A light, short range attack and close support aircraft. The Skyhawk was originally intended for the US Navy and Marine forces, based on experience gained in the Korean War. The plane was a quick success, and Skyhawks continue to fly in air forces around the world.

The Israeli Air Force acquired the Skyhawk in 1967 as an indirect result of the French embargo on Israel, which kept Israel from receiving 50 Mirage J5’s that had been purchased from France and paid for in full. The Skyhawk was the first attack plane that the US agreed to sell Israel.

A special version of the plane - the A-4H - was developed for the IAF, which featured improved avionics, augmented carrying capacity and a break chute at the tail. Dozens of these planes entered service, and were Heyl Ha'avir's primary attack plane in the War of Attrition. In early 1973, another Skyhawk model entered service: the A-4N, which still serves in the IAF. This is an improved model, with a higher capacity engine, a cockpit with improved visibility, 30 mm. cannon and better maneuvering ability, among other things. It was based on the A-4M, used by the US Marine Corps.

The IAF purchased dozens of A-4N Skyhawks. The different model Skyhawks carried out bombing missions in the Yom Kippur War, and a considerable proportion of the tactical sorties. They suffered a lot of kills, probably because of their relatively low penetration speed. They also attacked in Operation Peace for the Galilee, and one of them shot down a Syrian MiG-17.

The IAF also has two seat models, for operations as well as advanced training and retraining. The first instruction models arrived in 1967, with the first batch of Skyhawks. During the Yom Kippur war, the Skyhawk order of battle was reinforced with TA-4F and TA-4J models.