An article by Brian Lockstone MRAeS MILT
There is a curious symmetry about the departure of the RNZAF’s Air Combat Force of A–4K Skyhawks and their origins in the late 1960s. Both events were fraught with political intrigue, complexity and in–fighting.
In short, we know why Nos 2, 14 and 75 Squadrons were disbanded in 2001. The incoming Labour Government of 1999 was determined to do away with what it perceived to be a hostile element, a strike wing, which did not accord with its concept of peacekeeping, disarmament and continuing disengagement from the old ANZUS alliance.
Despite the fact that the Quigley Report quite clearly showed that it was possible to retain a combat capability within the current defence budget, the Government was determined to press ahead. In this it was aided and abetted by elements in the New Zealand Army which had made clear to Quigley that it did not matter where air support came from, it would “always be available”. These chaps had in mind armoured helicopters as well as a vast fleet of LAV–3s.
On the other hand, the Royal New Zealand Navy conducted itself with honour and dignity, stressing the value of the role of the air combat wing in testing and developing air defence along with maritime strike. It would be cheaper and more expeditious to send out a suitably armed Skyhawk to check an intruder into the EEZ compared with a missile armed Orion (but still not so equipped) or a frigate, of which we have only two.
The Australian Government, which listed the highly regarded 2 Squadron in its order of battle in the event of an attack on the mainland, did not, or was not invited to, comment.
So now the sad saga of the Skyhawks is drawing mercifully to a close. The veterans are finding good homes in museums. Probably the rest will be drawn down for recycling.
But back some 50 years. As long ago as August 1962, the Chief of Air Staff, AVM Ian Morrison, wrote to the Minister of Defence advising that a replacement for the English Electric Canberras (of 14 Squadron) would be needed by 1969–70 and that the replacement type should be a fighter–bomber which had “much the same capacity range and lethality as the light bomber of yesterday”.
He envisaged the Mirage III (then being ordered by the RAF), or the McDonnell Douglas F–4K Phantom (this being the RAF variant). Alternatively, the F–100D Super Sabre or Hawker Hunter might be acquired on a temporary basis, although he had reservations regarding the latter because of its limited ferry range, bearing in mind that the RNZAF had to bypass Indonesia en route to Singapore.
Morrison refined his thinking and in March 1966 proposed to the Chief of Defence Staff (now CDF) that a Canberra replacement might come from either the Mirage III, the F–4 or the Northrop F–5. He then became entangled with the politicians in an unseemly exchange.
There were reports that the RNZAF was focusing on either the F–4E Phantom or the then revolutionary F–111 which the RAAF had selected. He allowed himself to be photographed in the cockpit of an F–111 in the US, which resulted in his being formally warned by ministers to desist from speculating publicly about aircraft selection.
The significance of this was that at the time New Zealand was going through an economic crisis and there was severe pressure on government spending. Morrison’s publicity, however well–meaning, was regarded as anathema.
There was an unpleasant ending to all of this after the funeral of the late Air Cdre Hon TF Gill in March 1982, when Morrison exchanged a blistering correspondence with the Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir Robert Muldoon. Morrison was responding to Muldoon’s remarks on the role Gill played in securing the Skyhawk, and Muldoon bluntly reminded Morrison that he had blotted his record by earning a warning after being advised not to talk publicly.
By May 1968 the RNZAF had completed a fresh evaluation (bearing in mind Frank Gill was Air Officer Commanding Operations at the time) and recommended the purchase of single–seat A–4K and two–seat TA–4K examples. The Cabinet approved the purchase on 10 June 1968 and the rest is history. They arrived, cocooned in white plastic, aboard the helicopter carrier USS Okinawa on 17 May 1970. First to fly was TA–4K NZ6254 on 20 May.
Today we can look back on those extraordinary RNZAF chaps who ushered in the Skyhawk era: Ross Donaldson, John Scrimshaw and Fred Kinvig; then the likes of John Lanham, Ross Ewing and Frank Sharp. It is not without sound reason that the motto of the RNZAF is “through difficulties to the stars”.
- Photographs and article by Brian Lockstone