(HARM), which homes in on radar transmitters and shreds them with a blast-fragmentation warhead.[53]
Today, the Prowler is the finest tactical EW aircraft in the world. It's so good that the USAF is quietly retiring its own fleet of EF-111 Raven EW aircraft and employing EA-6Bs in joint (USN/USAF) squadrons. All this is even more impressive when you consider that the thirty-year-old Prowler design has been around for almost half of the six decades that radar has been used in military operations; and with regular updates, it has at least another ten or fifteen years to go.
Electronic warfare (intercepting and jamming enemy signals) began with the first military use of radio in the Russo-Japanese War (1905), and reached a high degree of sophistication during the Second World War, as Axis and Allied scientists and technicians fought for control of the electromagnetic spectrum. EW aircraft have been in use since World War II, with modified USN TBF/TBM Avengers being among the first such aircraft. The start of the Vietnam War saw two carrier-capable EW birds in service with the Navy, though both were already getting old. The EA-1E was a modification of the classic Douglas AD-1 Skyraider, while the EKA-3B 'Electric Whale' (which also served as a tanker aircraft) was a development of the Cold War-era A-3 Skywarrior attack bomber. As American aircraft began to fall to radar-controlled AAA guns, SAMs, and MiGs over Vietnam, the need for a third-generation EW aircraft became almost desperate. Out of this need came the development of what would become the EA-6 Prowler.
The original airframe of the Prowler was derived from the A-6 Intruder, which was the Navy's first
The Prowler is big for a 'tactical' aircraft. The overall length is 59 feet, 10 inches/17.7 meters. It has a wingspan (with the wings unfolded) of 53 feet/15.9 meters, and sits 16 feet, 3 inches/4.9 meters high on the deck. It is also quite heavy, with a maximum gross takeoff weight of 61,000 lb/ 27,450 kg, much of which is fuel. The Prowler has a cruising speed of just over 500 knots/575 mph/920 kph, an unrefueled range of over 1,000 nm/ 1,150 mi/1,840 km, and a service ceiling of 37,600 feet/11,460 meters.
The EA-6B can hardly be called a 'high performance' tactical aircraft. Although it is quite stable in flight and relatively easy to fly, the Prowler is somewhat underpowered. The two non-afterburning Pratt & Whitney J52- P408 turbojet engines lack the kind of thrust available to F-14 or F-18 crews (11,200 lb/5,080 kg of thrust each), which presents the pilot with a number of challenges during every mission (especially on takeoff and landing). Due to the complexity of its systems, the EA-6B is also a relatively high-maintenance aircraft-about one mission in three returns with a 'squawk' or malfunction requiring unscheduled maintenance. On the plus side, the side-by-side twin cockpit arrangement gives maximum efficiency, visibility, and comfort for the four-person crew. This is important during long missions, which can last up to six hours with in-flight refueling. The canopies are coated with a microscopically thin (and very expensive) transparent layer of gold leaf, which reflects microwave energy and protects the crew from getting cooked by their own high-energy jammers.
The Prowler's crew includes a pilot and up to three Electronic Countermeasures Officers (ECMOs). The senior officer on board-either the pilot or one of the ECMOs-is normally the mission commander. In fact, a Prowler squadron commander is often an ECMO rather than a pilot. ECMO-1, who mans the position to the pilot's right, handles navigation and communications, while ECMO-2 and -3 (they sit in the rear cockpit) manage the offensive and defensive EW systems. Within the squadron, there are normally more crews than aircraft, due to the workload of flying, administration, and mission planning. In a low-threat environment, a crew of three is considered sufficient-with one ECMO remaining behind on the boat to plan the next mission, catch up on paperwork, or perform any of the countless additional duties that Naval aviators must juggle when they are deployed.
The Prowler's EW capabilities depend largely on the ALQ-99 electronic countermeasures system. This is not a single piece of equipment, but a complex and ever-changing mix of computers, jammers, controls and displays, receivers, and transmitters. Some of these components are built into the airframe, while others are packaged in pods. All are externally identical, but each is optimized for specific frequency bands. Up to five such pods can be carried-two under each wing and one under the fuselage. A more typical mission configuration is two or three pods, with the other stations occupied by fuel tanks or AGM-88 HARM missiles. Each pod generates its own electrical power, using a 'ram air turbine' or RAT (a compact generator spun by a small propeller). To generate full power for jamming, the aircraft must fly above a minimum speed (225 knots). Using the RATs brings a slight drag penalty; the Prowler loses about 1 % of its maximum combat radius for each pod carried. Still, the pods and missiles are the reason why the Prowler exists. Without the electronic smoke screen provided by the EA-6B's jamming pods, losses to enemy defensive systems would be many times greater than they have been.
Normally, the EA-6B is used to provide a combination of services for strike packages inbound to a target area. If active SAM sites are nearby, the ECMOs will use the ALQ-99 to provide targeting for the HARMs, which are deadly accurate when fired from a Prowler. Once the HARMs are gone, the EA-6B orbits away from the target area and uses the ALQ-99 jammer pods to 'knock back' enemy radars and other sensors that might engage the strike group. Other missions include electronic surveillance, as the ALQ-99 is a formidable collection system for electronic intelligence (ELINT). Because they are considered 'high value units' by enemy defenders, one or two fighters usually provide them with an escort, just in case the locals get nosey. In fact, no Prowler has ever been lost in combat, though about forty have been destroyed in accidents. The worst of these was a horrific crash while landing aboard the
EW is an unusual facet in the spectrum of warfare. For every measure there is a countermeasure, and the useful life span of a system in actual combat is often only a few months. Because a new 'generation' of electronic warfare technology emerges every few years, if you fall a generation behind you are 'out of the game.' This helps to explain the bewildering variety of upgrades and variants that mark the Prowler's long career. Production of new- built Prowlers ended several years ago, but about 125 remain in active service today. This is just enough for twelve Navy, four Marine Corps, and four 'joint' squadrons of EA-6Bs. Normally, each deploys with four aircraft. Navy and joint USAF/USN Prowler squadrons are home-based at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, while the Marine units live at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. The joint EA-6B squadrons are a new phenomenon in the post-Cold War world, an expression of budget realities that no longer allow the services to duplicate aircraft types with the same mission. Although the Navy and USAF developed very different EW concepts and doctrine over the years, the Air Force has agreed to retire its only tactical jammer aircraft, the EF-111 Raven. Now the two services will 'share' five joint 'expeditionary' Prowler squadrons, which will operate with mixed Navy and Air Force ground and flight crews. Despite the predictable concerns about USAF officers commanding Navy squadrons (or vice versa), this program is well under way and looks to be a real winner.
Like their brethren in the Tomcat community, EA-6B crews have learned some new tricks in recent years, like shooting AGM-88 HARM missiles at enemy radars. Prowlers have even been used as command and control aircraft, functioning as strike leaders for other planes on bombing missions. Other improvements include plans to start another upgrade program known as ICAP (Improved Capability) III. This will take the basic EA-6B package as it currently exists (known as Block 89) and add improved computers, signal processors, and jammers, as well as a GPS receiver, new radios and data links, and other new avionic systems. ICAP III-equipped Prowlers should begin to appear in a few years. As for future EW aircraft on carriers, long-range plans have been developed for a two-seat EW version of the new F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. A highly automated follow-on version of ALQ-99 would be fitted to this bird, as well as more advanced HARMs and other systems. However, since there is no money for this bird in the current budget, the old Prowlers will have to soldier on for at least another decade or two.
