When I was at Cannon (95-98) and the EF's were shutting down those were some tired and angry dudes. They had people continuously deployed to Saudi Arabia since the gulf war, and there just weren't that many of them. To top it off, there choices for assignments were not good, especially the EWOs. They were more than a little bit perturbed with a bunch of viper guys showing up at their base.

Yes, I realize that and had to spend a few minutes trying to find an actual picture of the 'sky-pig'.

It's nice to see someone actually knows what they are talking about on here. The two biggest reasons the EF-111 went away are; the fatigue of the airframes and the frequency range of the jamming capability. The EF-111 had an internal "hard wired" jamming capability which severely limited it's frequency range. The EA-6B did not and could be expanded to cover the required frequency range.

Do you think the Growler with a 2-crew is going to be able to adequately replace the Prowler and its 4-crew?

Depends on the Equipment
 

I felt the two-man operation (and really, 1-man as far as EW went) in the F-4G was a far better HARM-platform than the 3-ECMO EA-6. It was due to the way the systems worked...easier workload in the Weasel.

On the other hand, the 1-man replacement for the F-4G is relatively easy workoad...but not as capable, systems-wise.

For the EF-111 vs EA-6 debate, they both use(d) three ALQ-99 pods. The big difference is the EF routed them through conduits to the 'football' antenna on the top of the tail. That's the hard-wire limitation that MD10 is referring to.

The EA-6, having the pods on wing or fuselage stations, used built-in antennas on the pods themselves (I think), plus the 'football' on top of the tail.

Why did it take three guys to work the same three pods that the EF-111 carried? I never understood why. From what I saw, both were equally capable in the target area.

I think if the Growler's EW is properly designed, it will have spectrum converage and an intuitive operator interface so that it is as good...or I would hope, better...than the Prowler.

Biggest advantages of the steaming Growler: it will have a full-up air-to-air capability, so it isn't just an electronic sitting duck, and I believe it can carry a plethora of offensive weapons: HARMs for soft-kills; JDAM and LGBs for hard-kills.

Fascinating stuff, thanks.

Off topic, but any idea who came up with "Growler?" I used to think it was a joke. Are Admirals that clueless?

Sputnik -

How much do you know about the Growler?

USMCFLYR

A-7 SLUF's?

Odds and Ends
 

I think it has to do with the history of Wild Weasels and EW.

The first Weasel was the F-100F, but it was quickly followed by the F-105G. This served from about 1967-1984. It was followed by the F-4G, which served from 1978-1996.

At least in the Air Force, the "G-model" of anything became synonymous with "EW."

In the Navy, "Prowler" meant EW.

Merge the two (since the EA-18G is supposed to provide EW support for both services)? 'Growler.'

I guess the Generals and Admirals don't know all the bathroom colloquialisms of ill-mannered fighter pilots.


IIICorps stated in an earlier post that there were no A-series aircraft in the Air Force at the time the TFX program was underway. I don't think the SLUF was flying yet (which did fly with both the Navy and Air Force).

The A-1 Skyraider started flying in the Air Force in the 1963. (1963-1972)

My error. Forgot about the SLUF and oddly enough had coffee with a SLUF driver this morning. Great little machine for its time. "F-8 Minus"