The opposition National Party disagreed with the decision, as did many RNZAF personnel. The decision to disband the RNZAF's air combat force was controversial. The air combat force was disbanded following further consideration, with the government stating that the funding this freed up would be reallocated to other elements of the New Zealand Defence Force. While the report recommended reducing the number of F-16s, the government decided instead to cancel the deal in February 2000. Following Labour's victory in the 1999 New Zealand General Election, the new government commissioned a review of the fighter lease. The Labour Party opposition opposed this decision on the grounds that the funds would be better spent on the Army. In November 1998, The National-led Coalition Government made the decision to lease 28 F-16 A/B fighter aircraft. The RNZAF's air combat units were disbanded in October 2001, and many of the aircraft were eventually sold. This followed a debate over whether 28 General Dynamics F-16 A/B fighter aircraft should be leased from the United States to replace the Skyhawks. In May 2001 the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand decided to disband the Royal New Zealand Air Force's air combat force by withdrawing its A-4K Skyhawk fighter aircraft and Aermacchi MB-339 trainers without replacement. The Intruder has one of the longest service records of any aircraft in the US Navy and the US Marine Corps.A former RNZAF A-4K Skyhawk on display at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand 42 years after the first prototype flight it is still up there, although very much has changed under its grey aluminium skin. The Grumman A-6 Intruder was born out of the need to replace the Douglas AD (later A-1) Skyraider attack aircraft in both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. In February 1957 the US Navy requested proposals for a two-seat all-weather capable aircraft that could operate from short runways and within a 300 nautical mile / 556km radius. Proposals were submitted by Boeing, Grumman, Douglas, Lockheed, Bell, North American, Vought and Martin by the August 1957 deadline set by the US Department of Defense. Grumman submitted their design number 128Q, a side-by-side two-seat jet-powered subsonic aircraft, utilizing two Pratt & Whitney J52 non-afterburning engines. Grumman's original design had one unique idea the jet pipes could be deflected up to 23 degrees downwards in order to shorten take-off lengths. The design also had foldable wings to ease storage aboard carriers. Weapons would be carried on four wing pylons and one on the fuselage centreline. Because of the intended nature of Intruder missions, no provision for a cannon was fitted. The three shortlisted proposals were from Vought, Douglas and Grumman. On JanuGrumman's design was declared the winner, and on FebruGrumman was awarded a contract for initial design work and a full-scale mock-up. The very first Intruder rolled out of Grumman's factory in Bethpage, Long Island, on April 14, 1960. Since this was before the branches of the US military unified their numbering schemes, it was designated A2F-1 Intruder. The aircraft was fitted with only the equipment needed for safe flying. Five days later on April 19, 1960, the Intruder took to the skies for the first time, flown by Grumman test pilot Robert Smyth. The second prototype flew on July 28, 1960, again with Robert Smyth at the controls. The Intruder had an impressive array of advanced features, not found in other aircraft up to that date, namely a suite of electronics dubbed Digital Integrated Attack Navigation Equipment (DIANE). DIANE consisted of a separate search radar and track radar, an inertial navigation system, an air data computer, a ballistics computer, a radar altimeter and a Doppler navigation system. In addition to the standard attack variant, Grumman was ordered by the USMC to build a supplement and later replacement for the EF-10A Skyknight. Its role was suppression of enemy air defenses during attacks, and a total of 28 EA-6As were built to fill this role.
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