(Grumman) EA-6B Prowler @·AIRCRAFTUBE

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Grumman EA-6B Prowler

The EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, mid-wing electronic warfare aircraft manufactured by Grumman (now Northrop Grumman Aerospace) as a modification of the basic A-6 Intruder airframe.

Development

The EA-6A "Electric Intruder" was developed for the United States Marine Corps in the 1960s to replace the EF-10B Skyknight. It was a direct conversion of the standard two-seat A-6 airframe fitted with electronic warfare equipment. The EA-6A was used by three USMC squadrons during Vietnam War. A total of 27 were built with 15 of those being new builds. Most were retired in the 1970s with the last few retiring in the 1990s. The EA-6A was essentially an interim aircraft.

The much more advanced and substantially redesigned EA-6B was developed beginning in 1966 as a replacement for EKA-3B Skywarriors for the US Navy. The forward fuselage was lengthened for a larger four-seat cockpit and the antenna fairing added to the tip of the vertical stabilizer. The Prowler first flew on 25 May 1968 and entered service in July 1971. There prototype EA-6Bs were converted from A-6As and five EA-6Bs were development airframes. A total of 170 EA-6B production aircraft were built through 1991.

The Prowler is powered by two non-afterburning jet engines and capable of high subsonic speeds. Since EW operations are very demanding, the Prowler is a high-maintenance aircraft and also undergoes more frequent equipment upgrades than any other aircraft in the Navy. Although designed as an electronic escort and command and control platform for strike missions, the EA-6B is also capable of attacking surface targets on its own, especially radars, SAM launchers, and other enemy defenses. In addition, the aircraft is highly capable of conducting electronic intelligence (or ELINT) collection.

The EA-6B Prowler has been continually upgraded over the years. The first was which was named "expanded capability" (or EXCAP) beginning in 1973. Then came "improved capability" (or ICAP) in 1976 and ICAP II in 1980. ICAP II provided the capability to fire AGM-88 HARM missiles.

Advanced Capability EA-6B

The Advanced Capability Prowler (or ADVCAP) was a development program initiated to improve the flying qualities of the EA-6B and to upgrade the avionics and electronic warfare systems. The intention was to modify all EA-6Bs into the ADVCAP configuration, however the program was removed from the Fiscal Year 1995 budget due to financial pressure from competing Department of Defense acquisition programs.

The ADVCAP development program was initiated in the late 1980s and was broken into three distinct phases: Full-Scale Development (or FSD), Vehicle Enhancement Program (or VEP) and the Avionics Improvement Program (or AIP).

FSD served primarily to evaluate the new AN/ALQ-149 Electronic Warfare System. The program utilized a slightly modified EA-6B to house the new system.

The VEP added numerous changes to the aircraft to address deficiencies with the original EA-6B flying qualities, particularly lateral-directional problems that exacerbated recovery from out-of-control flight. Bureau Number 158542 was used. Changes included:

  • Leading edge strakes (to improve directional stability).
  • Fin pod extension (to improve directional stability).
  • Ailerons (to improve slow speed lateral control).
  • Recontoured leading edge slats and trailing edge flaps (to compensate for an increase in gross weight).
  • Two additional wing stations on the outer wing panel (for jamming pods only).
  • New J52-P-409 engines (increased thrust by 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) per engine).
  • New digital Standard Automatic Flight Control System (SAFCS).

The added modifications increased the aircraft gross weight approximately 2,000 pound (or 900 kg) and shifted the center of gravity 3% MAC aft of the baseline EA-6B. When operating at sustained high angles-of-attack, fuel migration would cause additional shifts in CG with the result that the aircraft had slightly negative longitudinal static stability. Results of flight tests of the new configuration showed greatly improved flying qualities and the rearward shift of the CG had minimal impact.

The AIP prototype represented the final ADVCAP configuration, incorporating all of the FSD and VEP modifications plus a completely new avionics suite which added multi-function displays to all crew positions, a head-up display for the pilot, and dual Global Positioning System/INS navigation systems. The initial joint test phase between the contractor and the US Navy test pilots completed successfully with few deficiencies.

After the program was canceled, the three experimental Prowlers, BuNo 156482, 158542 and 158547, were mothballed until 1999. During the next several years, the three aircraft were dismantled and reassembled creating a single aircraft, b/n 158542, which the Navy dubbed "FrankenProwler". It was returned to active service 23 March 2005.

