The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) operated Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack jet-aircraft from 1970 to 2001. The aircraft equipped the RNZAF's Strike Wing, serving with No. 75 Squadron and, from 1984, No. 2 Squadron. In late 2001, the aircraft were controversially withdrawn from service without being replaced. Some were donated to aviation museums in New Zealand and Australia and the remainder were sold to Draken International, a private military contractor to the United States, in 2012.
Background
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company in the early 1950s as a subsonic attack aircraft for the United States Navy (USN). Entering service with the USN in 1956, the Skyhawk was an immediate success and flew in a number of conflicts around the world, ranging from the Vietnam War to the Falklands War, as well as the First Gulf War. With 2,960 examples of the various versions of the aircraft being built, it was operated by the air forces of several nations, including New Zealand. Its relatively low weight meant that it was able to incorporate new technologies as these were introduced and also carry a heavy payload, which led to a prolonged service life for the type, extending well into the 1990s.
Acquisition In 1962, when Air Vice-Marshal Ian Morrison became New Zealand's Chief of Air Staff (CAS), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) was in a period of decline, with an aging fleet of aircraft. On taking office, he sought to reinvigorate and reequip the RNZAF. His initial focus was to remedy the deficiencies in the RNZAF's transport and maritime capabilities, before addressing its air combat capacity. At the time, the RNZAF's Strike Wing was composed of one squadron equipped with English Electric Canberra jet-powered medium bombers, plus another that had a complement of de Havilland Vampire jet fighters albeit non-operational.
By May 1966, a number of aircraft had been considered as replacements for the RNZAF's Strike Wing, among them the General Dynamics F-111 bomber, Northrop F-5 Tiger, and the F-4 Phantom, the latter being the preference of both Morrison and the Defence Council. In contrast, for cost reasons the New Zealand Government preferred the F-5 Tiger. However, no decision had been made by the time Morrison's term as CAS ended later in the year. His replacement, Air Vice-Marshal Cameron Turner, together with Chief of Defence Staff Lieutenant General Leonard Thornton, continued with the efforts to modernise the Strike Wing. A key argument for this was the importance of being seen by New Zealand's allies, particularly Australia and the United States, as being able to contribute in an air combat role.
Cost continued to be an issue, and in late 1967 Turner was asked to reevaluate the Douglas A-4C Skyhawk. This had been among the aircraft considered for the air combat role in 1966 but it had not been favoured at the time due to its inferior performance relative to the likes of the F-4 Phantom. By 1967, the A-4F Skyhawk was in service and this was much improved from the earlier A-4C, having performed well in the Vietnam War. Approval was given for a team of RNZAF personnel to go to the United States to assess the Skyhawk for its suitability for its intended operational role in New Zealand. The leader of the team, Air Commodore T. Gill, reported that it would be an ideal replacement for the Canberras.
There were two purchase options; the first was for eighteen Skyhawks, twelve being single-seat A-4Fs and six two-seat TA-4Fs for training requirements, while the second was for ten single-seat and four two-seat examples. The RNZAF preferred the first option, with Gill recommending that four of the single-seat A-4Fs be set aside to allow for accidental losses. However, when the proposal was put to the New Zealand Government, it opted for the second option. Including spares and the necessary supporting equipment, the total cost was NZ$23 million, about NZ$936,000 per aircraft, with a further NZ$1.6 million to be spent upgrading airfield facilities. Approval for the purchase was made on 10 June 1968.
Skyhawk A-4K/TA-4K In service with the RNZAF, the Skyhawks, based on the A-4F model, were designated as A-4K and TA-4TK respectively. The RNZAF requested some minor changes be made to its aircraft: a drag chute, a VHF radio and armament pylons suitable for carrying the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. A notable inclusion was a dorsal hump aft of the cockpit, intended to house additional avionics controllers that were required to operate electronic countermeasures (ECM). The wiring and controller hardware for the ECM were present in the RNZAF aircraft but without the controllers, which were never installed, were inoperable. The onboard electronics provided were relatively unsophisticated, dating back to the earlier A-4C model of the late 1950s. The weaponry included with the purchase, in addition to the Sidewinders, included 20-mm cannons, a range of conventional general purpose bombs and unguided rockets.
Delivery
In June 1969, prior to the delivery of the RNZAF's Skyhawks, one pilot and some ground crew personnel were sent to the United States for training on the type with VA-44 at the USN's Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida. The pilot, Squadron Leader Ross Donaldson, had qualified on the type by December but then suffered serious injuries in a bird strike while flying as a passenger in a TA-4F. On recovery, although no longer able to fly operationally, he worked to establish a training program for the following RNZAF pilots, who arrived at Jacksonville for training in early January 1970. Some other RNZAF ground crew personnel gained experience with the Skyhawks when sent to Vietnam for six weeks to serve with an A-4 squadron of the United States Marine Corps.
