Designed in the late 1950s, the A-6 is an all-weather long-range carrierborne attack aircraft able to operate by day or night. The first of six YA-2F1 prototypes flew on April 19, 1960 with the first of 482 production A-6As being delivered to the US Navy beginning in 1963. The Intruder played a large role in the Vietnam war, flying over 35,000 combat sorties by 1973.

The definitive version is the A-6E which includes an APQ-148 multi-mode Doppler radar with terrain mapping and track-while-scan capabilities. Included beneath the nose radome is a laser spot tracker and laser ranger and designator. All A-6Es in service are due to be retired by the year 2000.