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Veteran flight tester on how the YA-7F Strikefighter was really a jet recycling program

The YA-7F program aimed to field a new battlefield interdiction jet for pennies on the dollar by using spare engines and airframes. And it worked.

The YA-7F Strikefighter program looked to do something breathtakingly logical: take existing largely surplus A-7 Corsair II attack jets that lacked speed, maneuverability, and more advanced capabilities and turn them into a more agile supersonic night-fighting battlefield interdiction jets for pennies on the dollar compared to what a new airframe would cost. By all accounts, the YA-7F team was successful at doing just that, but they were fighting a losing battle due to a number of factors, the biggest of which was the latest rendition of the F-16, the Block 40/42 F-16CG/DG, and the love of pointy-nosed fighter jets among the Air Force brass. The fact that big defense contractors wouldn't make a windfall revamping surplus A-7s probably also had something to do with it.

In the end, the far more expensive and sexy F-16, which was born a fighter, would be chosen over the utilitarian YA-7F for the nighttime battlefield interdiction mission, but in retrospect, that may not have been the best choice, at least entirely...
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The basic requirement for the flight tests was “fly no worse than the A-7D” and it was achieved...
All in all, the YA-7F did what it was supposed to do and did it well. The modification team and test team ran a fairly fast, efficient, and comprehensive program, and the transition to production would have resulted in a solid Close Air Support/Battlefield Area Interdiction capability. It was originally called the “A-7 Plus” by LTV, its manufacturer (occasionally some wit would call it the “F-8 Minus”) before it received its official designation. But a fleet of A-7Fs was not to be, because the Guard was holding out for moving up to the F-16, which is inherently far more multi-role capable than the unlovely YA-7F variant of the SLUF (slightly longer ugly fellow).

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... ng-program

poliorcetes escribió:The fact that big defense contractors wouldn't make a windfall revamping surplus A-7s probably also had something to do with it.

poliorcetes escribió:Exacto. cientos de aparatos que, además, tenían más persistencia y menos coste por hora que los teens, porque no tenían que hacer bien el CAS y la AI y además la superioridad aérea. Podrían haber adquirido un 25% menos de flota de F-16, tener más que suficientes para superioridad aérea y CAS avanzado... y disponer de hasta 1200 A7F,

Orel escribió:Completo vistazo explicativo al A-10:
https://theaviationist.com/2020/07/16/a ... ever-seen/

Orel escribió:https://theaviationist.com/2020/07/20/m ... iguration/

The aircraft retains all its training features while being able to perform also a wide range of operational air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.

bandua escribió:

poliorcetes escribió:Exacto. cientos de aparatos que, además, tenían más persistencia y menos coste por hora que los teens, porque no tenían que hacer bien el CAS y la AI y además la superioridad aérea. Podrían haber adquirido un 25% menos de flota de F-16, tener más que suficientes para superioridad aérea y CAS avanzado... y disponer de hasta 1200 A7F,

reconozco que el A-7 siempre fue una de mis debilidades.

Vorlon escribió:El F-22 llego demasiado pronto, se quedó de golpe sin enemigo semejante...

ruso escribió:Vale, si es del M-346 entonces la respuesta viene en el enlace.

The aircraft retains all its training features while being able to perform also a wide range of operational air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.

Más o menos, traducción mía: El avión mantiene sus capacidades como entrenador siendo también apto para realizar una amplia gama de misiones aire-aire y aire-superficie.

The aircraft, formerly known as M-346 Fighter Attack (FA), is the first prototype in complete configuration, featuring all the equipment that differentiates it from the standard M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT).
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The M-346 LFFA variant is designed to retain the full dual role capability of the AJT version, ...