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The RA-5C Vigilante was designed and built by North American Aviation as an advanced supersonic attack aircraft. It was the largest supersonic carrier aircraft in the Navy. Originally designed as a bomber, it was later realized that it was much more effective in the role of a high speed reconnaissance aircraft.
It was equipped with two General Electric J-79 engines with afterburners.
The first Vigilante flew on June 30, 1962.
It operated with many new “state of the art” systems.
-first aircraft to use the heads up display system
-first to use the fly by wire flight control system
As a reconnaissance aircraft the “Viggie” utilized the following systems.
-forward looking oblique angle optical camera
-vertical optical camera
-passive electronic countermeasures (PECM)
-infrared sensor
-photo flasher pod system
-digital data system
-side looking radar (SLR)
The Vigilante served the fleet during the Vietnam War with the squadrons that were assigned to NAS Sanford, Florida. As a result of base closures they were later transferred to NAS Albany, Georgia and NAS Key West, Florida. |
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