The Navy's EA-6B Prowler Completes Its Final Carrier Cruise
11/14/2014



Yesterday, four EA-6B Prowlers belonging to Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-134 'Garudas' made a triumphant but bittersweet return to NAS Whidbey Island in upstate Washington. The squadron had been deployed aboard the USS George H.W. Bush for the last nine and a half months, and their arrival marked the end of the last EA-6B carrier deployment.

The EA-6B Prowler has been flying for over 46 years. The aircraft it directly descends from, the A-6 Intruder, was first flown some 54 years ago.The Prowler also represents the end of a long line of over-engineered and incredibly capable naval jet aircraft built by the Grumman Aerospace Company located in Bethpage New York. These heavy-duty, seemingly indestructible naval aircraft built by the famous firm are affectionately referred to as "Grumman Iron."



it is sad to think that the famous "Flying Fry Pan" Prowler will never be seen on a US carrier again, although the venerable jet did go out with a bang. The type was called into combat late in the summer, along with the rest of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, at first to stop ISIS's gains in Iraq, and then to strike at the heart of the Terror State, deep into Syria.

For counter-insurgency operations, the Prowler can jam the electronic triggering of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and it can intercept and disrupt the enemy's communications. Yet the Prowler was almost certainly practicing its core mission set on the night of the initial coalition strikes deep into Syria, and it most likely provided electronic screening for the F-22 Raptor's combat debut.



The Navy is at the end of its fairly rapid conversion to the Super Hornet derivative EA-18G Growler, a design that brings many technological benefits to the electronic attack mission. In exchange for the Growler's automation, additional sensors (especially its APG-79 AESA radar and its ALQ-227 Communication Countermeasure Set), speed and multi-role capability, the ability to fly with four crewman gives way to a pilot and an electronic countermeasures officer (ECO) alone in the Growler. Additionally, the Prowler's long range, a trait it inherited from its all-weather medium attack progenitor, the A-6 Intruder, will also be missed, as an EA-18G with four ALQ-99 Jamming pods on its canted wing pylons, and a center-line fuel tank, is a draggy beast and fuel hungry beast.



Still, the Prowlers are truly old aircraft, their turbojet engines are not fuel efficient and they lack the multi-role flexibility of the Growler, along with its commonality with over half the Navy's fighter fleet. That being said, the Prowler will be sorely missed and multiple combat commanders will attest to the humble jet's ability to have 'incredible effects' on the battlefield.

Don't shed too many tears for the Prowler just yet, the USMC will continue to operate the aircraft in its most advanced ICAP III form for years to come.

Currently, the USMC's EA-6B program will not conclude until 2019, although phasing out will begin in 2016 and no replacement for these essential jets has been announced yet. The F-35 has been the most likely contender, as the jet's electronic warfare, surveillance and radar suite are considered cutting edge, and the F-35B and C model will eventually amount for the USMC's entire tactical jet fleet.



If an EA-35 variant were to come to pass, it is still unclear if another crewman would be seated where the F-35B's lift fan is, or if a single pilot would execute such a complex mission alone. Additionally, just how the Next Generation Jammers would be fitted to the stealthy aircraft remains undisclosed. Some ideas including mounting the pods in an enclosure over the jet's twin weapons bays, while others see the jammers slung in stealthy pods under the jet's wings.

The reality is that the USMC will remain very cash strapped up through the Prowler's final phase out. At which time, the relatively small force of just four squadrons of USMC EA-6Bs could very well continue flying well into the next decade. The only other alternative is for the USMC to drop the electronic attack mission for a period of time, which would result in a catastrophic capability and experience drain from the USMC's 'air force in a box' mentality.

I would not doubt that some in the F-35 program would actually lobby for future Prowler funds to be allocated to the F-35 program, as they may claim the stealthy jet provides some degree of selfS E N S O R electronic attack capability, and with stealth, further standoff electronic attack is not needed. Such a decision would be asinine, but not out of the realm of possibility these days.

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Saluting an old workhorse, the EA-6B Prowler
Today at 4:00AM



With the return Friday of Electronic Warfare Squardon 134, the Garudas, the last of the EA-6Bs currently on deployment from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station are back home.

For those who have lived on Whidbey for any length of time, it is a bittersweet transition from the EA-6B Prowler to the EA-18G Growler.

Early next year, the full transition from the Prowler to the Growler will be complete. VAQ-134 will be the last squadron at NAS Whidbey to fly the old workhorse EA-6B.

The first EA-6B arrived at NAS Whidbey in January 1971 and was deployed to service in the Vietnam War in 1972.

While not the prettiest or flashiest aircraft flown in the armed services, the Prowler is outfitted with an electronic warfare system and has long been appreciated for its long-range flight and all-weather capabilities.