The first A-4K and TA-4K was officially handed over to the RNZAF in a ceremony at Cecil Field on 16 January. With training in the United States completed by April, all fourteen Skyhawks were loaded onto the USS Okinawa, a helicopter carrier, for transport to New Zealand. The ship arrived in Auckland on 17 May and the aircraft unloaded in front of a crowd of protesters. The Skyhawks were subsequently transported to Whenuapai from where they were prepared for their ferry flights to the RNZAF station at Ohakea. The first flight of a Skyhawk in New Zealand was on May 20, when a TA-4K was tested by Squadron Leader Scrimshaw, the commander of No. 75 Squadron, in preparation for the flight to Ohakea.
Operational history Skyhawk aircraft codes RNZAF Tail No. RAN Side No. USN Bu. No. NZ6201 - 157904 NZ6202 - 157905 NZ6203 - 157906 NZ6204 - 157907 NZ6205 - 157908 NZ6206 - 157909 NZ6207 - 157910 NZ6208 - 157911 NZ6209 - 157912 NZ6210 - 157913 NZ6211 882 154903 NZ6212 883 154904 NZ6213 884 154905 NZ6214 887 154906 NZ6215 871 155052 NZ6216 874 155061 NZ6217 876 155063 NZ6218 877 155069 NZ6251 - 157914 NZ6252 - 157915 NZ6253 - 157916 NZ6254 - 157917 NZ6255 880 154911 NZ6256 881 154912 In RNZAF service, the single-seat Skyhawks bore tail codes ranging from NZ6201 to NZ6210 while the two-seaters had tail codes NZ6251 to NZ6254. They originally carried a brown-green camouflage scheme but towards the end of 1984, the RNZAF adopted a grey-green pattern for its Skyhawks. The new scheme was quickly found to be very effective when operating over land and, because of there was no distinction between the upper and lower surfaces, during aerial engagements it was difficult for opponents to quickly detect whether the aircraft was turning towards or away from them. In 1997, an all-dark green scheme, with the roundel insignia and other markings represented in matt black, was adopted for the Skyhawks.
Ten of the Skyhawks, one being a single TA-4K, were assigned to No. 75 Squadron, and were officially handed over on 10 June. The remainder, three TA-4Ks plus the last single seater, were assigned to No. 14 Squadron; this was to act as a conversion unit, training pilots in jet fighter aircraft. It only performed this function up until 1975, at which time its Skyhawks were assigned to No. 75 Squadron. Newly purchased BAC Strikemaster aircraft was subsequently used to train pilots.
In 1984, ten more Skyhawks were purchased, these being sourced from Australia as they were surplus to requirements following the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)'s decommissioning of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. These aircraft were of A-4G (eight examples) and TA-4G (two examples) specification and, delivered to New Zealand in July, were upgraded to the RNZAF's A-4K and TA-4K specification. This brought the number of Skyhawks then in RNZAF service to twenty-two; two of the original complement had been lost in accidents. The ten Australian Skyhawks, which cost AU$28 million, also came with a significant amount of spare parts which considerably bolstered the RNZAF's stocks.
The tail codes applied by the RNZAF to the former RAN Skyhawks followed the numbering of those already in service: the A-4Gs were allocated NZ6211 to NZ6218 while the two TA-4Gs were designated NZ6255 and NZ6256 respectively. They carried their RAN grey two-tone camouflage scheme for a time until they received the RNZAF grey-green scheme.
Service with No. 75 Squadron Equipped with the Skyhawks, No. 75 Squadron became the main component of the RNZAF's Strike Wing. It was regularly detached on training exercises with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and, up until 1984 and the breakdown in the ANZUS relationship, the United States Air Force (USAF). Some pilots of the squadron were sent on exchanges with the RAN, which also operated Skyhawks at the time. The squadron also routinely engaged in training with the air forces of many of the major Southeast Asia countries: Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. As New Zealand was part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements, it was required to provide military support to Singapore and Malaysia while the respective countries built up their military power. To participate in these exercises required long-distance flights for each aircraft with multiple refueling stops while en route. This was a major undertaking for single–engined jet aircraft.
By the mid-1970s, there were increasing tensions over foreign fishing fleets broaching the limit of New Zealand waters. In late March 1976, three Skyhawks were deployed to deter the escape of a Taiwanese fishing vessel that had been detected inside the 12-mile limit and had ignored the commands of a Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) patrol boat to heave to. Flight Lieutenant Jim Jennings fired the 20-mm cannons of his Skyhawk across the bows of the vessel, bring an immediate halt to its attempt to flee. This was the only occasion on which the type used its weapons outside of a training role.
At the time of his deployment to the United States in 1969 to train on Skyhawks, Donaldson was the commander of No. 75 Squadron. During his period in command, he had set up the squadron's acrobatics display team. During 1983, the team performed the first instance of a barrel roll at low level by two aircraft connected to each other via an air refueling hose. Displays were flown at major celebratory events, including in Australia at the RAN's 75th anniversary in 1986, the RNZAF's 50th anniversary in 1987, at the Australian Bicentenary Airshow at Richmond in 1988 and at the opening of the 1990 Commonwealth Games.