A-4B vs A-4C

Aircraft Cold War
1

Hi all,

Quick question: What are the visible differences between the A-4B and A-4C Skyhawks?

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Not trying to be a smart ass, I am actually constantly amazed by Google’s AI answers. Forty years ago we could maybe order a mail order book and hope it had the info

he main visual differences between the Douglas A-4B (originally A4D-2) and the A-4C (originally A4D-2N) Skyhawk stem directly from the A-4C’s upgrade to all-weather operations. [1, 2]

The primary visual tells include:

1. The Nose Profile (The Most Obvious Clue)

  • A-4B: Features a shorter, sharply tapered, and completely pointed nose because it carried no internal radar tracking hardware.
  • A-4C: Features a longer, rounded nose extended by approximately 9 inches. This expansion created room for the AN/APG-53A terrain-clearance and ranging radar system, altering the profile of the jet’s front section into a distinct, blunter “radar bulge”. [1, 2, 3, 4]

2. Fuselage Intake Scoops

  • A-4B: Has a cleaner, smoother rear fuselage forward of the tail.
  • A-4C: Features additional small cooling scoops added to the fuselage exterior to dissipate heat generated by the dense new all-weather avionics and electronics suites. [1]

3. Windshield Wiper

  • A-4B: The front windscreen lacks any mechanical wiper.
  • A-4C: Features a single external windshield wiper mounted directly on the front windscreen to maintain visibility during inclement, all-weather flight operations. [1]

4. Cockpit & Ejection Seat (Internal / Close-Up)

  • A-4B: Standard cockpit instrumentation layout fitted with an early Escapac 1 ejection seat.
  • A-4C: Redesigned, slightly different instrument panel array to integrate the radar display, paired with a modified low-level Escapac 1A-1 ejection seat variant. [1, 2, 3]
4 Likes
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Nothing smart-assy about it, all help is welcome. I don’t fully trust AI though. For example, the B doesn’t have a pointed nose, it’s rounded off at the tip.