Top 11: Best Carrier Aircraft of the Cold War

Following the success of the Skyraider, Ed Heinemann’s team produced a proposal for its successor. The US Navy specified an aircraft of no more than 30,000lbs (13,636kg) to meet their range criteria for carrying a 2000 lb (909kg) ‘special’ bomb (i.e. nuclear). Laughing in the face of such limitations, the Douglas design was half the weight while still meeting the requirements.

The ‘special’ bomb requirement leading to the characteristic stalky undercarriage. One of the weight saving measures was restricting the wingspan to 27 feet (8.2 metres) enabling them to fit down carrier lifts without folding, removing the need for hydraulic actuators and allowing 2000 litres of fuel to be carried in each wing.

9: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

The first operational squadron formed in 1956, and two years later, the Skyhawk was in action over Lebanon. This and subsequent action in Southeast Asia led to improvements to the A-4’s conventional weapons capabilities, which expanded to carry a wide range of unguided and guided weaponry. At the same time, the maximum payload increased from 5500 lbs (2500kg) in the A-4A to 9195 lbs (4180kg) in the A-4M.

The Skyhawk was a classic of Cold War naval aviation, proving its capability and perhaps uniquely for this list a new operator took it to sea almost a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Brazilian Navy taking delivery of 23 ex-Kuwait Air Force A-4KUs in 1998 and by 2001 these were operating from the carrier Minas Gerais.

8: Vought F-8 Crusader

Although powered by a Pratt & Whitney J57 like the F-100 Super Sabre the Crusader could fly further, faster, and higher while carrying more. To assist in getting the supersonic fighter onboard, Vought used a variable incidence wing. This allowed the pilot to maintain sight of the ship while flying slow enough to land safely.

The Crusader was active during the Vietnam War, ‘scoring’ 19 air-to-air victories for three losses, the best ratio of any US aircraft of the conflict. Armed with four 20mm cannon it has frequently been called the last of the gunfighters, though it had many problems with its guns.

8: Vought F-8 Crusader

To provide the Essex Class carriers with an all-weather fighter from the F-8C onwards, a new Magnavox radar was introduced with a larger dish. This allowed it to operate the AIM-9C, the only version of the Sidewinder missile to be radar-guided, giving it a head-on capability the heat-seeking version wouldn’t get until the AIM-9L in 1977.

Entering service in 1957, the Crusader served with the US Navy as a fighter for 20 years and was retired by the French Navy in 1999 after 35 years of service. Various radically improved versions were considered, notably the incredible Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III.

7: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

The F/A-18 Hornet ushered in a new generation of ultra agile, ‘glass’ cock-pitted multi-role fighters. We spoke to former US Marine Corps pilot Louis Gundlach about flying and fighting in the Hornet. “The Hornet was sleek and new and did not have all the blisters and bumps that the older jets had. Obviously, I have been biased about the Hornet for a long time and I still am. It is still a cool-looking jet.”

“The take-off was amazing, especially to someone who had only flown a Cessna 172 to that point. When you add power to the Hornet and hold the brakes to do a quick pre-takeoff checklist, the jet will squat slightly on the front nose wheel.”

7: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

“The Hornet was fun to fly. I often said that I could not believe they paid me to do this. Every flight was a blast. It was reliable: It always got me home. A few times single engine, but it was always reliable. It was also accurate. A lot of people focus on air-to-air, but the Hornet was a fantastic bomber.”

“The Hornet was reliable. The systems, for the most part, were almost always working. The Marines working on the aircraft did a tremendous job keeping the Hornets flying and the systems working. Often at austere locations. This is a testament to the Marines who worked tirelessly on the jets and the reliability of the Hornet itself.”

6: McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

First flying in 1958, the F-4 was one of the first carrier aircraft to have an automatic landing capability, first trialled on 12 converted F-4Bs. They had been fitted with a system allowing them to be controlled by AWACs or surface ships to conduct interceptions, resulting in a change of designation to F-4G (a decade before the USAF F-4G).

In July 1959, the Royal Navy formed its first Sea Vixen squadron, an all-weather two-seat twin-engine carrier fighter that could just about break the sound barrier ‘downhill’. Rather unsportingly, 18 months later, the USN formed its first F-4 Phantom squadron, which could go twice as fast, carry twice as many air-to-air missiles, and haul a selection of air-to-ground weaponry.

6: McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

Like the Intruder the Phantom saw its combat debut in Vietnam where it operated in the fighter and bomber roles. Unlike the Intruder it would also see service with the Royal Navy in a modified form, the J79 turbojets being replaced with Spey turbofans. Famously despite increasing the available thrust this reduced the top speed by around 0.2 Mach due to the drag from the larger intakes.

The Phantom remained in frontline service with the US Navy until 18 October 1986 when the type made its last carrier landing almost precisely 25 years after the first front-line squadron became carrier qualified. This period was the peak of the Cold War, and throughout the F-4 proved a carrier aircraft that could equal the best of any Air Force, if only because most of them ended up buying it.

5: BAe Sea Harrier

The Sea Harrier was a tiny, slow and lightly-armed curiosity at the time it entered service in 1978. But when pitted against the mighty no-compromise F-15 Eagle, the most respected combat aircraft in the world, it delivered an unexpected shock. We spoke to Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward, who successfully took the Sea Harrier to war in 1982, to find out more.

“In late 1979, the Sea Harrier was the new boy on the block and fighter pilots everywhere were keen to know how capable it was going to be in combat. This led to the USAF F-5E Aggressor Squadron at Alconbury inviting my Trials Unit to visit them for an air combat program of mutual learning and evaluation. The results of the detachment spread rapidly through the fighter world. The results were recorded 26 ‘kills’ ‘for’ and just 10 ‘against’.”

