ON THE PROWL: The EA-18G Growler
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What happens when you take one of the U.S. Navy's fastest and most lethal strike aircraft and combine it with state-of-the-art electronic attack capabilities? Electronic warfare at supersonic speeds.
Up, up and away: Built on the same airframe as the Super Hornet, the Growler can keep up with any contemporary strike aircraft. (Photo: Boeing)
It could be above or below you, or right on your six -- and you wouldn't even know. Before you can mouth the word "mayday," you realize that your communications are malfunctioning and several F-14s are headed straight for you. The culprit is a sneaky one -- the U.S. Navy's new EA-18G Growler, an electronic warfare (EW) aircraft packed to the limit with the latest in EW technology. Equipped with an airborne electronic attack (AEA) suite that can suppress enemy communications, the Growler is an unsuspecting enemy pilot's worst nightmare.
Super Sonic The Growler's predecessor, the EA-6B Prowler, functioned as a protective umbrella, escorting fleet surface units and jamming any hostile radars or communications. The aging Prowler has been in service for 40 years -- and it shows -- the Prowler is unable to keep up with newer strike aircraft. Chugging along at .72 Mach, it is significantly slower than the fleet aircraft it's meant to protect, like an elderly grandfather on Halloween escorting trick-or-treaters on a sugar high.
The EA-18G is built off the existing F/A-18 Super Hornet airframe, and is not only as beautifully sleek and muscular as the F/A-18 -- it's just as fast. Capable of Mach 1.8, the Growler can hold its own with any contemporary strike aircraft. The Growler will retain 90% commonality of parts with the two-seat Super Hornet, and reduce the operational crew by half. Among the Growler's capabilities are offensive electronic jamming, electronic emissions detection, classification and monitoring, and electronic suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD).
We be jammin': Most of the Growler's external hardpoints are packed with electric jamming pods. (Image: National Defense Industrial Association) Solid Defense If a Growler happens to find you in its clutches, it will use an arsenal of state-of-the-art EW systems to jam your radars, suppress your defenses, and cause general disorientation and havoc. A triumvirate of electronic warfare systems have been integrated into the Growler -- the ALQ-218, APG-79, and ALQ-99 -- making it capable of jamming a large amount of radar threats. The ALQ-218 AEA suite is capable of selective reactive and pre-emptive jamming, enabling the EA-18G to electronically attack enemy communications, even before its presence is detected. This third generation improved capabilities package is slated for integration into the EA-6B Prowlers in 2005. Air-to-air and air-to-ground operations are locked down with the APG-79, and any hostile radar energy is detected by several ALQ-99 pods installed on external hardpoints. However, the suite's primary function is to integrate the other on-board EW and crew situational awareness systems.
Also featured on the EA-18G is an improved version of the air/ground attack radar currently installed in the F/A-18 Hornet. The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) uses a tactical radar for air-to-air and air-to-ground operations, and can search, track, scan sea surfaces and moving targets on the ground -- all in one fell swoop of an electronic radar beam. This solid-state radar can shift focus instantaneously from one point to another, and contains no moving parts. Now that's solid defense.
I, Pod So, you have the ALQ-218 suite jamming your communications and the APG-79 revealing your position. On top of this, you have no idea where the attack is coming from. This is the sinister work of computer-controlled jamming pods, installed on five of the 11 external hardpoints of the EA-18G. These ALQ-99 pods, the Growler's primary EW weapons, are smart little suckers. They automatically detect and classify a radar's electronic energy, and determine the exact signal strength required to shut it down. The pods are capable of autonomous, semi-autonomous, or manual crew operation. ALQ-99 pods can also be pre-programmed with specific signal values to automatically suppress a specific radar frequency if it thinks it might be hostile.
The Growler can carry any current weaponry, but needs to be equipped with a number of ALQ-99 jamming pods and external fuel tanks in order to execute its EW missions. The spot on the Growler usually reserved for an internal gun will instead be occupied by an EW pallet. For suppression of enemy defenses (SEAD) missions, the EA-18G can pack quite a bit of heat. Strap on a few AGM-88 HARM missiles to destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems, or Rockeye II antipersonnel, antimaterial cluster munitions when you need that extra special armor-piercing effect. For maximum versatility at any airspeed or altitude, bring a few CBU-87s along for the ride. The aircraft is used for a number of different operations -- intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and missions with strike fighters or ground units. All weather and all altitude capable, the EA-18G is a bodyguard capable of following you anywhere.
Many of the grandaddies of electronic warfare are on their way to retirement -- the F-4G Wild Weasel, the EA-111B Raven and eventually the EA-6B Prowler. The EA-18G is more than capable of carrying their stealthy torch into the future, and is scheduled to enter service in 2008. As the only tactical EW aircraft in the DoD inventory, the Growler is next-generation wunderkind of EW aircraft.
