December 14,
2008: Israel is finally getting rid of the last of its U.S. made A-4 Skyhawk
light bombers. Israel bought over 200 in the 1960s and 70s, and lost 53 to
ground fire and missiles during the 1973 war. Later, most were sold or retired.
The remaining two dozen are used for pilot training. But some of these have
crashed, as the A-4 isn't a great trainer aircraft. The elderly A-4s are also
expensive to maintain. So Israel is shopping for a new trainer, and will scrap
the remaining A-4s when that is done.
When Israel
bought the second-hand U.S. A-4s, it did so because the aircraft cost a quarter
what an F-4 fighter-bomber did, and could carry as many weapons. Thus the heavy
losses in the 1973 war (because Israel underestimated the capabilities of new Russian surface-to-air missile systems, and numerous anti-aircraft gun
systems, the Arabs now had).
The 11 ton
A-4 could carry about four tons of bombs, along with two 20mm autocannon. Smart
bombs make it unnecessary to have a lot of fighter-bombers, much less lower
cost light bombers like the A-4. Thus the use of A-4s as pilot training
aircraft, a job they were not really designed for.
