About 40 US Navy’s A-6 Intruder aircraft, the world’s first fully all-weather attack bomber capable of detecting and identifying tactical or strategic targets, were deliberately sunk by the Navy in 1995 to form a fish haven named “Intruder Reef.”
The A-6 Intruder could detect and identify tactical or strategic targets and deliver conventional and nuclear munitions in zero visibility. The incredibly precise, long-range, low-altitude, subsonic weaponry system was powered by two turbojet engines largely hidden within its “plump” fuselage.
“While the Intruder may not win any beauty contests, it excels in its assigned mission. The A-6 is capable of carrying all U.S. and NATO air-to-ground weapons in its five external store stations–a total payload of 18,000 pounds,” writes the US Navy History and Heritage Command. The aircraft entered service in 1963 and was deployed extensively by the Navy across battlefields.
On December 19, 1996, the last of the iconic fighters ended their last assigned deployment after more than three decades of service, following which the aircraft was decommissioned.
Before the retirement was announced, the Intruders were sent to Grumman’s St. Augustine factory in the late 1980s for overhauls and the installation of new composite-material wings. The Navy was worried about metal fatigue because some all-metal wings were over 20 years old. However, in 1993, the service decided to retire the aircraft instead, and the upgrade program came to a halt.
Following the announcement of the cancellation of the Intruder program, several museums asked to acquire A-6s for their holdings. Some were transported to naval sites to be installed on poles as “gate guards,” while six were sent to museums.
However, that did not even come close to reducing the number of aircraft slated for destruction that were sitting at Grumman St. Augustine. Every aircraft had to be demilitarized and decontaminated, regardless of its final destination.
While several A-6 airframes were waiting to be sanitized at the Northrop Grumman facility at St. Augustine Airport in Florida, it was decided that they would rather be buried in the sea than be turned into scrap metal.
During World War II, aircraft from the massive military training facility in St. Augustine were frequently dumped into the nearby ocean, leaving many metal mini-reefs in the waters.
In the 1990s, when the A-6 was nearing retirement, the local community was looking to build artificial reefs using cost-effective options. So, it was decided that the sanitized airframes of Intruder jets would sink into the waters to create an “Intruder Reef.”
The Intruder Reef project was approved by the Florida State Department of Environmental Protection and the US Navy. About 40 sanitized Intruder airframes, stripped of their crucial parts and glory, were deliberately sank off the coast of Florida to create an artificial reef.
“In short order, both Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection and the Navy gave the Intruder reef project the green light, and on June 16, 1995, nearly two years after Blalock had first floated the concept, a bulldozer and a backhoe manhandled a barge load of 26 Intruders into the water 25 miles off St. Augustine,” states Erik Hildebrandt in his article “Burial At Sea.” Five days later, more aircraft followed, he added.
According to reports, fishermen and scuba divers now visit it to observe a variety of marine life and even hunt invasive species.
The retirement of the A-6 Intruder was referred to as the end of an era because the aircraft saw action in different war zones during the Cold War era.
A-6 Intruder Was A US Navy Marvel
The A-6 Intruder was the world’s first fully all-weather attack bomber, which carried a crew of two—pilot and bombardier-navigator—seated side by side. The all-weather navigation and weapons delivery system helped them by providing an integrated electronic display that let them “see” targets and geographic features despite bad weather or darkness.
Because of this capability, the Intruder was frequently employed to guide other attack aircraft into difficult missions.
The A-6A entered service in February 1963 with the VA-42 attack squadron based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. Then came the A-6B, essentially an avionics modification of the A-6A with accommodations for the Navy’s anti-radiation missile. The primary role of this aircraft was to suppress surface-to-air missiles.
Following this came the A-6C variant, which was developed during the Vietnam War and used electro-optical sensors to track and target vehicles that were moving in the dark. The final iteration in the series, the A-6E, had an upgraded computer and a multi-mode radar.
The Navy and Marine Corps relied on the Intruder as their primary aircraft for over thirty years.
The aircraft was continuously enhanced and applied to deep-strike, interdiction, and close-air-support operations. It could detect, identify, and strike a wide range of targets thanks to its radar and FLIR/laser capabilities, and it was configured to fire both Harm and Harpoon missiles.
The aircraft’s Digital Integrated Attack and Navigation Equipment (DIANE) combined several subsystems to process data and provide information for accurate weapon delivery and navigation. An Intruder could be launched from a carrier deck at night, perform a sophisticated strike mission, and return to its carrier.
The aircraft was extensively deployed under harsh combat conditions during the Vietnam War. At the time, it was the only American aircraft capable of conducting nighttime strike missions over North Vietnam. However, some reports suggest that since it usually flew low to deliver its payload, the Intruder was particularly susceptible to anti-aircraft fire.
Later, A-6 Intruders were deployed to support various missions, including the Multinational Force in Lebanon in 1983. It also participated in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, performing sorties during the opening 72 hours of the war.
The Intruder acquired over 7,500 hours of flight time, over 6,500 landings, 712 catapult launches, and 767 arrested landings. Intruders served as air support for US Marines during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and patrolled the no-fly zone in Iraq after the Gulf War. In 1994, before their final retirement, Navy A-6s were sent to Bosnia.
Originally, the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II was supposed to replace the A-6, but cost overruns forced the cancellation of that program. After serving for a few more years, the Intruder was decommissioned to make way for the LANTIRN-equipped F-14D Tomcat, which, in turn, was later replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in the U.S. Navy and the twin-seat F/A-18D Hornet in the U.S. Marine Corps.
A report from USNI News dated September 1996 read: “The U.S. Navy’s last specialized attack aircraft—the A-6E Intruder—retires from the fleet in December when Attack Squadron 75 (VA-75) completes its current deployment on board the carrier Enterprise (CVN-65). The VA-75 “Sunday Punchers” is the Navy’s last attack squadron to fly the Intruder, and this deployment marks the end of the aircraft’s 34-year operational history.”
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