Undoubtedly the most spectacular version of the A-7D and A-7K was the Low Altitude Night Attack (LANA) configuration, one which had the airplane flashing along 200 feet above the terrain at 500 knots in the dead of night! The idea was, of course, to fly below radar surveillance, pop up to weapons delivery altitude, release the weapons, and head for home before the enemy knew what hit him! The ultimate design goal was for this mission to be flown “hands off” by the pilot. After reaching cruise altitude, the pilot simply programmed his NavWeap Computer for the mission and sat back while the airplane completed the task. It is unlikely that any pilot would follow this scenario but the airplane would be capable of it. Major system changes which equip the airplane with this capability include incorporation of the  CP-1117/A computer with new LANA software, night vision cockpit lighting, improved autopilot, headup display unit, and radar plus many other system, control and display modifications.

Select left figure below to read 1985 program review and select the right figure to read the full system description.