The EA-6B Prowler has been officailly retired from all services. - The end of an era.

The EA-6B Prowler Has Been Retired, But Its Impact On Air Warfare Will Live On Forever

The Grumman A-6 Intruder's design lineage has finally come to an end after six decades of flying.

www.thedrive.com

Marine Corps' Last Prowler Aircraft Return from Final Combat Deployment

The EA-6B Prowler, which has jammed enemy radars since the Vietnam War, has deployed overseas for the last time.

www.military.com

EA-6B Prowler, one of the saltiest warfighters in the Marine Corps, retires

The Prowler has supported the Corps in nearly every major conflict in the past 40 years.

www.marinecorpstimes.com

Say goodbye to the EA-6B Prowler with these fun facts - We Are The Mighty

In March 2019, the Marine Corps stood down its last squadron of EA-6B Prowlers. This stand down marked the end of the Prowler's active service in the U.S. military. The tactical electronic warfare jamming bird first started its career in 1971, maki…

www.wearethemighty.com

I am an engineer, not an English major. As such, I am not able to write a eulogy which adequately expresses my feelings on the subject. Therefore, I will keep this short.

The twin engine, four seat, electronic warfare aircraft has been officially retired from service. The Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 (VMAQ-2) was the last squadron flying the EA-6B Prowler, which has been in use since 1972. That makes it the longest serving tactical jet ever. The Prowler has had a flawless service record with no aircraft being downed in its lifetime of valuable service.

The retirement of the EA-6B, leaves a gap of capabilities for the Marines who will have to rely solely on the F-35B. The Prowler was the premier electronic warfare aircraft at its introduction and throughout its lifetime it rivaled the capabilities of even the awesome EA-18 Growler. Its missions as a guardian angel kept an innumerable amount of Airmen and Grunts alive were they may not have made it otherwise.

Last flight for the Navy 3 years ago:

EA-6B Prowler Squadrons Final Flight Together Before Retirement

Four EA-6B Prowlers belonging to each Prowler squadron aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point conducted a "Final Four" division flight aboard the air s...

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Last flights of the EA-6B Prowler:

USMC EA-6B Prowlers Deactivating • VMAQ-2 Aerial Footage

Two U.S. Marine Corps EA-6B Prowlers assigned to Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (VMAQ-2), fly off the coast of North Carolina on February 28, 20...

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[RadicalCentrist]

The retirement of the EA-6B, leaves a gap of capabilities for the Marines who will have to rely solely on the F-35B.

Yeah they are going to want to find another supplier. Though I suspect the big push will be more unmanned vehicles.

 

[thx1138]

The A6 was an amazing platform. The first night in operation over Vietnam, two sets of A6's struck their targets in the North with so many munitions, so accurately, that the government in Hanoi protested internationally claiming they'd been hit by B52s.

Interesting facts about the Intruder: it was originally planned to have STOL/VTOL capability, with two variable-geometry exhaust nozzles instead of the fixed ones production models had. The rather complex bombing computer (which when it worked properly had no rival in terms of accuracy) was called DIANE, which stood for Digital Integrated Attack and Navigation Electronics but was a retronym given it by the designer whose wife was named Diane. The EA6 variant was capable of carrying the AIM-120 missile for self-defense, although it rarely did and in any case never fired one in combat. The A6 itself could carry AIM-9 Sidewinders, although, again, they were never outfitted with them for combat missions. In "super-bomber" configuration, the aircraft could carry thirty six 500lb bombs, but this was a rare loadout; getting it off the deck of an aircraft carrier safely with that much payload was a dangerous challenge. Stephen Coonts, author of Flight of the Intruder and its direct sequel The Intruders was himself an A-6 pilot during the Vietnam War, flying the A-6, and later A-6B. The A-6F variant was a re-wing, re-engine, re-electronic upgrade which would have given the A-6 a new lease on life that was canceled in favor of the A-12 Intruder-II which was itself canceled at the end of the Cold War due to cost overruns.

