EA-6B Prowler: No Plane on Earth can Really Match

[Music] meet the e86b prowler tactical jamming aircraft the e86b prowler has officially been retired from service by the marine corps the last operator of the type prowler sundown has been creeping slowly closer ever since the u.s navy retired the aircraft back in july of 2015. the end of the prowler also marks the end of an incredibly successful legacy for grumman's a6 intruder family of aircraft it reaches back six decades it all began with the prototype ya2f1 intruder an incredibly ambitious carrier-based strike aircraft with thrust vectoring nozzles and ridiculously advanced computer systems for the era in which it was designed the 1950s this aircraft which first flew in 1960 would be refined into the a6 intruder an incredibly heavy hitting and precise nuclear-capable strike aircraft that could haul laughably large bomb loads deep into enemy territory in atrocious weather and at night while flying at a very low level the a6 entered service in 1963 and went on to fight over vietnam for a decade and then on to libya in iraq among other operations as the decades progressed over the ea 6b's 48-year career with the navy and the marine corps it only became more capable and essential after the retirement of the u.s air force's ef-111 raven in 1998 the ea-6b became nearly the sole provider of electronic warfare support for america's air arms with just the air force's small ec-130h compass call fleet providing limited overlap and capability [Music] as time went on the prowler's tricks became more numerous the prowler gained the ability to fire the high-speed anti-radiation missile to support the suppression of enemy air defense's role while also offering jamming support with its alq-99 jamming pods the ea-6b's electronic warfare suite could also be used to jam some communication systems and towards the end of its career the prowler community became quite capable of providing airborne jamming support aimed at disrupting remotely detonated improvised explosive devices that were wreaking horror on american and allied ground troops in iraq and afghanistan the final improved capability icap-3 configured jets are extremely capable aircraft that upgrade drastically improved the prowler's situational awareness ability to communicate jamming effectiveness and human machine interfaces it was used as the basis for the ea-18g growler's electronic warfare system development but according to some of our sources the icap 3 prowler could do some things even better than the aforementioned growler that replaced the prowler in navy service in the last few years the small handful of remaining marine corps prowlers still flying even hauled lightning targeting pods acting in the non-traditional overwatch and surveillance role while also executing their jamming mission at the same time if need be in essence even though the prowler was a remarkably dated aircraft it too became a true multi-role platform in the twilight of its career with all that being said the marine's last prowler squadron marine tactical electronic warfare squadron 2 death jesters based at marine corps air station cherry point was also saying goodbye to itself along with its mount during a ceremony at the base on friday march 8 2019. the marine corps has not signed up to purchase the ea-18g growler or another dedicated electronic warfare platform of any kind instead the service will decentralize some electronic warfare capabilities across its flying fleet by using bolt-on intrepid tiger pods and mq-21 blackjack drones but let's be clear these systems although capable in their own right do not provide the high-end electronic attack capabilities against enemy air defense systems over broad areas that the ea-6b or ea-18g can provide the f-35b and c which the marine corps is buying do have a potent electronic warfare suite but it's focused on self-protection more than large force protection and the broad area jamming support that the prowlers and growlers offer the 2016-2025 naval aviation vision document states the following about the marines move away from a centralized electronic warfare strategy the marine corps comprehensive plan to address electronic warfare requirements after the ea-6b prowler sundown is marine air ground task force which uses modern technologies and integrates multiple aviation platforms unmanned fixed wing and rotary wing assets payloads ground-based electronic warfare nodes and cyber effects to provide commanders with an organic and persistent electronic warfare capability the marine air ground task force electronic warfare concept transitions the marines from focusing on low density high demand electronic warfare to a distributed networked platform agnostic approach the marines will complement joint electronic warfare assets in support of ground forces and fifth generation aircraft flying against sophisticated integrated air defense systems in all the ea 6b community which is relatively tiny compared to those of some of their fast jet colleagues within the department of defense's inventory flew more than 260 thousand hours and were part of virtually every major u.s military operation during their active service yet the one metric that can't be counted is just how many pilots and aircraft were saved by the ea 6bs radar scrambling capabilities if there was actually a way to compute that number i'm certain that it would be absolutely astonishing remember that for every aircraft the prowler saved by employing its bag of electronic tricks it meant that a bunch of other planes and service people didn't have to punch right back into that hostile environment to rescue the downed air crew in other words the ea-6b had a cumulative effect on survivability rates of american combat aircraft prowlers also have been a quiet enabler of america's stealth aircraft fleets working as a nearly essential part of america's stealth technology cocktail since the f-117 flew its first combat sorties it's worth noting that the only f-117 lost in combat occurred during operation allied force on a night when there were no ea-6bs providing an electronic attack umbrella for the stealthy jets forays deep into enemy airspace later in life the same can be said about soldiers on the ground how many never knew they escaped with life and limbs intact because an angel of electronic warfare was orbiting over their heads now electronic warfare is becoming a major domain of combat unlike it ever was before the technology related to the electronic attack mission has never been more important or effective and much greater capability is on the way decades of ea 6b operations informed not only the creation of the ea-18g growler but also the electronic warfare strategies and technologies that will help win battles for decades to come so even though the iconic grumman design is no longer in service this is the incredible legacy the ea-6b and all who worked tirelessly on its rugged but stubborn airframe as well as the folks who crewed it and everyone else who was part of designing and sustaining the prowler program over the years leave behind it's an absolutely incredible but often misunderstood record that no plane on earth can really match the ea 6b has truly been the most important combat jet that the public knows little to nothing about so as we say our final goodbye to the last of the grumman iron cadre of tactical jets we can only say thank you to everyone that made prowler such a magnificent and long lasting success beginning in 2009 the ea-6b was gradually relieved of duty by the boeing ea-18g growler like the prowler the ea-18g was adapted from an existing airframe the fa-18ef super hornet but while the ea-6b did not retain many of the capabilities of the a6 the growler retains many of the features of the super hornet for example the growler carries air-to-air weaponry allowing it to defend itself against hostile fighters the prowler has no such capability and was virtually defenseless against attack thereby requiring escort diverting fighters such as f-14s and f a-18s away from other critical missions the growler is also highly automated mitigated the loss of two electronic countermeasures officers the prowler's retirement leaves the c2a greyhound and the e-2d advanced hawkeye as the only remaining grumman-built carrier-based aircraft with almost half a century of service to boast the ea-6b was a stalwart outlasting even the legendary f-14 tomcat another grumman product along with its progenitor the a6 as the carrier air wing becomes increasingly dominated by boeing super hornets and lockheed martin's lightning twos the prowler's retirement marks the end of a memorable and storied era of naval aviation [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: US Military News

Views: 2,868,401

Keywords: ea-6b prowler, ea-6b cockpit, ea-6b aircraft, Tactical Jamming Aircraft, electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare

Id: lR9XrDZGbJM

Length: 10min 22sec (622 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 21 2022