Description

The Vigilante was introduced by the US Navy during June 1961, where it succeeded the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior as the Navy’s primary nuclear strike aircraft, but its service in this capacity was relatively brief due to the deemphasising of manned bombers in American nuclear strategy. A far larger quantity of the RA-5C tactical strike reconnaissance variant were also procured by the service, which saw extensive service during the Vietnam War. It also established several world records in both long-distance speed and altitude categories. During the mid-1970s, the withdrawal of the type commenced after a relatively short service life, largely due to the aircraft being expensive and complex to operate, as well being a victim of post-Vietnam military cutbacks. The Airmark series is a smaller, one stop, full colour book of a specific aircraft, with background details, walk arounds, colour side profiles and model builds, ideal for the enthusiast and modeller alike