E: forgot this interesting tidbit: after the EF-111 Raven was retired, the USAF had no dedicated E/W platform, and had to coordinate with the Navy and USMC for EA6B use during campaign operations. Now that the threat focus is shifting back to "big war" (vs. the Chinese or Russians) instead of "COIN" (COunter INsurgency) operations, I wonder what the USAF will do.

Knowing the geniuses in the five sided puzzle palace they'll probably try to make the F16 into an EW platform and it can carry all of one jammer into combat.

Fare thee well, Intruder. There was none like you.

 

[Duke Nukem]

Interesting history and aircraft, there is always something new to learn. Hopefully its successor isn't prohibitively expensive and is comparatively reliable.

 

[TiggerNits]

Interesting history and aircraft, there is always something new to learn. Hopefully its successor isn't prohibitively expensive and is comparatively reliable.

The Growler is pretty solid, plus it draws dicks better than anything

 

[Stoneheart]

Yeah they are going to want to find another supplier. Though I suspect the big push will be more unmanned vehicles.

They just leave the Gap open, Its not like you need them anyway... and cut the A-10 too. the f16/f35 can do all those jobs for 1000%+ the cost.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

can i buy one now?

 

[User names must be unique]

can i buy one now?

I'm not sure the clapistan military sell stuff off, most of it sits mothballed in the desert in Arizona.

 

[Whatevs]

Thank you EA-6B, you were a unique plane and pretty damn cool.

THE JOB OF THE EA-6B PROWLER GRUMMAN AVIATION FILM 81802

Support Our Channel : https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Dating to the late 1970s or early 1980s, this U.S. Navy film shows THE JOB OF THE PROWLER. It sho...

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The EA-6 jet line also gave the world one of my guilty pleasure Vietnam jet movies "Flight of the Intruder" with Willem Dafoe and Danny Glover.

Flight of the Intruder (1991) Official Trailer #1 - Willem Dafoe Movie HD

Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Subscribe to CLASSIC TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u43jDe Like us on FA...

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[User names must be unique]

Weird the only RAF planes that had pro-active electronic warfare duties the Tornado GR.4 was retired last month too.

RIP interesting planes and fuck you f-35 I don't care if you're the best you're fucking boring.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Since it seems relevant, for years I've heard a lot of grumbling from various sources that the F-35 program is a terrible waste of money because the thing is intended for multiple roles it can't do nearly as well as existing aircraft. Any aviatards here able to tell me if there's truth to that? Or is that kind of talk all political shitflinging by people who want to gain or protect government contracts?

 

[Poiseon]

Kiwis, time for the twenty-one gun salute.



Rest in peace with your brothers and sisters, cool warplanes.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

Since it seems relevant, for years I've heard a lot of grumbling from various sources that the F-35 program is a terrible waste of money because the thing is intended for multiple roles it can't do nearly as well as existing aircraft. Any aviatards here able to tell me if there's truth to that? Or is that kind of talk all political shitflinging by people who want to gain or protect government contracts?

It really depends on the version. A huge amount of the backlash against the F-35 comes from its development process. Which having seen it personally, I can say it was a shit show.As for the aircraft itself? For $100 million per plane runway cost, there are worse buys. I already have a more granular take that I wrote up:

On the F-35 issue we need to get more granular. "Concurrent Design and Manufacturing" was a fundamentally stupid idea leaving us with literally dozens (read: 100+) of aircraft that would be more costly to upgrade than to build new ones.

The F-35A (Air-Force) has become a good plane. It has decent stealth, a moderate internal payload, and the range isn't a trash-fire. It still need more "updates," but probably won't require any major redesigns. The aircraft is good at what it was intended to be, a stealthy high-end replacement for the F-16.

The F-35C (Navy) is a decent aircraft. The initial idea to replace all of the F/A-18 Super Hornet wings with F-35C was a bad idea. The F-35 could act well as a first strike attack aircraft, and air to air operator. However, most operations are basic bomb trucking missions.

So, the F-35A could very well be a good aircraft, The F-35C may be a decent aircraft, what about the F-35B (Marine). Oh dear...

