combat aircraft

ahead of the strike force when entering

war zones, to spoof the defenses.

One of the first such types to see

action was the US Marine Corps’ Douglas

EF-10B, a development of the F3D-2

Skyknight, which would escort attack

aircraft into battle during the Vietnam

War’s early years. Although it did the job,

the EF-10B was out of production, which

greatly restricted the platform’s lifespan.

The next-generation aircraft to emerge

was the Douglas EB-66E, developed

from the B-66 Destroyer. It was available

in much larger numbers and was initially

very effective, but the EB-66E became

obsolete in the the 1970s.

Operation ‘Desert Storm’

Many lessons were learned in the deadly

skies of Vietnam. One of the most

important was that electronic warfare

aircraft development should be given a

high priory. This led to two missionized

variants of existing platforms — the

General Dynamics EF-111A Raven for the

US Air Force and the Grumman EA-6B

Prowler for the US Navy and Marine

Corps. They proved to be exactly what

the military was looking for and would

become the dominant jammers in

significant theaters, including the Middle

East for Operation ‘Desert Storm’ in 1991.

In August 1990, just 24 hours after

Saddam Hussein’s forces swarmed into

neighboring Kuwait, the electronic

warfare officers (EWOs) from the USAF’s

The 390th ECS

was lucky enough

to get one of

the deployment

bases in Saudi

Arabia — Taif Air

Base. This image

from February

1991 shows an

EF‑111A in the

shelter area ready

for a mission.

Fred Drummond

http://www.combataircraft.net // July 2018 67

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