A-6B Intruder

A-6B Intruder Readme

 

This is a modification of the A-6A Intruder by Monty CZ/Column5

 

Ensure you have the weapons pack installed.

 

Instalation:

1) Extract file into Objects/Aircraft

2) Go fly and blow things up!

 

Contributors:

External model of plane by Monty CZ

Flight model by Column5, modded by gbreuder and allenjb42

Damage model by Monty CZ/Column5

Skin for VA34 by Paul Nortness

Skin for VA196 by pappychecksix

Screens by gbreuder

 

Thanks to all of those listed above - they did all the hard work, I just packaged it all together - and of course to TK for creating these great games for us to tinker with.

 

The VA196 skin represents the A-6B flown by Jake Grafton and Tiger Cole in the book and movie 'Flight of the Intruder' by Stephen Coonts, who really did fly with VA196 over Vietnam. In the book their callsign was Devil 511, and that's the Modex I've given one of the planes here. In the movie the Modex was 520.

 

The data.ini is set up to use the Flight of the Intruder pilots available at Wrench's site at http://wrench1smog.com

 

This plane is compatible with all of the A-6 skins currently available. You'll just need to go into the decal.ini file within the skin folder and edit it so that all references to the original A-6 model the skin was made for are changed to A-6B. Check out the skin folders within this download for an example.

 

Have fun, and good hunting!

 

Allen (allenjb42) Burton

 

Any problems, find me at combatace.com, simhq.com or column5.us

 

This mod is dedicated to LT Al Ashall and LT Bob Duncan, an A-6B crew who's story I came across while researching the plane's service history and tactics at www.virtualwall.org

 

 

--------------------------------------

 

LT Al Ashall joined Attack Squadron Eighty-Five (ATKRON 85 or VA-85, squadron callsign BUCKEYE) as a replacement toward the end of the squadron's 1967 Viet Nam deployment. On this cruise, Al was teamed with a first-deployment pilot, LT Bob Duncan.

 

Homeported at Naval Air Station Oceana (Virginia Beach, VA), VA-85 deployed in USS AMERICA (CV-66) in early 1968. Following work-ups, we proceeded to the South China Sea via Rio de Janario, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Indian Ocean, arriving at Yankee Station the first of May 1968.

 

VA-85 had 15 INTRUDER aircraft, 12 A-6A bombers and 3 A-6B SAM killers. These three aircraft were partially stripped of the normal DIANE navigation and attack system, and instead were fitted with surface-to-air radar detection equipment and the gear needed to effectively use the Shrike and long-range Standard ARM (Anti-Radiation Missile) missiles. Four crews, including Bob Duncan and Al Ashall, had qualified on the A-6B in addition to their normal A-6A qualifications.

 

Initially, the A-6B's were used in the same manner as the equivalent USAF Wild Weasel aircraft: they accompanied daylight strike forces as advance Iron Hand and SAM suppressors. Normal weapons configuration was 2 Shrikes on the outboard wing pylons and two Standard ARMs on the inboard pylons, with a drop tank on the centerline. Because of the scarcity of the Standard ARMs, we were encouraged to use them only when a really promising target came up, and then only if the target was beyond Shrike range or if the Shrikes had been expended.

 

As the cruise progressed, VA-85 increasingly found itself tasked with night single-aircraft missions over North Viet Nam -- exactly what the aircraft was designed for. However, the inability of the A-7As and F-4Bs to operate effectively over land at night meant that there were fewer aircraft over the beach, and consequently these few aircraft drew more concentrated attention from NVN's anti-air defenses.

 

The A-6B tactics evolved accordingly. An A-6B would launch with the attack birds, and everyone would go their separate ways . . . the attack birds at low level and the A-6B wandering around feet dry at 20,000 feet or so. If and when the NVN gunners lit off their fire control radars, the A-6B would attempt to engage them with either Shrike or Standard ARMs. Given the limited number of A-6Bs, these missions grew to "double-cycles" -- launch and go over the beach with the first batch, go feet wet to refuel when they went home, and be back in position as the second wave came feet dry.

 

As the weather worsened, the A-6As would operate below the cloud cover while the A-6B would remain above (or in) the clag. This situation exacerbated the A-6B's weakest point: a combination of detection system and missile delivery parameters left the A-6Bs vulnerable to a close-in attack from the rear hemisphere. If the A-6B found itself targeted from the rear, SAMs might arrive before the Shrike or Standard ARM missiles could take out the SAM guidance radars. If you were operating within the cloud layers and couldn't see the SAMs, dodging them became a very tricky affair.

 

On 29 August 1968 Bob Duncan and Al Ashall were scheduled for one of these missions, a double-cycle in support of two A-6A waves. The first wave came and went with no SAM activity, and the A-6B joined with an EKA-3D to refuel before going feet dry to await the second A-6A wave. Between the A-6B's "Feet dry" call and the arrival of the second A-6A wave, the EKA-3D recorded SAM missile radar activity. As usual, the on-station EC-121 flight following aircraft had lost radar contact with the Buckeye SAM killer after it went feet dry. No calls were heard from the Buckeye A-6B, and it failed to return.

 

What happened? What is known is simple: The Buckeye flight went feet dry and was not heard from again. What may be surmised is equally simple: The NVN air defenders waited it out until the A-6B was alone over North Vietnam and then took it under fire from the rear quadrant. While the weather low was reasonable, heavy towering cumulus and high layers blanketed North Viet Nam that night -- the worst possible situation for SAM-dodging. It appears likely that the hunter became the hunted, and lost a missile exchange.

 

Al was carried as "Missing in Action" for ten years; during this time he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. On 02 August 1978, his status was changed to "Killed in Action".

 

Bob was carried as "Missing in Action" for seven years; on 22 October 1975, his status was changed to "Killed in Action".

 

A-6 aircrews were accustomed to operating alone, without radar flight following or other friendly support. Bob and Al recognized the inherent risks and accepted them without qualm. Their professionalism and dedication to duty warrants our respect.

 

Bob was more restrained and more married than many of the rest of us, which made for quiet liberties. Never the less, he was a solid officer, a professional aviator, a good friend, and very well liked. Thirty-two years later, his death in combat still brings a sense of sorrow and loss.

 

Al was a quiet gent until you got him on liberty . . . then he could be as rowdy as the next guy. He was a solid officer, a professional aviator, and a good friend. Thirty-two years later, his death in combat still brings a sense of sorrow and loss.

 

From a friend, squadronmate, roommate, and fellow VA-85 A-6A/A-6B aircrewman,

Ken Davis

 

A memorial from their shipmates in Attack Squadron 85

virtualwall@alltel.net