The initial design of the air-craft was so heavy it couldn't be a VTOL(Vertical Take Off/Landing aircraft) or even STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing)*. So Lockheed embarked on a heavy weight loss program on the aircraft, cutting 2,700 pounds off of the aircraft. This reduced the G level that the aircraft to handle. It also introduced problems to the weapons bay, and what is this? Cracks on the testing air-frame. These were known issues for years. When the new DOT&E dropped, it caused quite the stir, The F-35B may only have a 2,100 hour lifespan. A lifespan that was supposed to be 8,000 hours. I could go on.

*The aircraft was/is heavier than the F-35A because of the internal vertical lift fan (among other things), which takes up internal (stealth) payload capacity. Therefore, if heavier/more/larger things have to be carried by the F-35B, it would have to be carried on an external mount, which defeats the purpose of the rest of the aircraft being stealth.

Hope this clears the issue up a bit.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Cracks on the testing air-frame.These were known issues for years. When the new DOT&E dropped, it caused quite the stir,The F-35B may only have a 2,100 hour lifespan. A lifespan that was supposed to be 8,000 hours. I could go on.

That's informative, thanks.

I really don't want my taxes dropping $100 million on a bird that has trouble living longer than an english mastiff. Especially when most of our air operations are ground attack missions on account of the fact our enemies for the past 60 years tend not to have air forces of their own, and the A-10 can still fly on one bullet-riddled wing if necessary and be repaired with duct tape and chewing gum on the rare occasion that it even takes serious damage.

 

[HeyYou]

Since it seems relevant, for years I've heard a lot of grumbling from various sources that the F-35 program is a terrible waste of money because the thing is intended for multiple roles it can't do nearly as well as existing aircraft. Any aviatards here able to tell me if there's truth to that? Or is that kind of talk all political shitflinging by people who want to gain or protect government contracts?

I asked the same question in the F-16 thread, the response seemed to be that the F-35A is actually pretty good. It's currently stable enough that it's starting to be bought by countries outside the US, like Belgium. Seemingly, the F-35A is actually cheaper to operate than the Rafale and on par with the Eurofighter.

 

[User names must be unique]

I asked the same question in the F-16 thread, the response seemed to be that the F-35A is actually pretty good. It's currently stable enough that it's starting to be bought by countries outside the US, like Belgium. Seemingly, the F-35A is actually cheaper to operate than the Rafale and on par with the Eurofighter.

The biggest problem I see with the F-35 is in the design specification, they want it to last until 2070 which is absurd in practically every regard. How can you accommodate for changes in technology even 10 years down the road? What they really should have had is something very simple and modular with space to add tech when it became practical rather than wasting so much money on what was just feasible at the time.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

The biggest problem I see with the F-35 is in the design specification, they want it to last until 2070 which is absurd in practically every regard. How can you accommodate for changes in technology even 10 years down the road? What they really should have had is something very simple and modular with space to add tech when it became practical rather than wasting so much money on what was just feasible at the time.

In that kind of timeframe, the damn thing better be capable of interplanetary travel so it can suppress the uprising of Elon Musk's socialist rebellion on Mars.

 

[TowinKarz]

Well, there goes the last bit of that 50's "Jet age" aesthetic of the F-86 or MiG-17.

 

[1Tonka_Truck]

I've always thought Prowlers looked cool like an old pickup truck. I still can't believe someone thought Growler was a good name for the EA-18. If the USMC wasn't constantly getting the shit end of the budget stick I'm sure they'd buy a few squadrons worth.

 

[Chiang Kai-shek]

Since it seems relevant, for years I've heard a lot of grumbling from various sources that the F-35 program is a terrible waste of money because the thing is intended for multiple roles it can't do nearly as well as existing aircraft. Any aviatards here able to tell me if there's truth to that? Or is that kind of talk all political shitflinging by people who want to gain or protect government contracts?

A lot of the “F-35 is a shit plane” bs comes from misunderstandings and misinformation. Not saying the program was perfect, but it is far from a shitty plane. There’s a decent playlist of someone who knows a lot about the F-35 debunking the myths. Hope it clears some things up.