The List of A-4 Skyhawk operators lists the counties and their air force units that have operated the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk:
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The Argentine Air Force used 50 A-4P (ex U.S. Navy A-4B) with V Air Brigade, and 25 A-4C (IV Air Brigade) from 1965 to 1999. 19 were lost during the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) . All were replaced by refurbished A-4Ms, designated as A-4AR Fightinghawk, in 1999. Also an unknown number of A-4E, TA-4J and A-4M was/is used as spare parts.
The 3rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron of the Argentine Navy used 16 A-4Q (ex A-4B US Navy) for operations from the aircraft carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2) from 1971 to 1988. During the Falklands War they operated from land bases and three were lost.
Australia ordered ten A-4G Skyhawks in October 1965 to replace all of the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm's de Havilland Venom fighters which operated from HMAS Melbourne, the Royal Australian Navy's only active carrier. The Australian incorporated modifications such as being fitted to carry four AIM-9 Sidewinder heat seeking air-to-air missiles, the Skyhawk was purchased primarily for fleet air defence duties when embarked aboard the small World War II -surplus light carrier Melbourne which could not operate other larger fighters of the era. These aircraft retained the strike capabilities of its US counterparts and could carry 250-pound or 500-pound bombs, 2.75-inch or 5-inch rocket pods, and other stores for use in the maritime strike, close air support, or fleet defense roles. Changes were also made to the avionics fit and the aircraft did not have the A-4F's dorsal "hump."[1]
The first two Australian A-4Gs were handed over to the Royal Australian Navy on 26 July 1967, with all ten aircraft transported to Australia from the United States onboard HMAS Melbourne in November 1967. An order for a further eight A4-Gs and two TA-4Gs was placed in March 1970. These aircraft were former USN A-4Fs and TA-4Fs and were modified to A/TA-4G standard and arrived in Australia in August 1971 onboard the troop transport HMAS Sydney. All of the A-4Gs operated from HMAS Melbourne and were based at the naval air station HMAS Albatross. The TA-4Gs could not be operated from Melbourne, as the carrier was too small to enable them to be safely operated.[1] The Australian Skyhawks were gradually withdrawn from service from 1982 after HMAS Melbourne was decommissioned without being replaced in June 1982; the last flight took place on 30 June 1984.[2]
Two Fleet Air Arm squadrons were equipped with A-4Gs:
Following the withdrawal of the A-4G from Australian service, eight surviving A-4G and two TA-4Gs were sold to New Zealand's Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984 and were subsequently upgraded to A-4K specifications and later with the RNZAF "Kahu" program, with HOTAS, Maverick missile capability, and glass cockpit. Ironically, the RAN paid for some of the New Zealand aircraft to undertake target towing and maritime strike training roles.[4]
A TA-4B model [a single seat airframe, the same physically as an A-4B], altered to appear like the A-4G models used by VF-805 squadron, has been loaned to Australia's Museum of Flight at HMAS Albatross by the US Department of Navy.
Indonesia had used 33 A-4E/H and TA-4E/H Skyhawk (ex-Israeli Air Force) until 2003. The first prototype was flying at 5 May 1980 from Halim Perdana Kusuma AFB, Jakarta. The aircraft were transport from Eliat (Israel) as part of Alpha Project in 1980. The aircraft were delivered by ship in 23 months. They stayed in service until 2003 when were replaced by two Russian Su-27SK and two Su-30MK. However, the Indonesian Air Force is planning to reactivate the A-4 Skyhawks by buying spare parts, after the United States ended its weapons and spare part sales embargo. The aircraft made its final flight on 5 August 2005 from Makassar (Sulawesi) to Madiun (Java).
The Israeli Air Force once operated 278 A-4s (46 A-4E, 90 A-4H, 117 A-4N, 25 TA-4H). The A-4H/TA-4H were delivered starting in 1968, and were immediately pressed into service in the ongoing War of Attrition. In May 1970 the type scored its sole aerial kills with the IAF when Ezra Dotan shot down a pair of Syrian MiG-17s, one using unguided air-to-ground rockets.[6] During the Yom Kippur War the aircraft flew a total of 4695 sorties, losing 53 aircraft. These prompted the US to initiate Operation Nickel Grass which provided Israel with 46 A-4Es as replacements during the war. In 1983 An A-4 was also involved in an unusual midair collision with an F-15 Eagle. The Eagle returned to base and landed despite losing its entire right wing while the A-4 was destroyed. The remaining 50 A-4N aircraft are currently being used for pilot training.
