GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Stakes rise as US Department of Defense nears decision on replacement for Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler
Boeing has completed further tests as it works to convince the US Department of Defense that its proposed EA-18 is the most mature and lowest-risk solution to its electronic attack requirements. Jamming-pod electromagnetic compatibility and antenna pattern tests have been completed and flight testing is continuing.
The DoD is to decide in early June how to replace the US Navy's ageing Northrop Grumman EA-6BProwlers. While the EA-18 derivative of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the US Navy's preferred solution, a proposed EA-JSF electronic-attack variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has strong backing from the US Marine Corps.
"In terms of risk reduction, [the EA-18] has matured to the point where we are very confident we are ready to enter SDD [system demonstration and development]," says Paul Summers, Boeing director of F/A-18 derivative programmes. Company-funded flight testing is under way to certify the EA-6B's ALQ-99 jamming pods will fly on the Super Hornet, and to expand the flight envelope incrementally out to Mach 0.9. Three flights have been completed and handling qualities are good, says Summers. Noise and vibration data from the pods and pylons "so far are positive", he says. A full-scale Super Hornet model is undergoing pole testing to measure antenna patterns and isolation. The pattern for low-band jamming is "symmetrical and clean" and similar to that for the EA-6B, says Summers.
Electromagnetic compatibility testing was funded by the US Navy and conducted in its anechoic chamber at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland. A production F/A-18E was instrumented to detect any spurious coupling between operating systems and radiating ALQ-99 pods during full-spectrum testing in frequency bands 1 to 10. "Initial results look positive, with no anomalies," Summers says.
Available EA-6Bs will drop below the minimum number required in 2008, Summers says. Lockheed Martin says it can begin delivering EA-JSFs in 2011 (Flight International, 16-22 April), but Boeing can have EA-18s "on the ramp in 2009" if the DoD begins development in 2004 as planned, he says.
Source: Flight International
