LTV A-7 Corsair II

The LTV A-7 Corsair II was a carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and built by Ling-Temco-Vought for the United States Navy in the 1960s. It was meant to replace the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and was derived from the Vought F-8 Crusader, but with a shorter, simpler and cheaper airframe that gave up supersonic speed. Vought won the Navy VAL light attack competition and a contract in 1964; the type first flew in 1965 and entered squadron service in 1967, soon fighting in the Vietnam War. The Air Force and Air National Guard adopted it too, with more powerful engines and better avionics, and it was exported to Greece and Portugal. The A-7 flew in the Invasion of Grenada, Operation El Dorado Canyon and the Gulf War. American service ended in the early 1990s and the Hellenic Air Force withdrew the last examples in 2014.