A-6E TRAM

A-6E TRAM

A-6E TRAM

USA

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.3	10.7	10.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Strike aircraft

Naval aircraft

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

Description

The obsolescence of the AD/A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft led to the search for a new plane able to satisfy both US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC) requirements. Aside from the type of engine, the new plane was to be capable of all-weather operations. Grumman was one of eleven companies that sent their designs for selection, and Grumman's design was selected in January 1958 as the YA2F-1. Following development and testing, the YA2F-1 was accepted into the US Navy in February 1963 as the A-6 Intruder. Following experiences in the Vietnam War, the A-6 went through multiple variants featuring improvements or for specialized roles. The A-6E was introduced in December 1972 with better navigation, attack, and radar equipment. It featured another enhancement in 1979 with the Target Recognition and Attack Multi-sensors (TRAM) system, which enabled better targeting abilities for improved munition accuracy. The A-6E Intruder and its variants continued serving the US Navy in most combat operations from the Vietnam War onwards, including the 1991 Gulf War. All Intruders were retired by February 1997.

Introduced in Update "Apex Predators", the premium A-6E TRAM is one of the more unique aircraft in the game as it does not come with any native weapons. The weapon it brings into the battle is dependent on five hard points that players are able to customize. The assortment of weapons is quite remarkable, with smart weapons like guided bombs not needing a targeting pod due to the TRAM system installed in the aircraft. That said, the A-6E TRAM is subsonic-only, so it cannot get to the battlefield quickly and falls closer to the category of A-10s and Su-25s. However, if the battlefield calls for very specific loadout requirements, the A-6E can provide that kind of flexibility to bring only what is essential to the needs of the battlefield.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Max speed

at 0 m1 055 km/h

Turn time49 s

Max altitude12 300 m

Engine2 х Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8As

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight27 t

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at 12,300 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1,047	1,041	12300	50.2	51.2	35.1	32.4	1,100
Upgraded	1,063	1,055		48.1	49.0	53.9	44.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
X	✓	✓	✓	✓	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1,322	460	N/A	555	510	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	<900	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass			Wing loading (full fuel)
Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8As		2	12,647 kg			___ kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)					Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		17m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	45m fuel	57m fuel
654 kg	Axial-flow turbojet		14,816 kg	15,164 kg	16,422 kg	18,309 kg	19,876 kg	26,602 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%)
Condition	100%	WEP	17m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	45m fuel	57m fuel	MGW
Stationary	3,796 kgf	N/A	0.51	0.50	0.46	0.41	0.38	0.29
Optimal	3,796 kgf (0 km/h)	N/A	0.51	0.50	0.46	0.41	0.38	0.29

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew2 people

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear460 km/h

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 477

RB6 439

SB6 945

Crew training10 000

Experts1 160 000

Aces2 800

Research Aces2 150 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 100 / 310 / 600 %

2 × 232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor New boosters Wings repair Engine	Fuselage repair Airframe Cover	Flares/Chaff MK 77 Mk81 GBU-12 Gun pod Mk 4 Mod 0 G-suit AIM-9G Mk82 GBU-16 GBU-16 Mk11_belt_pack LAU-3/A Mk83 GBU-10 LAU-10/A AIM-9L Mk84 AGM-123 Skipper

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The A-6E TRAM is armed with:

• 60 x countermeasures

Suspended armament

The A-6E TRAM can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5
20 mm Mk 11 mod 5 cannons (750 rpg)	1	1		1	1
250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs	6	5	6	5	6
250 lb Mk 81 Snakeye bombs	6	5	6	5	6
500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs	6	5	6	5	6
500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs	6	5	6	5	6
1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs	3	2	3	2	3
2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bombs	1	1	1	1	1
2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 Air bombs	1	1	1	1	1
Mk 77 mod 4 incendiary bombs	2	2	2	2	2
277 kg GBU-12 Paveway II bombs	2	2	1	2	2
957 kg GBU-10 Paveway II bombs	1	1	1	1	1
1,092 lb GBU-16 Paveway II bombs	1	1	1	1	1
FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets	57	38		38	57
Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets	12	8		8	12
AGM-123 Skipper missiles	1	1		1	1
AIM-9G Sidewinder missiles	1	1		1	1
AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles	1	1		1	1
Countermeasures	240	240		240	240

Default weapon presets

6 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs + 2 x AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles + 2 x 957 kg GBU-10 Paveway II guided bombs (7,220 lb total) 960 x countermeasures 4 x 20 mm Mk 11 mod 5 cannons (750 rpg = 3,000 total) 4 x AIM-9G Sidewinder missiles 4 x AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles 40 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets 190 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets 4 x AGM-123 Skipper missiles 28 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (7,000 lb total) 28 x 250 lb Mk 81 Snakeye bombs (7,000 lb total) 28 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (14,000 lb total) 28 x 500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs (14,000 lb total) 13 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs (13,000 lb total) 5 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bombs (10,000 lb total) 5 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 Air bombs (10,000 lb total) 5 x 957 kg GBU-10 Paveway II guided bombs (4,785 kg total) 9 x 277 kg GBU-12 Paveway II guided bombs (2,493 kg total) 5 x 1,092 lb GBU-16 Paveway II guided bombs (5,460 lb total) 10 x Mk 77 mod 4 incendiary bombs

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very large air-to-ground payloads, with many choices for suspended weaponry
• Access to excellent AIM-9L all-aspect air-to-air missiles
• Decent flight characteristics when lightly loaded makes it viable in dogfights
• Built-in TRAM turret provides FLIR and laser-targeting capabilities
• Highly customizable secondary weapons due to the large variety of guided bombs, rockets, gunpods, air-to-air missiles and more which allows a loadout appropriate to almost any fight

Cons:

• No internal gun; taking gun pods or air-to-air missiles for self-defense reduces payload amount
• Loses speed very quickly in turns
• Gunpods have poor accuracy and are wing-mounted (convergence issue)
• TRAM turret cannot look fully backwards
• Relatively low top speed, acceleration and climb rate, especially when carrying heavy payloads due to it being a subsonic jet
• Poor handling at high speeds, causing stall very easily, especially when climbing
• Subsonic jet which makes it slower than other jets at its battle rating, making it difficult to outrun and maneuver most supersonic jets

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the A-6E TRAM from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #342 - Metal Beasts section at 00:23 discusses the A-6E TRAM.

A-6E TRAM: A Basic Review - Tims Variety

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] Aircraft Rank VIII announce and pre-order of the A-6E TRAM Intruder

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
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