The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was an American, piston-powered, propeller-driven single-seat attack aircraft. The Skyraider in Vietnam pioneered the concept of tough, survivable aircraft with long loiter times and large ordnance loads of bombs, napalm and rockets.

The USAF lost 201 Skyraiders to all causes in Vietnam, while the Navy lost 65 to all causes.

The A-1 Skyraider was the close air support workhorse of the South Vietnamese Air Force (V. N. A. F.) for much of the Vietnam War from September 1960 until the end of the war in 1975.

As the U.S. ended its direct involvement in the war, it transferred the remainder of its Skyraiders to the South Vietnamese, and by 1973, all remaining Skyraiders in U.S. inventories had been turned over to the V. N. A. F. Unlike their American counterparts, whose combat tours were generally limited to 12 months, individual South Vietnamese Skyraider pilots ran up many thousands of combat hours in the A-1, and many senior V. N. A. F. pilots were extremely skilled in the operation of the aircraft.