Vought AU-1 Corsair (XF4U-6)

Developed from the F4U-5 during the Korean War as the XF4U-6 and redesignated AU-1 (A for attack) before production, it was built for the Marine Corps' close air support mission. The engine was the R-2800-83W with a single-stage, manually controlled supercharger tuned for low altitude, and the airframe gained extra armour; top speed fell, but the AU-1 could carry up to 3,720 kg of bombs plus rockets on ten underwing stations.

The first AU-1 flew at the end of January 1952, and 111 were built. Marine squadrons such as VMA-212 used them in the last 18 months of the Korean War, where the Corsair's ability to work from short strips and loiter over the front still made it valuable alongside jets. The AU-1 left Marine service in 1957.

In 1954 ex-Marine AU-1s were handed to the French Aéronavale in Indochina, delivered to Tourane (Da Nang) by the carrier USS Saipan, and the type served alongside France's new-build F4U-7s.