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The final operational chapter of the Prowler career has just been written by the U.S. Marine Corps “Death Jesters” and their six EA-6Bs jets. Marine Corps Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron-2 (VMAQ-2) “Death Jesters”, the last of four Marine Prowler squadrons, has just completed its final deployment in Qatar, with the last six EA-6B in the U.S. military inventory. Four aircraft, using radio callsign “Trend 01-04” landed at Lajes, Azores, on their way back to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, from Al Udeid, Qatar, on Nov. 12, 2018. The remaining two aircraft would follow in a couple of...

LINCOLN COUNTY, Wash. -- Authorities confirm a military plane from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island crashed in Lincoln County, Wash. A volunteer firefighter in Davenport tells KREM.com the plane crashed between Harrington and Odessa, near the intersection of Coffee Pot Rd. and Duck Lake Lamona Rd. Witnesses told KREM 2 they heard a large plane followed by a loud "boom" seconds later, and saw a large cloud of smoke billowing from the ground, with the first reports coming in around 9 a.m. Monday morning. KREM 2 has a crew on the way to the scene.

The US Navy (USN) will dip into its own inventory to supply Australia with the ALQ-99 jammer pods it needs for its future Boeing EA-18G fleet. The southwest Pacific nation is converting 12 of its 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets into the electronic attack Growler configuration. While the low-band transmitter for the ALQ-99 suite is relatively new and in production, the mid-band jammers are not in production. "We will be teaming with Cobham, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, to deliver low band transmitters to the RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force]," says the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). "The remainder of the transmitters and...

The End Of An Era: The Transition From The Prowler To The Growler By David Parker Brown, on April 25th, 2012 at 4:45 am An EA-18G Growler sits at NAS Whidbey. Photo by Alex Jossi. I grew up knowing the Navy’s EA-6B Prowler very well — my father flew them for about 20 years. The aircraft was made tough, but all planes need to be replaced sooner or later. Recently, the Navy has started the transition from the EA-6B Prowler to the FA-18 based EA-18G Growler. Reader Alex Jossi had the opportunity to do some photography of the new Growler...

We join the Libyan people in gratefulness as we hear of Col. Gaddafi’s defeat. The fall of a tyrant and sponsor of terrorism is a great day for freedom-loving people around the world. But the path to democracy in Libya is not complete, and we must make wise choices to ensure that our national interests are protected.

For the last four months, a detachment of five new American EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft have been operating in Iraq. Exactly what they are doing there is classified. The EA-18Gs are replacing the aging EA-6Bs that now provide electronic protection against enemy radars and missiles for navy and air force aircraft. The air force retired their EF-111 electronic warfare aircraft in 1994, on the assurance that the navy would get the EA-18G into service before the EA-6Bs died of old age. The older 27 ton EA-6B carries a crew of four, while the highly automated 29 ton EA-18G has only...

While the U.S. Navy has continued to make improvements to its F/A-18 electronic attack variant — the EA-18G Growler — the service has yet to prove the aircraft is suitable for operations, says a recent report by the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). At the same time, DOT&E notes another Navy electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-6B Prowler, is suitable, despite testing limitations faced by the program. DOT&E notes “suitability problems” that were identified during Growler testing in 2008. The Navy conducted Verification of Correction of Deficiencies (VCD) testing on the EA-18G from September 2009 to January 2010...

Electronic devices dominate modern combat. Warfighters depend on access to the electromagnetic spectrum to communicate with friendly forces, track enemy movements, navigate in the fog of war, collect intelligence, and perform many other vital functions. Electronic warfare is the military specialty concerned with denying enemy forces use of the spectrum while assuring that friendly forces have unfettered access. Airborne jammers are essential to the successful conduct of most electronic warfare missions. Jammers are used to prevent enemy radars and communications devices from functioning effectively by dominating the frequencies in which such systems operate. This is accomplished by either overpowering the...

VAQ-129 unveils historic naval aircraft for CONA(Centennial of Naval Aviation) By MC3 Bryan Ilyankoff NAS Whidbey Public Affairs Thursday, January 27, 2011 Honoring 100 years of naval aviation, Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 unveiled an EA-6B Prowler and an EA-18G Growler painted in the World War II paint schemes of a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator and a Grumman TBF-1 Avenger, respectively, Jan. 20. Cmdr. Tim Murphy, VAQ-129 commanding officer, was excited when learned about the Centennial of Naval Aviation (CONA) committee’s plan to paint a limited number of aircraft to represent significant periods in naval aviation history. “We sat down with...

Electronic and computer attack—the futuristic segment of the Pentagon’s arsenal—will benefit from the proposed 2011 military spending plan, but identifying all the key pieces is difficult without close scrutiny. Electronic attack (EA) includes invading networks and releasing beams of energy against improvised explosive devices (IEDs). These blasts of energy are sometimes generated by U.S. Navy EA-6B Prowlers and Air Force EC-130 Compass Call aircraft to prematurely detonate or disable bombs. In addition, an EA-6B Prowler—and its EA-18G Growler successor— can drop a “cone of ­silence” on emitters within a given tactical area to prevent enemy communications. Computer invasion and network...

UPDATE: Obama wants 26 more Growlers for Whidbey By JESSIE STENSLAND Whidbey News Times Assistant editor Feb 03 2010, 5:24 PM · UPDATED The Whidbey Island Naval Air Station will receive an additional 26 EA-18G Growler aircraft under President Obama’s 2011 defense budget. Under the proposal, the Department of Defense plans to purchase the additional 26 electronic attack aircraft over the next two years. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen made the announcement late Monday. “Buying more Growlers will strengthen our national security and support jobs at NAS Whidbey and in the surrounding community,” said Larsen, who serves as a co-chair of...

Electronic Attack Squadron 135 is scheduled to arrive home at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station this weekend after spending six months at sea aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. The U.S. Navy jets are set to arrive at noon Saturday, while support and maintenance personnel will come home at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, base officials said. The “Black Ravens” fly and maintain EA-6B radar-jamming jets, and were used to support ground troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Developing Story: Navy aircraft down in Oregon Associated Press Last updated: Friday, March 03rd, 2006 12:59:11 PM PENDLETON, ORE. -- Umatilla County emergency services reports that a plane from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station has gone down in the county. Public information officer Pete Wells in Pendleton says witnesses saw four parachutes. He says the crash occurred at 11:28 in the northern part of that county. Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is home to the US Pacific Fleet's Electronic Attack Wing Pacific, which includes 14 squadrons of the Navy's EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare aircraft, which carry a 4-man crew. According...