At noisy Al Asad air base, the noisiest jets belong to Marine Electronic Attack Squadron 1. It’s hard not to notice the squadron’s EA-6B Prowlers, but don’t get caught looking. While touring the hangars of Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 332, my escort and I walked past the Prowlers and caught the evil eye from some aircrew returning from a mission.
What exactly the Prowlers are doing in Iraq is classified — and even 332’s fliers don’t know for sure. My feeling is that it’s got something to do with improvised explosive devices or communications intelligence. The Prowlers are packed with sensitive radio receivers and carry electronic noise jammers under their wings.
If the EA-6Bs are indeed jamming IEDs, they wouldn’t be the only U.S. aircraft doing so. The EC-130 Compass Call has also been pressed into fight against IEDs. On one March patrol with the 25th Infantry Division in Qayyarah, I watched the Compass Call make a pass overhead, wiping out all radio reception in its path.
Replacement of the 30-year-old Prowlers — the only fast EW platforms in the U.S. inventory — is a top priority. The Navy has picked the EA-18G Growler, a development of the F/A-18F Super Hornet to replace its EA-6Bs, but the Marines have yet to name a successor. There have been rumors [ confirmed ed.] of an electronic warfare suite in the Marines’ version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the vertical-landing F-35B . But it might prove hard adapting a single-seat jet to a mission currently performed by a jet seating four.
– David Axe
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Prowling Over Al AnbarLeave a Reply |
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“But it might prove hard adapting a single-seat jet to a mission currently performed by a jet seating four.“
… or it might not be so bad, after all. The EF-111A did the same job with essentially the same electronics and a crew of two, starting in 1981. Computers have come a long way since then, and it may now be possible to to do the job with a crew of one.
Good Afternoon Folks,
Did anybody mention Iran?
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
So, nobody thinks a two-seat version of the F-35
is possible ? Are the Marines restricted to just
the STO variant ?
Odd, I coulda sworn they were making a two-seater.
Perhaps we should fit out helicopters for this kind of thing instead? It’s rare for the kind of people that drop IEDs to stick around, so they should be comparatively safe from MANPADS.
I’m quite certain helos have been pressed into service as EW aircraft in the past, but historically jamming platforms need to be able to keep up with a fast-moving package of strike aircraft; hence the usage of fighter and attack airframes.
That doesn’t mean the idea is without merit for low-intensity conflict when loiter time and staying over a convoy are important. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see this task farmed out to UAVs before we see a dedicated counter-IED helo, though.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if Byron was onto something.
Whoa there, Byron … Iran? I don’t think so. First, if you want to snoop on Iran, you don’t do it from Al Asad, which is next to Syria. Finally, the Prowler is a penetrating jammer, not really built for standoff missions, and I’m pretty sure we’re not sending Prowlers into Iranian airspace.
Good Afternoon David,
Firt off I hope your visit to Iraq is going well and am looking forward to lots of interesting post when you get back into the “World”.
I will just let my commet(s) regarding the E-6’s and any speculation of their missions stand as I made with out any explaination.
Have a good trip home.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
“Stewart’s Platoon”
So the Marine JSF has a jammer pod, eh? They dropped the gun for that?
I thought the F-4s didn’t have guns…and then they changed their minds and put them back on. I wonder how many pilots died over Vietnam for it (though more probably died from low fuel capacity).
If you can cut the jammer weight you could probably fit it on a UAV. A Pred is rated for…I believe 1100 pounds max. May need a bigger UAV, but yeah, the idea’s there.
If we still had Comanche it would have been a perfect platform for EW.