How This Weaponless Plane Became One of US Most Feared Aircraft

foreign and welcome back to the fluctus channel Modern Warfare has evolved to a point where a small piece of electronic equipment could do more harm than rounds of ammo today's feature is dedicated to an electronic attack aircraft that has not fired a single round of ammo but has flown many Victorious Mission sorties the A6 Intruder was the progenitor of the ea6b prowler which entered into service in 1963 as an attack aircraft the Intruder revolutionized aerial bombing with its all-weather operational capability and the ability to deliver conventional and nuclear Ordnance at zero visibility [Music] aircraft is easily distinguishable with its permanent in-flight refueling probe located in the nose the all-weather navigation and weapons delivery system fitted to the A6 Intruder was best in identifying tactical and strategic targets of enemies and destroying them with air-delivered bombs with the Advent of advanced Fighters the need for a much faster and more capable Guardian was looming [Music] Northrop Grumman Engineers decided to improve their existing A6 Intruder into a Next Level tactical and jamming aircraft EA 6A Intruder was the result and entered into service in 1965 as an electronic countermeasure or ACM aircraft upon the success of this variant and the escalation of the war in North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder Northrop Grumman worked on a newer variant of the ea6a the ea6b the improved ECM variant was introduced in 1971 with state-of-the-art systems that could dominate electronic warfare as the aircraft sported several electronic warfare systems then the original design it was redesigned to accommodate four crew members a pilot and three electronic countermeasures officers or ecmos foreign [Music] these systems incurred more weight resulting in a rugged airframe leaning gear and robust engines [Music] the prowler was made with improved versatility to be used on both land and sea the role played by the ea6b as the primary tactical radar jamming aircraft within the U.S Navy and Marine Corps ended in 2019 with an impeccable track record showing Beyond doubt that the ea6b was the ultimate Prowler prior to takeoff the ea6b undergoes routine inspections like all other aircraft but the external pods located under the belly end wing for electronic countermeasure equipment make the assessment more demanding amidst the pre-flight inspection Airmen refuel the aircraft with refueling trucks the prowler can hold 15 422 pounds of jet fuel in its wing tanks while external fuel pods could save nearly ten thousand pounds of fuel pilots and electronic countermeasure officers hop into the cockpit and perform pre-flight tests the ea6b receives power from two Pratt and Whitney j52p408 turbojet engines buried in the fuselage delivering 11 240 pound force of thrust a piece despite the novel electronic countermeasure systems built into the prowler it lacks air-to-air firing capability and Agility with that said the ea6b is a significant and easy target for conventional Fighters and surface-to-air missiles to be on the safe side the pilot and three countermeasure officers wear survival vests on top of their g-suits to call for help when everything has gone wrong the rest of the life-saving tools are packed inside the survival kit located within the aircraft seat this survival pack includes essential life-saving equipment to help Pilots pull through any austere situation after parachuting and landing on the ground yeah for better execution of electronic attacks the ea6b crew consists of One Pilot and three electronic warfare officers two ecmos seated in the AFT seats shoulder the responsibility of operating the alq 99 tactical jamming system which is considered the heart of the prowler the other ECMO in the right front seat undertakes communication navigation and defensive electronic countermeasures all three ecmos work hand in hand with the pilots in combat situations to disrupt enemy Radars and Communications allowing more leeway for Allied Forces to penetrate and attack after serving the U.S armed forces for almost five decades the prowler commenced its official retirement with a blaze of glory in 2016. [Music] four ea6b Prowlers from all four squadrons flew in formation one last time to honor the exceptional service the Navy retired ea6b in 2015 while the Marine Corps kept pace until 2019 and officially ended the Golden Era of ea-60 Prowlers on March 8 2019. [Music] since 1971 the role played by the ea6b has been indispensable it has been involved in hundreds of missions around the globe saving countless lives apart from the lives saved and missions one Prowler had averted many accidents that could have cost billions to the Navy for search and rescue missions with that said the Legacy built by the ea6b prowler will continue with pride in the next generation of electronic warfare aircraft with the Sundown of the ea6b prowler The ea-18g Growler entered into service thank you Boeing won the contract to develop the next electronic attack aircraft at that time Boeing had a production line for fa-18 Fighters so they took two fa-18f Super Hornet Fighters modified them as ea-18gs and put them to the test [Music] with successful outcomes from the tests Boeing started production in 2007 and released the ea-18g to operational service in 2009 [Music] unlike previous electronic attack aircraft Growler could defend itself with aim 120 amram air-to-air missiles from Airborne threats the fa-18f Super Hornet the base variant for The Growler comes with radar cross-section or RCS reduction features that improve the stealth characteristics of the aircraft [Music] this intensifies the maintenance program of the ea-18g as airmen have to pay more attention to the electromagnetic interference Shields or emis canopy and windshield Coatings and gaps between the panels to retain the RCs reduction potential [Music] maintaining the sophisticated Masterpiece loading an ea-18 Growler is a task of its own Sailors from electronic attack Squadron baq stuffed the Jets 11 weapon stations with electronic warfare pods and weapons right now Growler can sport up to three alq 99 radar jamming pods and its underwing and underbelly stations these pods serve the function of jamming enemy radar and communication systems by emitting electronic signals on the same frequency as the enemy systems to disrupt and create interference a ram air generator located at the front of each pod provides power for the transmitter the alq 227b communications countermeasure set or CCS buried into the AFT fuselage is dedicated to disrupting enemy Communications during missions this passive system receives all electromagnetic signals and evaluates them to identify incoming threats and the presence of enemy radars apart from disrupting enemy Communications the data garnered via the alq 227b electronic attack system is exploited to locate and track the enemies with the planned block two enhancements The Growler will receive pretty decent improvements to its electronic attack systems like incorporating the apg-79 multi-mode radar and the ale 47 countermeasures dispenser into its electronic attack Arsenal the aerial refueling capability of the ea-18g improves the loiter time significantly as aerial refueling can fill up all the internal and external tanks growler's refueling probe is hydraulically actuated and mates with a drogue extended from the tanker foreign of Defense consumes around a whopping 78 million gallons per year U.S Navy becomes the second highest consumer of energy within the department said U.S Navy is taking initiatives to introduce alternative fuels to Power Jets and other vehicles [Music] as an initiative U.S Navy's air test and evaluation Squadron flew an ea-18 Growler with 100 Renewable Fuel aptly naming the jet Green growler in this modern era bullets bombs and missiles are not the only weapons available [Music] electronic attack systems have evolved in a way that can an entire Army by taking down their Radars and Communications or the ea-18g is the most advanced electronic warfare aircraft serving in the world a next generation of air dominant system will soon replace the existing jammers [Music] we will be heading to a future where unmanned electronic warfare drones will take flight while machine learning and artificial intelligence will enhance Mission success rates surpassing human capabilities [Music] yeah that's the end of this video I hope you enjoyed it make sure to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss any of our new content see you next time thank you

Channel: Fluctus

Views: 366,599

Keywords: EA-6B Prowler, A-6 Intruder, EA-18G Growler, Northrop Grumman, tactical and jamming aircraft, EA-6A Intruder, Electronic Countermeasure, ECM fighter, Operation Rolling Thunder, Electronic Countermeasures Officers, ECMO, survival vest, A-18F Super Hornet, Radar Cross Section, RCS, aerial refueling, US Navy, US Marine Corps, biofuel test, renewable fuel

Id: vzYsNZNM-AY

Length: 15min 1sec (901 seconds)

Published: Sun May 28 2023