Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
A US Congressional report warns that with no obvious replacement for the US Navy and US Marine Corps Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare (EW) aircraft in sight, the US Department of Defence faces a difficult and potentially expensive decision.
A Joint Service Electronic Attack analysis of alternatives is underway to identify possibleEA-6B replacements from around 2015. The report, however, warns that a replacement may be needed by 2010 as the result of the Prowler's continuing heavy use in operations worldwide.
The USN/USMC fleet of 124 Prowlers is "ageing and in short supply", notes the Congressional Research Service report. "Indeed, the recent conflict in Kosovo reportedly indicates that the United States needs to augment the EA-6B force immediately to maintain its capability until a long term replacement is found," adds the report.
Among the near-term options identified by the report include reactivating some of the US Air Force's 33 Grumman EF-111 Raven EW aircraft mothballed since 1997, and converting up to nine Boeing B-52 bombers to stand-off jammers. The former type is no longer in the inventory, making support expensive, while the latter is even older than the EA-6B.
Another option is to re-open the EA-6B production line. Tooling is intact and Northrop Grumman has already been awarded a new $41.9 million contract to build 17 new wing centre sections, with a $31.1 million option for an extra 10 shipsets.
Equally expensive would be the conversion of retired two-seat A-6s to EA-6Bs, which are larger and structurally stronger allowing higher bringback weights. Other options include a further life extension for the Prowler, as well as speeding up the Increased Capability III upgrade of the aircraft's jammers.
The report identifies a number of potential longer-term replacements, but none are without drawbacks. The proposed BoeingF/A-18G, though strongly favoured by the navy, does not havemuch appeal to non-operators the USAF and USMC. Conversely, the Boeing F-15 and Lockheed Martin F-16 are not aircraft-carrier compatable.
The Boeing/Lockheed Martin F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) have the advantage of being stealthy and have large internal weapons bays, but the F-22 is regarded as prohibitively expensive, while only single-seat versions of both types are currently planned. In addition, JSF will not enter service before 2010 at the earliest, leaving a gap between the EA-6B's retirement and development of an EW version.
Source: Flight International