Built by Grumman, the Prowler has been a familiar sight over Whidbey Island for decades. According to the Navy, it was built for carrier and advanced base operations.

It has the basic airframe of the now-retired A-6 Intruder, but with the addition of a forward cockpit that allows for a crew of four, one pilot and three responsible for countermeasures.

The EA-6B supported strike aircraft, ships and ground troops by degrading the enemy’s early warning capability and electronic weapons systems.

Avionics contained in the aircraft enabled it to navigate under all weather conditions without reference to ground navigation aids, fly high altitude or low level profiles, and intercept and jam enemy electronic emissions by means of its primary “weapon,” the tactical jamming system, according to a website documenting Navy history and aircraft.

In a nutshell, the Prowler has been a tenacious, enduring workhorse that is flying off into the sunset after more than 40 years in service. It has played a pivotal role in the defense of the United States, and is deserving of our appreciation.

While the EA-6B certainly can’t fly on forever, it certainly seems like it could have.

For that, the Prowler will be remembered.

http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/opin...282766971.html

The A-6 Intruder Was Originally Designed With Thrust Vectoring



As with so many military aircraft designs, the A-6 Intruder, known originally as the YA2F-1, had some pretty ambitious features that never really panned out. The jet's swiveling exhausts were one of them.

The mid to late 1950's were an incredible time for aerospace engineering as the world came to grips with the vast possibilities that jet power provided. The A-6 Intruder came out of a requirement for a deep penetrating all-weather precision attack platform. As part of this requirement, the Navy wanted the aircraft to be capable of short takeoffs and landings (STOL), even though it would mainly be hurtled from the decks of aircraft carriers via steam catapults and "trapped" back on deck via the use of a hook and arresting cable. Nonetheless, Grumman moved forward with the design requirements and came up with the Intruder's unique silhouette that some describe as "a flying tadpole."

The YA2F-1's centrally mounted engine nacelles housed a pair of non-afterburner J-52 turbojets that produced a combined 18,600 lbs of thrust. The jet already had a large and relatively thick ring, but the STOL requirement would require more innovation than just a wing design. With this in mind, Grumman engineers designed the aircraft with a motor placement that could accommodate exhaust nozzles that would swivel up to 23 degrees downward. The idea was for the YA2F-1 to vector its thrust dynamically during its takeoff roll by rerouting the aircraft's thrust downward, along the airframe's vertical axis, thus shortening the aircraft's takeoff distance. This same configuration, along with a unique trim setting, could also slow the stout aircraft's approach speed, thus shortening its required landing distance.

The concept was innovative, and was certainly a forerunner of things to come with the famous Harrier Jump Jet years later, an aircraft that used rotating nozzles with fantastic results. This includes the Harrier's "viffing" ability, where a pilot toggles its rotatable nozzles during air combat to decelerate quickly. One can only wonder what the Intruder could have been able to do when it comes to evading enemy fighters with its variable geometry nozzles.



In testing, the YA2F-1's swiveling nozzles only significantly helped the aircraft get off the ground faster when it was lightly loaded, and only reduced the aircraft's approach speed a few knots. Considering the added complexity, cost and training requirements that were involved with the unique exhausts, the idea was dropped on production models. Still, you can see this unique design element's lasting mark on A-6s in museums and EA-6B Prowlers, the A-6 Intruder's electronic attack sibling that is still flying, via the design's low mounted engine nacelles and serpentine exhaust that is still canted slightly down and outward to avoid the aircraft's long tailboom and tailplane.

In retrospect, the YA2F-1's swiveling exhausts made a lot of sense, just not for the Intruder, an aircraft that would spend its decades long career often loaded down with thousands upon thousands of pounds of gas and dozens of 500lb bombs and other munitions. A light attack aircraft, or light fighter would have benefited better from the swiveling exhaust technology than the beast of burden, bomb truck of a jet that was to become the Intruder. Although I am sure that there are some Marine Corps A-6 pilots who would swear to you that every foot less of runway needed to get their max-loaded A-6 off the ground on a hot day in South Vietnam was worth the complexity and the cost of the swiveling nozzles!

Fast forward to today, and STOL is still a very important requirement for some air arms, and the ultra complex and super-expensive F-35B, that also features a downward swiveling exhaust, is proof of this.



Regardless of Grumman's failed attempt at fitting this unique thrust vectoring concept to their prototype Intruders, the aircraft would go on to set the bar when it comes to range and payload capabilities for the US Navy. A bar which has never been raised since its retirement in 1997.

Some would say that the Intruder's long legs, massive weapons carrying ability, highly efficient side by side cockpit arrangement and incredible tanking ability (in the form of the KA-6D) would have proven to be more valuable in the wars of the last decade than the pointy nosed, fuel hungry fighters that remained in Marine Corps and Navy inventory long after its demise, but this is another story, one that I will save for next week...


http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the...-ve-1560922846