air Force unified their designation systems. The A-5 Vigilante was intended to be a long-range, all-weather nuclear strike aircraft, but it was mostly used as a tactical reconnaissance plane during its service.
A-5 Vigilante oli klanitud ja kõrgete tiibadega disainiga, kahe General Electric J79-GE-8 turboreaktiivmootoriga, mille tagakere külge olid paigaldatud järelpõletid. Sellel oli kaheliikmeline meeskond: piloot ja navigaator. A-5 Vigilante kõige iseloomulikum tunnus oli selle sisemine pommiruum, mis suutis kanda ühte tuumarelva, mis paiskus tagurpidi läbi mootori väljalasketorude vahelise tunneli. See süsteem loodi selleks, et vältida aerodünaamilist takistust ja ebastabiilsust, mis on põhjustatud tavapäraste pommiruumi uste avamisest ülehelikiirusel. See süsteem osutus aga ebausaldusväärseks ja problemaatiliseks ning asendati sageli väliste kütusepaakidega.
A-5 Vigilante esimene prototüüp lendas 31. augustil 1958 ja purustas helibarjääri viis päeva hiljem. 13. detsembril 1960 püstitas A-5 maailmarekordi kõrgusel 27 874 meetrit (91 450 jalga). A-5 Vigilante asus USA mereväes teenistusse 1961. aasta juunis, kuid selle tuumapommitaja rollist loobuti peagi allveelaevadelt käivitatavate ballistiliste rakettide ilmumise ja relvade kandesüsteemi ebausaldusväärsuse tõttu. Selle asemel muudeti A-5 Vigilante luurelennukiks, tähisega RA-5C. RA-5C-l olid võimsamad mootorid, suuremad tiivad, suurem kütusemahutavus, neli tiivaalust pülooni ja kere all olev sensorkapsel, mis kandis kaameraid ja elektroonikaseadmeid.
2007 RA-5C valvsad saw extensive action during the Vietnam War, flying high-speed and low-level missions over enemy territory. It was able to provide valuable intelligence and target information for other strike aircraft. However, it also suffered heavy losses due to enemy fire and accidents. Out of 156 RA-5Cs built or converted from A-5As and Bs, 43 were lost in combat and 18 in accidents. The RA-5C Vigilante was retired from service in September 1979, after a relatively short but eventful career.