Launching into combat just 27 months after its maiden flight, the LTV A7 Corsair II set a record for the fastest deployment of an aircraft into battle. Entering the fray in the mid1960s as a rambunctious, stateoftheart attack aircraft for the US Navy, it quickly proved its mettle in the skies of Vietnam, becoming the war's most successful tactical jet bomber.

With a smaller size and less glamorous appearance than some of its flashier contemporaries, the A7 would become affectionately known as the Short Little Ugly Fella or SLUF. Yet, its unassuming visual profile belied its extraordinary capabilities, its pioneering use of a headsup display, sophisticated digital navigation/combat system, and computerized weaponaiming allowing for pinpoint accuracy in bomb delivery, fundamentally altering the landscape of groundattack missions and setting a precedent for future generations of military aircraft.

The A7 Corsair II, renowned for its impressive range and endurance, mastered the skies with a payload capacity that seemed limitless. Equipped to deliver destruction with surgical precision, it handled a broad spectrum of missions—from laying sea mines and launching antiship strikes to executing armed interdictions and providing close air support. Celebrated as the "ultimate bomb truck," the Corsair II was a powerhouse of versatility, capable of adapting to any combat scenario thrust upon it. In an era dominated by the quest for speed, the Corsair simply did what supersonics couldn’t.