USN VF-126 Bandits, NAS Miramar, CA, 1992
Limited Edition

Fighter Squadron 126 (VF-126), the Pacific Fleet Adversary Squadron, was known as the "Bandits". Adversary operations involve friendly aircraft mimicking the tactics and characteristics of enemy forces to enhance the relevance of combat training. VF-126 started providing the adversary mission in April 1967 from Miramar. The Skyhawk was chosen as the bandit aircraft because of its maneuverability and smokeless trail, just like a MIG. A-4M Bu No. 158413, was the last of several ex-USMC Skyhawks assigned to the US Navy adversary unit VF-126 "Bandits" and co-located Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun), at NAS Miramar. These aircraft served with VF-126 alongside a motley collection of A-4E/Fs and TA-4F/Js until the "Bandits" were dis-established on 1 April 1994. Bu No. 158413 was then placed in storage within the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Later that same year it was one of 36 surplus A-4Ms sold to the Fuerza Aerea Argentina (Argentine Air Force).

Douglas A-4M Skyhawk

First flown on June 22, 1954, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a carrier-capable aircraft designed for the United States Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Its combat career began with the first American carrier launched raids on North Vietnam on Aug. 4, 1964. The mission of A-4 squadrons is to attack and destroy surface targets in support of the landing force commander. All models have two internally mounted 20mm cannons, and are capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons under day and night visual conditions. There are numerous versions of the A-4, with improvements that include an avionics-housing "hump" just behind the cockpit.