A VARIANT OF THE McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-18E/F Hornet is a viable contender to replace the US Navy's aging Grumman] EA-6B Prowler electronic-warfare (EW) aircraft early in the next century, says Capt. Joe Dyer, the US Navy's F/A-18 programme manager.
MDC wants initial USN funding to develop the F-18 Command and Control Warfare (C2W) variant (Flight International, 3-9 May). It is seeking support from the USN and Capitol Hill for fiscal year 1995 for follow-on EW advanced-technology development and risk-reduction studies as a precursor to the USN's selection of a Prowler successor.
The Pentagon is expected to wrap up, a congressionally directed report, on joint tactical airborne EW in June. It will address a wide range of issues, including how the EA-6B would be used in the EW mission if the US Air Force's Grumman EF-111 is retired. An EA-6B up-grade and structural improvements to increase the Prowler's service life are also being studied.
Dyer says that a Navy-funded six-month feasibility study validated the two-seat F/A-18F as a viable replacement platform for the four-place EA-6B. He says that the F/A-18F has the potential to satisfy this mission area.
The growth Hornet can accommodate the EW mission payload and a pilot and one electronic-countermeasures officer can handle the workload.
Source: Flight International