Sperry ILAAS (Integrated Light Attack Avionics System)

The Sperry ILAAS originally began development, with DoD funding, as the nav-attack system for the VAX program discussed in this thread.

After the end of the VAX programme the ILAAS remained in development as the nav-attack system for the VA(L), to be A-7. It was not included in the initial A-7 variants but Sperry continued to market it and prototypes were built. Ultimately, for the A-7D and E, LTV ran a competition that was won by IBM resulting in the Sperry ILAAS never being used on the A-7 despite it having been funded by the USN and having been in development for 3+ years.

Bits of the program history can be found in the following books:
Memoirs of a Cold Warrior: The Struggle for Nuclear Parity by Lee Carpenter
Moving Targets: Elliot Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947-67 by Simon Lavington

In terms of specifics, the snippets I managed to find are:

Elliot (UK) for the HUD - they ended up being selected for the A-7D/E after IBM won the program as well
Sperry SYP-800 Heading and Altitude Reference Platform (backup platform)
Sperry Univac Division "Central Computer Complex"

Cutting from the September 1966 edition of the Aerospace Industries of America publication Aerospace along with an advert is attached. Also attached is a description of the system's checkout functions from this paper; Onboard Checkout of a Mid-70's Space Station.
 

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  • Aerospace ILAAS_Sept 1966.png
    Aerospace ILAAS_Sept 1966.png
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  • ILAAS Advert.png
    ILAAS Advert.png
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  • ILAAS Checkout I.png
    ILAAS Checkout I.png
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  • ILAAS Checkout II.png
    ILAAS Checkout II.png
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