Douglas A3D Skywarrior

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yahya

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I have a question related to the very late development versions of the Skywarrior from the late 1970s and the 1980s. Apparently, the (E)RA-3Bs were fitted with Litton’s INS, I guess the LTN-51 or similar, two UHF airband AN/ARC-159 radios and the ‘commercial’ VHF and VOR by Collins from their 618M line. Does anyone have any details of such setups?
 
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A little correction. The website below sports the VAQ-34's (est. 1983) ERA-3B cockpit image:


Clearly visible are two ARC-159 UHF radios, an ARN-118 TACAN, a VHF AM radio, likely the ARC-101, a Litton LN-211 Omega navigation system, an unknown Bendix (?) weather radar and an ARN-14E VOR. The BDHI HDG toggle switch suggests that the Whale retained the ASN-50 and ASN-41 navigation computers from the previous life of the airframe before it was retrieved from the boneyard.
 
Thank you for sharing! If I'm right, this Whale was owned by Raytheon from the late 1980s or early 1990s. There is a YT recording of its flight showing the similar avionics suite. I recognized the following items, which were not used in the early (E)RA-3Bs in the 1960-1970s.
  • Two ARC-159 UHF COM
  • An ARN-118 TACAN
  • Two commercial Collins 618M COM/NAV
  • Bendix weather radar (I am unable to determine the type.)
  • MM-2 Remote Attitude Indicator (large ADI)
  • AAU-21/A altimeter w./alt. encoder
  • An unusual DZUS mil-style audio and Marker Beacon panel
  • APX-100 IFF
  • Commercial Litton LTN-51 INS (Interestingly two similar control panels can be spotted)
The latter INS is interesting, since the ERA-3B of the VAQ-34 cockpit that I posted about above had a Litton LN-211 Omega, which I presume was standard in the early 1980s ERA-3B upgrade package for the VAQ-34 and VAQ-33 squadrons. I guess that only the Raytheon guys have installed the commercial LTN-51 and two 618M NAV/COM sets.
 
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The LTN-211 Omega was used in the upgraded USN A-3s:

apps.dtic.mil

U.S. Navy Test Program for an ARINC 599 Omega Navigation System

After original development by the U.S. Navy, Omega has been rapidly accepted by commercial aviation. This has resulted in the availability of off-the-shelf airborne Omega Navigation Systems. In turn, Omega systems developed for commercial aviation are now being adapted for use in Navy aircraft...
apps.dtic.mil
 
I just stumbled across this video to do with the EA-3B Skywarrior:


This is the first video produced by author and historian Bruce Gamble for his new channel, Skywarrior Media. Originally filmed by Bruce in the mid-1980s (using a bulky VHS camcorder), the video documents a reconnaissance mission over the Gulf of Oman by an EA-3B Skywarrior crew from the USS Carl Vinson. Viewers get a "dashcam" look at flight operations, a catapult launch, aerial refueling, and an arrested landing. Several Cold War era planes appear, including F-14s, A-7s, A-6s, and E-2Cs.
Click to expand...
Visit http://www.brucegamble.com for more information on Bruce's award-winning books and his video channel, Skywarrior Media.
Click to expand...
 
There was also the proposed Douglas D-790 Missileer which was an air-to-air variant of the A3D Skywarrior armed with AAM-N-10 Eagles and equipped with General Electric J79 turbojets for fleet air defense.
douglas-d-790-1-jpg.670103

douglas-d-790-2-jpg.670104

douglas-d-790-3-gif.670105
 
That proposal might've actually flown as a) it had better performance than the proposed F6D missile and b) it was based on an already in production design.
 
I remember on CVN-65 when we were pulled into Cubi Point during WestPac 82-83 before one of our extended IO deployments, we took on a group of special EA-3s. We played with the Russian Minsk battle group in the IO, the Russian's did have quite a few ship breakdowns and were kind of sitting ducks during that time period. One thing they could not do was find our two LA-class SSNs.
 
I wonder how well an A-3 Skywarrior fitted with dry J-79s (Call it the A-3C) would perform compared to the J-57 powered A-3?
 

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