EA-6B Prowler

The EA-6B Prowler is an electonic warfare aircraft flown by the US Navy and US Marine Corpes. Its twin-engine, mid-wing body is manufactured by Northrop Grumman as a modification of the basic A-6 Intruder airframe.

The EA6B first flight occured in May 1968 and has remained in active service through today. Approximately 175 have been build at a cost of about $50 million USD each.


Development

The EA-6A "Electric Intruder" was developed for the United States Marine Corps in the 1960s to replace the EF-10B Skyknight. It was a direct conversion of the standard two-seat A-6 Intruder airframe fitted with electronic warfare (EW) equipment. The EA-6A was used by three USMC squadrons during Vietnam War. A total of 27 were built with 15 of those being new builds. Most were retired in the 1970s with the last few retiring in the 1990s. The EA-6A was essentially an interim aircraft.


The much more advanced and substantially redesigned EA-6B was developed beginning in 1966 as a replacement for EKA-3B Skywarriors for the United States Navy. The forward fuselage was lengthened for a larger four-seat cockpit and the antenna fairing added to the tip of the vertical stabilizer. The Prowler first flew on 25 May 1968 and entered service in July 1971. 3 prototype EA-6Bs were converted from A-6As and five EA-6Bs were development airframes. A total of 170 EA-6B production aircraft were built through 1991.


The Prowler is powered by two non-afterburning jet engines and capable of high subsonic speeds. Since EW operations are very demanding, the Prowler is a high-maintenance aircraft and also undergoes more frequent equipment upgrades than any other aircraft in the Navy. Although designed as an electronic escort and command and control platform for strike missions, the EA-6B is also capable of attacking surface targets on its own, especially radar antennae, surface-to-air missile launchers, and other enemy defenses. In addition, the aircraft is highly capable of gathering electronic intelligence.

The EA-6B Prowler has been continually upgraded over the years. The first was which was named "expanded capability" (EXCAP) beginning in 1973. Then came "improved capability" (ICAP) in 1976 and ICAP II in 1980. ICAP II provided the capability to fire AGM-88 HARM missiles.


Advanced Capability EA-6B

The Advanced Capability EA-6B Prowler (ADVCAP) was a development program initiated to improve the flying qualities of the EA-6B and to upgrade the avionics and electronic warfare systems. The intention was to modify all EA-6Bs into the ADVCAP configuration, however the program was removed from the Fiscal Year 1995 budget due to financial pressure from competing Department of Defense acquisition programs.

The ADVCAP development program was initiated in the late 1980s and was broken into three distinct phases: Full-Scale Development (FSD), Vehicle Enhancement Program (VEP) and the Avionics Improvement Program (AIP).

FSD served primarily to evaluate the new AN/ALQ-149 Electronic Warfare System. The program utilized a slightly modified EA-6B to house the new system.

The VEP added numerous changes to the aircraft to address deficiencies with the original EA-6B flying qualities, particularly lateral-directional problems that exacerbated recovery from out-of-control flight. Bureau Number 158542 was used. Changes included:

    * Leading edge strakes (to improve directional stability)
    * Fin pod extension (to improve directional stability)
    * Ailerons (to improve slow speed lateral control)
    * Recontoured leading edge slats and trailing edge flaps (to compensate for an increase in gross weight)
    * Two additional wing stations on the outer wing panel (for jamming pods only)
    * New J52-P-408 engines (increased thrust by 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) per engine)
    * New digital Standard Automatic Flight Control System (SAFCS)

The added modifications increased the aircraft gross weight approximately 2,000 pound (900 kg) and shifted the center of gravity 3% MAC aft of the baseline EA-6B. When operating at sustained high angles of attack, fuel migration would cause additional shifts in CG with the result that the aircraft had slightly negative longitudinal static stability. Results of flight tests of the new configuration showed greatly improved flying qualities and the rearward shift of the CG had minimal impact.

The AIP prototype (bureau number 158547) represented the final ADVCAP configuration, incorporating all of the FSD and VEP modifications plus a completely new avionics suite which added multi-function displays to all crew positions, a head-up display for the pilot, and dual Global Positioning/Inertial navigation systems. The initial joint test phase between the contractor and the US Navy test pilots completed successfully with few deficiencies.

After the program was canceled, the three experimental Prowlers, BuNo 156482, 158542 and 158547, were mothballed until 1999. During the next several years, the three aircraft were dismantled and reassembled creating a single aircraft, b/n 158542, which the Navy dubbed "FrankenProwler". It was returned to active service 23 March 2005


Improved Capability (ICAP)

Northrop Grumman received contracts from the US Navy to deliver new electronic countermeasures gear to Prowler squadrons; the heart of each ICAP III set consists of the ALQ-218 receiver and new software that provides more precise selective-reactive radar jamming and deception and threat location. The ICAP III sets also are equipped with the Multifunction Information Distribution System (MIDS), which includes the Link 16 data link system. Northrop has delivered two lots and will be delivering two more beginning in 2010.


Operational history

Since the retirement of the EF-111 Raven in 1995, the EA-6B is one of the primary aerial radar jammers in the Department of Defense (DoD) arsenal. It has been utilized in practically every US combat operation and is frequently flown in support of the United States Air Force.

About 125 Prowlers remain today, divided between twelve Navy, four Marine, and four joint Navy-Air Force "Expeditionary" squadrons. A JCS staff study recommended that the EF-111 Raven be retired to reduce Type/Model/Series aircraft dedicated to the same mission, which led to an OSD Program Decision Memorandum (PDM) to establish 4 "expeditionary" Prowler squadrons composed of Navy and USAF personnel to meet the needs of the Air Force.[citation needed]

Though once considered being replaced by Common Support Aircraft, the original plan failed to materialize. Although EA-6B remains in service today, the Navy EA-6B Prowler community is slated to be begin transitioning in 2009 to the EA-18G Growler, a new electronic warfare derivative of the F/A-18F Super Hornet. All but one active duty Navy EA-6B squadrons are based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, located in the northwest corner of the state of Washington. VAQ-136 is stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, as part of Carrier Air Wing 5, the forward deployed air wing that deploys aboard USS George Washington (CVN-73) and VAQ-209, a Navy Reserve squadron, is stationed at Naval Air Facility Washington, Maryland. Marine EA-6B squadrons are located at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.


Use in the Wars in Afghanistan & Iraq

According to news reports, the Prowler has been used in anti-improvised explosive device operations in the current conflict in Afghanistan for several years by jamming remote detonation devices such as garage door openers or cellular telephones. Two Prowler squadrons are also based in Iraq, working with the same mission.