combat aircraft

T

HE US NAVY places the

airborne electronic attack

(AEA) mission higher on the

agenda than do any of its

sister services in the US. The

fact that it is gearing up to

house a whopping 118 EA-18G Growlers

at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington —

establishing two additional expeditionary

squadrons there and adding two EA-18Gs

to each carrier-based unit — illustrates

the importance of the role, even at a

time when it is about to start  elding

stealthy F-35Cs.

The Growler is designed to support the

 eet in the high-end, near-peer con ict.

It has also found itself some interesting

niche roles, pinpointing high-value targets

as well as eavesdropping on or disrupting

the communications of terror networks.

While the Growler brought about

a generational leap over the EA-6B

Prowler, it still carries the 1970s-vintage

AN/ALQ-99 tactical jamming pods. The

advent of the Next-Generation Jammer

(NGJ) was always planned as part of

the incremental modernization of naval

electronic attack. Raytheon is about to

start integration work that will unite its

new AN/ALQ-249 NGJ mid-band pod

with the EA-18G, with initial operating

capability aimed for 2022.

Speaking at July’s Farnborough

International Air Show, Travis Slocumb,

vice-president of electronic warfare

systems at Raytheon, said the US Navy

has been ‘focused’ on the AEA mission

for some time and that it ‘is committed

to a paradigm shift in electronic attack

to [give it] the ability to maneuver in this

domain unencumbered.’

Raytheon’s NGJ solution was selected

by the US Navy in 2013 as the  rst step

towards replacing the ALQ-99 family. It

The EA-18G Growler is a vital asset for the US Navy in the airborne

electronic attack role, and its capabilities are set to increase via

the Next-Generation Jammer initiative.

REPORT Jamie Hunter

FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

http://www.combataircraft.net // October 2018 31