The North American A-5 Vigilante is an American carrier-based supersonic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft designed and built by North American Aviation for the United States Navy. Before the 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations it was the A3J. Development began in 1954 as a private venture to produce a long-distance supersonic bomber, successor to the abortive XA2J Super Savage, and it was a large and complex aircraft with innovations such as being the first bomber to carry a digital computer. It could reach about Mach 2 with a nuclear strike payload. A contract for full development followed in August 1956, the prototype first flew in August 1958 and the Navy introduced the type in June 1961. All variants were built at the company plant at Port Columbus in Ohio.
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Source North American A-5 Vigilante (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. North American A-5 Vigilante (Wikipedia)
Lead
The type performed its first flight just over two years later, on 31 August 1958.
Design
Two widely spaced General Electric J79 turbojet engines were supplied with air through inlets with variable intake ramps.
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The North American A-5 Vigilante is an American carrier-based supersonic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) for the United States Navy.
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