Improved Capability (or ICAP)

Northrop Grumman received contracts from the US Navy to deliver new electronic countermeasures gear to Prowler squadrons; the heart of each ICAP III set consists of the ALQ-218 receiver and new software that provides more precise selective-reactive radar jamming and threat location. The ICAP III sets also are equipped with the Multifunction Information Distribution System (or MIDS), which includes the Link 16 data link system.

Design

Designed for carrier and advanced base operations, the Prowler is a fully integrated electronic warfare system combining long-range, all-weather capabilities with advanced electronic countermeasures. A forward equipment bay and pod-shaped fairing on the vertical fin house the additional avionics equipment. It is the United States Navy's and the United States Marine Corps's primary electronic warfare aircraft. The primary mission of the aircraft is to support strike aircraft and ground troops by interrupting enemy electronic activity and obtaining tactical electronic intelligence within a combat area.

The Prowler has a crew of four, a pilot and three Electronic Countermeasures Officers (known as ECMOs). Powered by two non-afterburning Pratt & Whitney J52-P-408 turbojet engines, it is capable of speeds of up to 590 mph (or 950 km/h) with a range of 1,140 miles (or 1,840 kilometers).

Design particulars include the refueling probe being asymmetrical, appearing bent to the right; it contains an antenna near its root. The canopy has a shading of gold not for sunlight but to protect the crew against the radio emissions that the electronic warfare equipment produces.

Operational history

Since the retirement of the EF-111 Raven in 1995, the EA-6B became one of the primary aerial radar jammers in the Department of Defense arsenal. It has been utilized in practically every US combat operation and is frequently flown in support of the United States Air Force.

Operations in Afghanistan & Iraq

According to news reports, the Prowler has been used in anti-IED operations in the current conflict in Afghanistan for several years by jamming remote detonation devices such as garage door openers or cellular telephones. Two Prowler squadrons are also based in Iraq, working with the same mission.

Operators

The EA-6B Prowler is operated by the United States, and has squadrons in both its Marine Corps and Navy.

Notable incidents

While no Prowler has ever been lost in combat, over forty were destroyed in various accidents:

  • On 26 May 1981, an EA-6B crashed onto the flight deck of the USS Nimitz and caused a blaze, killing 14 crew men and injuring 45 others.
  • A USMC EA-6B Prowler, BuNo 163045, from VMAQ-2 caused the Cavalese cable-car disaster on 3 February 1998, cutting the cables of a ski-lift in Italy and killing 20.
  • In 1998, a memorial at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island was dedicated to 44 crew members lost in EA-6B aircraft accidents. Later that year on 10 November 1998, that total increased to 48 when four crew members were killed when an EA-6B collided with an S-3 Viking during night landing practice on USS Enterprise.
  • On 10 November 1998, a USN EA-6B collided with an S-3 Viking during night landing qualifications on USS Enterprise (CVN-65); four crew members were killed. Six more aircraft have been lost from 1998 to 2012.
  • On 11 March 2013, a VAQ-129 EA-6B crashed in Eastern Washington. All three crew members on board were killed.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications (EA-6B)

  • Crew : four (one pilot, three electronic countermeasures officers).
  • Length : 59 ft 10 in (or 17.7 m).
  • Height : 16 ft 8 in (or 4.9 m).
  • Wingspan : 53 ft (or 15.9 m).
  • Wing area : 528.9 ft² (or 49.1 m²).
  • Wing loading : 116 lb/ft² (or 560 kg/m²).
  • Empty weight : 31,160 lb (or 15,130 kg).
  • Max takeoff weight : 61,500 lb (or 27,900 kg).
  • Maximum speed : 566 knots (or 651 mph, or 1,050 km/h).
  • Cruise speed : 418 kt (or 481 mph, or 774 km/h).
  • Range : 2,022 mi (tanks kept) and 2,400 mi (tanks dropped) (or 3,254 km and 3,861 km).
  • Service ceiling 37,600 ft (or 11,500 m).
  • Rate of climb : 12,900 ft/min (or 65 m/s).
  • Powerplant : Two Pratt & Whitney J52-P408A turbojets.
  • Thrust : 10,400 lbf (or 46 kN) each.
  • Thrust/weight : 0.34.
  • Armament : Up to 4 AGM-88 HARM antiradar missiles.
  • Up to 5 ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS) external pods. Up to 5 300 gallon external drop tanks.
  • Avionics : ALQ-99 on board receiver (OBS), ALQ-99 pod mounted jamming system (TJS). USQ-113 communications jamming system.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler of Wikipedia ( authors )
Grumman EA-6B Prowler : Your comments on this subject
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