A-1 (AD) Skyraider
U.S. Navy A-1H Skyraider from Attack Squadron VA-152 over Vietnam in 1966.
Role	Attack aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Douglas Aircraft Company
First flight	18 March 1945
Introduction	1946
Retired	1985 Gabonese Air Force[1]
Status	Retired
Primary users	United States Navy United States Air Force Royal Navy South Vietnam Air Force
Produced	1945–1957
Number built	3,180
Developed into	Douglas A2D Skyshark

The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly AD) was an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. It became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after the French World War I fighter.^[2] The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career, even inspiring its straight-winged, slow-flying, jet-powered successor, the A-10 Thunderbolt II.^[3]

It was operated by the United States Navy (USN), the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the United States Air Force (USAF), and also saw service with the British Royal Navy, the French Air Force, the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam (VNAF), and others.