5: BAe Sea Harrier

“In very quick time, the boss of the fabled F-15 Eagle Squadron at Bitburg in Germany called me up and asked to come and visit us with two of his superb aircraft for more fighter combat evaluation. Against the F-15, Ian Mortimer and I recorded seven kills ‘for’ and just one ‘against’.”

“Detractors might have called this a flash in the pan. But they would be wrong. ..Our little Sea Harrier jump jet more than held its own against these two superb fighter aircraft (in a later exercise) which could fly faster and turn much tighter. To the uninitiated, this should have meant a one-sided contest that we would always lose. But not so.”

4: Blackburn Buccaneer

Having a relatively peaceful time in Royal Navy carrier service, the Buccaneer’s major actions were helping enforce the Beira patrol in support of sanctions against Rhodesia, bombing the stricken tanker Torrey Canyon off Lands’ End to burn off the crude oil, and launching from HMS Ark Royal in mid-Atlantic to conduct a show of force over Belize to deter a Guatemalan invasion.

Designed for aircraft carrier use, the Buccaneer also spent time as a land-based attack aircraft with the RAF. According to former Buccaneer Navigator Mike Looseley, “..it could fly very low. It is true that it gave a very smooth ride at high speed and low level but the crews' skill, training and attitude were just as crucial as the airframe.”

But not everything was great about the ‘Bucc’. According to Mike, “The front cockpit was an absolute slum. Gauges and switches had been chucked in, seemingly at random, with no thought for ergonomics or ease of use. Coupled with the complex aerodynamics of the Buccaneer at slow speed, this made the pilot's job in the circuit a complete nightmare.”

4: Blackburn Buccaneer

“I think from a run and break to touchdown; the pilot had to change hands on the stick about eight times. For example, bleed air blown over the wings and tailplane was crucial to controllability at low speed. If one of them failed the aircraft was uncontrollable. There were three gauges showing blow pressure for each wing and the tailplane.”

“It was in its element at low-level. Fast, stable, and it turned pretty well, too” In the anti-shipping role, it was superior to the aircraft that replaced it, “It has a better range, a higher ceiling and an internal weapons carriage.” It could also carry twice as many Sea Eagle anti-shipping missiles and detect ships at greater ranges.

3: Grumman A-6 Intruder

Ugly and formidable, the A-6 Intruder was a lethal enforcer of US foreign policy for over a third of a century. We spoke to Bomber/navigator Captain Andrew ‘ComJam’ Niemyer about his time on Grumman’s ‘Iron Tadpole’, an impressively effective all-weather attack aircraft.

What were the best and worst features of the aircraft? “From a bomber/navigator (BN) point of view, the overall radar/terrain avoidance/TRAM (Target Recognition Attack Multi-sensor (FLIR/Laser) system absolutely rocked. Working together, along with the pilot’s display which was also part of the terrain avoidance and the bombing system, we really had a very robust capability.”

3: Grumman A-6 Intruder

“With the digital Armament Control Unit, we could deliver huge varieties of dumb bombs and precision-guided munitions. The IMU (Inertial nav system), working with the radar to generally identify a target, then rolling out the FLIR to confirm identifying the target, locking it up in the system, then lazing it to get absolute precision.”

“The A-6 was amazingly effective, as its long combat history so amply proves. One of the best stories comes from the Vietnam War: A single Intruder night mission did some truly precision bombing on the outskirts of Hanoi one night. No one else went downtown that night. Next day, Hanoi reported it had fought off a mass attack of B-52s.”

2: A-3 Skywarrior

We asked former Captain ‘Dirty Duck’ Niemyer about the best and worst features of the A-3 Skywarrior, “Its size and its size. The A-3 was huge, for it was designed to fulfil a late 1940s requirement for a nuclear bomber with a roughly 2000-nautical-mile-range (3704 km) at high altitude and very high sub-Mach 1 cruise speed. “

“Ed Heinemann was incredibly proud that his design came in well, well under the 100,000 lb (45,455kg) projected maximum gross weight, with performance numbers well ahead of its competition. Nonetheless, it had a demonstrated max catapult weight of 83,000 pounds (37,727kg) (Routinely kept to 73,000 pounds in actual use).”

2: A-3 Skywarrior

“It had a very long unrefuelled, still-air range in excess of 2000 nautical miles (3704 km), the Skywarrior was over 74 feet long (22.6 metres) and its long, high aspect ratio swept wings were over 72 feet (21.9 metres) wide. (Which meant line-up at the boat was everything. Don’t be drifting or lining up to the right!) Do you see why it almost immediately got the fleet nickname of the ‘Whale’?”

“That size meant that she rapidly became a jack-of-all trades. Nuke and conventional bomber and minelayer, the last two of which they did during Vietnam; reconnaissance; trainer; VIP transport, tanker-jammer, tanker, Electronic Warfare aggressor; developmental testbed. All these and more made the Whale a unique and valued platform.”

1: Grumman F-14 Tomcat

When I asked former Tomcat Radar Intercept Officer (a role that would be described as navigator in the UK) Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek what was best about the F-14 Tomcat he noted, “It had a great weapon system. Go back to the F-14’s introduction into Navy service and first deployment in 1974.”

“It had long-range, multi-shot, look-down/shoot-down capability. I think the next American fighter to have all of these came along seventeen years later, when the AIM-120 became operational on other teen-series fighters.”

1: Grumman F-14 Tomcat

“I’ll add another item as the second-best thing: endurance. I’m going to throw the engines under the bus, so I might as well give them a little due credit. At throttle settings for maximum endurance, the total fuel flow was around 4400 pounds (2000kg) per hour. Of course, this would require a permissive environment, but even bumping up the speed to increase survivability still gave decent time on the station.”