Built as the US Navy's first and only strategic bomber, the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior is the largest aircraft to be operated from an aircraft carrier and also one of the longest serving naval aircraft of the Cold War era. Shortly after World War II ended, the USN required an aircraft capable of performing nuclear attack missions from the new Forrestal-class supercarriers then being constructed and Douglas came up with a high wing design with swept surfaces, an internal weapons bay, remote controlled defensive guns, and a pressurized cockpit. Ultimately, A-3s would form the backbone of the US Navy's strategic nuclear forces which would eventually be replaced in favor of nuclear submarines. Skywarriors would be used for conventional bombing duties during the Vietnam War where it also performed as a tanker, and for photo-recon and electronic counter-measures, a role in which it was used as late as the 1991 Gulf War. A land-based version of this aircraft was also built: the B-66 Destroyer which is described in a separate entry.

The first XA3D-1 prototype flew on 28 October 1952 with Westinghouse J40 turbojets which were ruled unsatisfactory and replaced with J57s in the initial production A3D-1 (A-3A after 1962) which entered service during the second half of the 1950s. The major production version, however, was the A3D-2 (A-3B) with more powerful engines and some of which had inflight refuelling capability. Other versions included the A3D-2Q (EA-3B) ECM platform, the A3D-2P (RA-3B) photo-reconnaissance aircraft, and the A3D-2T (TA-3B) trainer. Tanker variants included the KA-3B and the EKA-3B with ECM capability.