They were in the inventory from 1981 to 1998, so that's actually a pretty good run for an airplane that was already 10-15 years old when they converted them.

The EF came out of the lessons of Vietnam. That was our first exposure to radar-guided weapons....particulalry, SAMs. The Air Force did a rush-job and developed self-protection jamming pods. They work OK, but have limitations, and only protect your airplane.

The Generals wanted something with 10 times as much power, that could cover an entire strike package. The Vark has a big internal bomb-bay, so the electronics could be put in there. It has lots of gas and loiter time.

The Navy did this in parallel, but used the EA-6A, later the EA-6B.

The Vark's strengths wer it could keep up with the strike package, and if threatened, could run away so fast that enemy fighters generally couldn't threaten it. (I'm talking the reality of the middle east, not Red Flag where your opponent is a very capable US pilot).

Biggest weakness: frequency range was not as great as the EA-6, and it carried no offensive weapons. It also cost about $15,000 an hour to fly in 1992, so probably about $30,000 today. Mostly fuel, but maintenance was heavy, too.

The EF-111 and the F-4G Wild Weasel worked (normally) as a team: The EF-111 would jam the search radars (think of them as 'binoculars), forcing the enemy to use their targeting radars to find us (think of them as 'a telescope'). While they searched wildly for us by looking through a straw, we would triangulate their emissions and send a HARM to greet them.

The EA-6's strengths are a wider frequency range for jamming than the EF-111, and the ability to shoot a HARM (although their HARM shooting was not as capable as the F-4G I flew).

The biggest limitation on the Prowler is speed and fatigue. It can't keep-up with the strike package, so they either have to "push" early and lead the way, or trail behind. Neither is optimum.

Fatigue: the jets are old, the wings have cracks, g-limits are very low, and there seems to be a tendency for them to catch on fire.

If you are ever flying DEN to SFO and yor weather radar gets wierd, north of your position, and towards Reno, you're probably getting jammed by an EA-6. Just ask Oakland Center to ask Fallon to "cease music."