A-4 today

I was wondeirng, given the NZ government having problems with
Skyhawks, what made them so put off about them? I know they are older,
but the Israelis really modified theirs and they seemed OK with
precision weapons.

Can the A-4 Skyhawk mount Harpoon missiles? If not I would guess that
Penguin or something like that would be doable. With a good mix of
fuel tanks and underwing missiles I could see the A-4 giving the New
Zealanders a good quick-reaction capability over a very good range.

Are the Kiwis planning to replace the A-4 with a new attack jet type
due to expense and maintenance or are they just making the decision
they don't need that type of craft for their defensive needs?

At any rate A-4s being used as aggressors for training today is still
pretty cool after about 50 or so years of Skyhawk service.

David