Another series of upgrades—longer stroke main gear, further structural strengthening and a new tail wheel configuration—yielded the AD-3, 194 of which were delivered in 1948-49. This batch included three subvariants: 15 three-seat night attack AD-3Ns, which added a radar operator/navigator; 31 three-seat early-warning AD-3Ws, which featured a cockpit turtle-deck and a large belly radome; and 21 two-seat ECM AD-3Qs.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Aviation History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

The AD-4, introduced in 1949, featured increased takeoff weight, a stronger tailhook and a P-1 autopilot to relieve pilot fatigue on long missions. It likewise appeared in night attack, early-warning and ECM subvariants. At that time, due to budgetary restrictions placed on procurement of all new naval aircraft, BuAer assumed Skyraider production would cease once the initial AD-4 order was completed in 1950. A projected level of about 550 AD-2s, -3s and -4s, including subvariants, would enable the fleet to maintain 16 Navy and two Marine AD-equipped attack squadrons along with smaller detachments with the specialized versions. Conventional wisdom held that future attack aircraft, whenever money became available to develop them, would be jets. Then on June 25, 1950, everything changed: The 180,000-man-strong North Korean army, equipped with modern Soviet-made small arms, artillery, tanks and aircraft, marched across the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea.

On July 3, 1950, AD-4s of VA-55 serving aboard USS Valley Forge became the first Skyraiders committed to combat, flying a strike against an airfield near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. As more AD units arrived on station to bolster the carrier task force, the type quickly began to earn a reputation as the best all-around attack aircraft in the combat zone. In daytime operations, ADs typically carried an 8,000-pound mixed load of ordnance, which was four times greater than that carried by either the F4U-4 or the U.S. Air Force's P/F-51D. ADs were the only planes capable of delivering 2,000-pound bombs with dive-bomber precision against hard targets like mountain bridges and hydroelectric dams. Two AD-equipped Marine squad­rons, VMA-121 and VMA-251, joined the battle from land bases in Korea in 1951. Night attack sorties were flown by AD-3N and -4N aircraft carrying bombs and flares, while ECM and radar-equipped ADs carried out radar-jamming and early-warning missions from carriers and land bases.

The only problem with ADs was that, due to combat losses and operational attrition, there were never enough of them. Production continued nonstop, with 1,051 AD-4s (all variants) completed by the end of 1952, including 165 AD-4Bs armed with four 20mm cannons and specially configured to carry a tactical nuclear weapon (the first single-seat naval aircraft to do so).

By the time Korean hostilities ended in July 1953, the AD had categorically established itself as naval aviation's most versatile attack platform. Far from being discontinued, even newer Skyraider variants were being developed and placed in production. The wide-body AD-5, which flew in August 1951, was originally conceived to accommodate the additional crew, electronic equipment and weapons needed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The fuselage was lengthened two feet and widened to permit side-by-side seating for a pilot and up to three crew members under a longer canopy. To offset the increase in fuselage area, vertical fin area was increased, and the dive brakes on the fuselage sides were deleted. The AD-5 was ultimately ordered into production as a day attack aircraft, not ASW, and was too late to see action in Korea. The 212 standard attack versions produced came with conversion kits, which, in addition to its basic attack function, allowed the type to be used either as a transport (12 seats), cargo carrier, air ambulance or target tug. These were followed by a further 218 AD-5W early-warning versions and 239 AD-5N night/all-weather versions, 54 of which were later modified as AD-5Q ECM aircraft.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to