The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American attack aircraft, designed in the 1960s to a US Navy order as a successor to the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. The Corsair II design was based on the Vought F-8 Crusader fighter. The Corsair II was its simplified, shortened, subsonic version. It received the Corsair name after the well-known and successful World War II fighter-bomber Vought F4U Corsair. The prototype was first flown on 27 September 1965, and by the end of 1966, the first production specimens were delivered to combat units.
In December 1967, the first A-7 units entered combat in Vietnam. The A-7 proved very effective in combat in Vietnam. Initially, the A-7A, A-7B and A-7C versions were developed for the US Navy, and the A-7D, with a different engine, avionics and cannon, for the USAF, and the final version A-7E for the US Navy, being a carrier-capable variant of the A-7D. A-7 production continued until 1984; 1,569 specimens of all versions were built. A-7 aircraft participated in the Vietnam War, the invasion of Grenada, the 1983 Lebanon War, the 1986 retaliatory strike on Libya and Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in 1991.
Apart from the USA, A-7 users were Portugal, Greece and Thailand. In the early 1980s, the Portuguese Air Force purchased 50 aircraft in the A-7P version, which was a modification of the A-7A version, equipped with a newer engine type and avionics from the A-7E version. Portugal operated these aircraft until 1999.
The museum specimen was acquired in an exchange for a MiG-21 PFM aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force Museum.
| Wingspan | 11.81 m |
| Length | 14.06 m |
| Takeoff weight | 19 050 kg |
| Maximum speed | – |
| Ceiling | 12 800 m |
| Range | 3600 km |
| Armament | 2 Colt Mk12 cannons cal. 20 mm, AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on fuselage-side pylons and up to 6800 kg of underwing ordnance on six pylons (bombs, rocket launchers, guided missiles) |
| Engine | TF30-P-408 turbofan engine with 59.6 kN thrust |