Kuwait bought 30 A-4KU and six TA-4KU in 1976 and used them until 1997. During the 1991 Gulf war one was lost in combat and twelve due to other causes. The survivors of Operation Desert Storm were replaced by F/A-18 Hornet and sold to Brazil.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force acquired a total of 88 A-4C and A-4L aircraft, although only 40 were rebuilt to A-4PTM (Peculiar To Malaysia) standard, which included a new bombing computer, body refurbishments and wiring updates. The remaining 48 aircraft were stored for spare parts.These aircraft are stored at the Kuantan Air Force base / Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport on the east coast of the Malayan peninsula.
The Skyhawk has been replaced in the attack role by the more sophisticated Boeing F/A-18D Night Strike Hornet (eight purchased), BAE Systems Hawk 200 (18 acquired) and BAE Systems Hawk 100 (ten acquired).
Ten A-4K single-seaters, and four TA-4K two-seaters, were purchased by the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1969 as English Electric Canberra replacements, and shipped to New Zealand aboard the assault carrier USS Okinawa in 1970.[7] The A-4K is broadly comparable to the A-4F and G, although featuring extra avionics in a dorsal "hump", as adopted by later A-4Fs, cranked refuelling probe, and other minor changes. In 1984, ten ex-Australian A-4Gs were purchased. Under project KAHU, all aircraft updated to the A-4K Kahu standard, essentially by adopting the avionics from the F-16 Fighting Falcon, giving them the ability to use laser guided bombs, as well as AGM-65 Maverick and AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles. Kahu is Māori for hawk.[8] Miniaturization enabled the hump to be removed from the older New Zealand aircraft at the same time. The A-4Ks operated from Ohakea in New Zealand and Nowra in Australia equipped 2 and 75 Squadron RNZAF.
The survivors were retired in 2001, and were to be sold in 2005 to a private US flight training firm in a $150 million deal. However, this deal has been subject to delays from the US State department due to concerns about allowing a squadron of reasonably capable combat aircraft to be operated privately in the United States. The aircraft are currently being stored at RNZAF Base Woodbourne, just outside of Blenheim in the South Island. Two additional A-4Ks exist - one an ex-US early model brought up to the A-4K standard in the mid-1970s, solely for museum display; it is preserved at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum at Wigram, Christchurch. In 2001, another TA-4K Kahu was assembled in New Zealand entirely from spare parts, again for museum display; it is preserved at Ohakea. This is presumably the last "production" A-4.[9][10][11]
In total, around 150 airframes, all A-4Bs and Cs, were purchased by Singapore. The first batch joined the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) in 1974. Some were modified in the late 1980s to A-4SU and TA-4SU standard with General Electric F404 engines and modernized avionics. All aircraft have since been scheduled for retirement, with a few used as training aircraft based at the BA 120 Cazaux airbase in France.
RSAF units that flew the A-4 before retirement:
Units that flew the A-4 before retirement:
Advanced Training Systems International (ATSI), based at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport purchased ten A-4Ns and three TA-4Js from Israel in 2000. They are available for a variety of training and testing tasks, including Dissimilar air combat training, pilot training (providing lead-in Fighter training for the pilots of the United Arab Emirates' F-16E/Fs) and providing a high speed platform for test and evaluation purposes. One aircraft was destroyed in a crash in 2003 and a further two sold in 2006.[69]
The Massachusetts-based non-profit organization operates one ex-US Navy TA-4J N524CF (was BuNo 153524) as part of its "living history" flight program. It was acquired from AMARC in 2004, and is now based out of Houston, Texas. The organization offers licensed pilots the opportunity to purchase dual instruction time in the aircraft.
BAE Systems provides four former Israeli A-4Ns as target tugs for the German Luftwaffe since 2001, replacing the F-100 Super Sabre. The Skyhawks (civil registrations N431FS, N432FS, N434FS and N437FS) are operated by the BAE subsidiary E.I.S. Aircraft GmbH at Wittmund, the base of the Jagdgeschwader 71.