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Use in F-117 development
The 4450th Tactical Group stationed at Nellis AFB, Nevada had the unique distinction of being the last active USAF unit to operate the A-7 Corsair II. The mission of the 4450th TG was the operational development of the F-117 Nighthawk, and the unit needed a surrogate aircraft for pilot training and practice. A-7Ds and A-7Ks were obtained from various active-duty and national guard squadrons and were assigned initially to the "(P)" unit of the 4450th TG, redesignated the 4451st Tactical Squadron in January 1983.
The A-7s were used as a deception and training aircraft by the group between 1981 and 1989. It was selected because it demanded about the correct amount of pilot workload expected in the F-117A, was single seat, and many of the F-117A pilots had F-4 or F-111 backgrounds. A-7s were used for pilot training before any F-117As had been delivered to bring all pilots to a common flight training base line. Later, the A-7s were used to chase F-117A tests and other weapon tests at the Nellis Range.
A-7 flight operations began in June 1981 concurrent with the very first YF-117A flights. The A-7s wore a unique "LV" tailcode (for Las Vegas) and had a dark purple/black paint motif. The A-7s were based officially at Nellis Air Force Base and were maintained by the 4450th Maintenance Squadron.
In addition to providing an excuse for the 4450th's existence and activities the A-7s were also used to maintain pilot currency, particularly in the early stages when very few production F-117As were available. The pilots learned to fly chase on F-117A test and training flights, perform practice covert deployments, and practice any other purpose that could not be accomplished using F-117As, given the tight restrictions imposed on all F-117A operations.
Some A-7s operated from the Tonopah Test Range Airport, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Tonopah, Nevada where the F-117s were being operationally tested and care was taken to leave them outside the aircraft hangars during the daytime. The existence of A-7s on the Tonopah flight line would not interest Soviet intelligence agencies when examining spy satellite imagery of the base. That way the Soviets would see that Tonopah operated nothing more exciting than some Corsairs.
As part of the deception and to develop deployment procedures, the 4451st TS deployed A-7s to Kunsan AB, South Korea in 1984 to participate in Team Spirit 1984. The word was purposely leaked that the 4450th TG A-7Ds were carrying "super secret" atomic anti-radar devices that would render the aircraft invisible. To maintain the deception, each A-7D was outfitted with old napalm canisters painted black with a flashing red danger light in the rear. The canisters carried a radiation warning tag over an ominous-looking slot on which was printed: "Reactor Cooling Fill Port." When the 4450th TG deployed carrying these bogus devices, the Security Police closed down the base and ringed the field with machine gun toting jeeps. They forced all the runway personnel to turn their backs to the A-7s as they taxied past, and actually had them spread-eagled on the deck with their eyes closed until the 4450th TG A-7s took off.
There were approximately 20 A-7D aircraft used in developing the F-117, including several two-seat TA-7K trainers. In January 1989, just three months after the USAF admitted the F-117A existed, the A-7s were retired to AMARC and were replaced by AT-38B Talons as training aircraft and the 4451st TS was deactivated.
Retirement
U.S. Navy A-7 Corsairs began being phased out of the fleet during the mid 1980s with the arrival of the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet. The last Navy A-7s were retired by the last fleet operational squadrons (VA-46 and VA-72) in May 1991 shortly after their return from Desert Storm. The F-16 Fighting Falcon would also largely replace the A-7 as the Air Force's high performance attack fighter. Even with an advanced technology afterburning turbofan, some still remark that the F-16 lacks the range of the old A-7. The complaint that the Hornet lacked range reached such a level that the even larger F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was scaled up to carry more fuel.
By 1981, the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II took over the Air Force close air support (CAS) role from the A-7s with active duty units. With the exception of the A-7s used in the F-117 program, the last active-duty Corsairs were used by the 23d Tactical Fighter Wing at England Air Force Base Louisiana in 1991. Many active duty pilots missed the performance and sophistication of the Corsair.
Active duty U.S. Air Force A-7Ds were transferred to Air National Guard (ANG) units beginning in 1974, with new twin seat A-7Ks built starting in 1979 being sent directly to the ANG. The last USAF Air National Guard Corsairs were retired in 1993 by the ANG units at Rickenbacker ANGB (Ohio), Des Moines (Iowa), Tulsa (Oklahoma) and Springfield (Ohio).
Some of these surplus aircraft were passed to Greece, Thailand and Portugal; however by the end of 1998, with the exception of some airframes used as static displays, all US A-7s were disposed of by AMARC.
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Sources:
Wikipedia: A-7 Corsair II
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