The US Navy had called for a new low cost single place light attack aircraft. To keep the costs in line the design was to be based on an existing aircraft. The Vought A-7 Corsair was initially a design study based on the F-8 Crusader. The first prototype flew on September 27, 1965. The A-7 had a number of improvements over the F-8. The A-7 had a redesigned engine intake, to reduce problems encountered during catapult launch, it also had a fully hinged wing to allow the front edge of the wing to rotate up during take-off or landing.
The A-7D is a single-seat, tactical close air support aircraft. Although designed primarily as a ground attack aircraft, it also has limited air-to-air combat capability. It was derived from the basic A-7 originally developed for the U.S. Navy. The first A-7D made its initial flight on April 5, 1968, and deliveries of production models began on Dec. 23, 1968. When A-7D production ended in 1976, 459 had been delivered to the U.S. Air Force.