The McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk is a variant of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft developed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The model was based on the A-4F variant of the Skyhawk, and was fitted with slightly different avionics as well as the capacity to operate AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The RAN received ten A-4Gs in 1967 and another ten in 1971, and operated the type from 1967 to 1984.
In Australian service the A-4Gs formed part of the air group of the aircraft carrier , and were primarily used to provide air defence for the fleet. They took part in exercises throughout the Pacific region and also supported the training of RAN warships as well as other elements of the Australian military. The Skyhawks did not see combat, and a planned deployment of some of their pilots to fight in the Vietnam War was cancelled. Ten A-4Gs were destroyed as a result of equipment failures and non-combat crashes during the type's service with the Navy, causing the deaths of two pilots.
The RAN had no need for most of its fixed-wing aircraft after Melbourne was decommissioned in 1982, and two years later the ten remaining A-4Gs were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) for training purposes. Between 1986 and 1991 these aircraft were upgraded and re-designated A-4Ks. Two of the former A-4Gs crashed during 2001, resulting in the death of a pilot. The RNZAF's Skyhawks were retired in 2001. Eight A-4Ks, including six former A-4Gs, were sold to Draken International in 2012 and are in service supporting United States military training exercises.
Acquisition
During the late 1950s the Australian Government and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) considered options to replace the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, and her air group. Though Melbourne had only been commissioned in 1955, the de Havilland Sea Venom fighters and Fairey Gannet maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) were becoming obsolete. It was believed that Melbourne was too small to operate more modern aircraft types, and the RAN investigated options to buy a larger carrier. The Government judged that the cost of a new aircraft carrier was too high, especially given the expense of the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF's) procurement programs at that time, and in November 1959 it was announced that the FAA would cease to operate fixed-wing aircraft in 1963. As a result of intervention by the Minister for the Navy, Senator John Gorton, the Government eventually agreed to purchase new fixed-wing aircraft. Gorton had served as a fighter pilot in World War II and had a strong interest in his portfolio. In 1961 Gorton convinced the Cabinet to fund a program to reinvigorate the FAA, starting with the purchase of 27 Westland Wessex anti-submarine helicopters. At this time it was planned to retain Melbourne as a helicopter carrier, but in mid-1963 the Government gave the Navy permission to retain the Sea Venoms and Gannets in service until at least 1967. In June 1964, Minister for Defence Senator Shane Paltridge rejected a proposal from the Navy to purchase an Essex-class aircraft carrier from the United States Navy,
During July 1964, Melbourne hosted flight trials of A-4 Skyhawks and Grumman S-2 Trackers, during a visit to US Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines. The Skyhawk was a particularly light and compact attack plane, with a wing small enough to not require a folding mechanism. American Trackers had previously flown off the carrier during exercises in 1957, and the Royal Canadian Navy had also successfully trialled Skyhawks from Melbourne sister ship . The trials conducted at Subic Bay went well, and confirmed that Melbourne would need only minor modifications to safely operate both types of aircraft. In late 1964 the RAN sought the Government's approval to upgrade Melbourne and purchase a force of 18 Skyhawks and 16 Trackers. The Skyhawks were intended to be used to provide air defence for the fleet as well as to attack warships and targets on land. The Naval Board saw maritime strike as being a logical task for the FAA; the RAAF argued that the 24 General Dynamics F-111C aircraft it had ordered would be more effective in this role. Cabinet agreed to the proposal to modernise the carrier and acquire Trackers in November 1964, but delayed a decision on the Skyhawks at that time. Following further lobbying and staff work by the Navy, the Government eventually agreed to purchase ten Skyhawks in early 1965 for a cost of £9.2 million. This order comprised eight single-seat fighter aircraft and a pair of two-seat TA-4 Skyhawk trainers. These aircraft were the first newly built Skyhawks to be sold to a country other than the United States.