Manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Corporation and originally intended to operate from United States Navy (USN) aircraft carriers, the A-4 Skyhawk was designed by Ed Heinemann in response to the Navy's request for a jet-powered attack aircraft that would replace the A-1 Skyraider. Heinemann chose a design that would minimize size, weight and complexity. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's specification and had wings so compact that need not be folded for carrier stowage. The petite aircraft soon received the nicknames “Scooter”, “Bantam Bomber”, “Tinker Toy Bomber” and, in reference to its agility, “Heinemann's Hot-Rod”. The first prototype flew on June 22, 1954, and deliveries to the USN and US Marine Corps (USMC) began in late 1965. Production of the Skyhawk was put to a halt in 1979, and by then, a total of 2,960 aircraft had been built.

The design of the Skyhawk is not uncommon among post-World War II planes. It had a delta wing, a tricycle undercarriage, a single turbojet engine in the rear fuselage and a cruciform tail. Armament included cannons and a large variety of bombs, rockets and missiles.

The A-4 was the pioneer of the “buddy” self air-to-air refueling concept. This allows aircraft to supply fuel to others of the same type without the need for a dedicated tanker, and was particularly handy for small air arms or when operating in remote locations. In case of any hydraulic failure, the Skyhawk was also capable of emergency landing on drop tanks that were almost always carried by the aircraft.