EA-6B Prowler crews were prohibited from deploying the full power of ALQ-99 during peacetime exercises.
Although evaluations of what particular aircraft types can or cannot do are often drawn from realistic training exercises, there are always key aspects of performance that cannot truly be assessed in peacetime. One such aspect was the maximum output and full capabilities of the “music”—the electronic warfare emissions—used by aircraft such as the Grumman EA-6B Prowler.
As Tom Cooper explains in his book In the Claws of the Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat against Iran and Iraq, 1987–2000, the Prowler emerged from efforts to bring electronic warfare aircraft into the carrier air wing. The first version, the EA-6A, was developed during the Vietnam War by converting the two-seat Grumman A-6A Intruder bomber and equipping it with more than 30 antennas for detecting, classifying, recording, jamming, and deceiving enemy radar transmissions. Three A-6As were used as testbeds for what became the EA-6B. The EA-6B Prowler entered service near the end of the Vietnam conflict and went on to serve for more than forty years. Over that time, it evolved into the premier electronic attack platform in the U.S. military, supporting combat operations in Grenada, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and numerous other crises worldwide.
The National Naval Aviation Museum notes that a review of air operations during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 highlighted how crucial the EA-6B was.
“Critical to the success of all aviation missions was the role of electronic countermeasures, ‘jamming’ or ‘defense suppression’ of aircraft. Navy EA-6B Prowlers determined the threat location and then jammed and destroyed enemy radars. Navy defense suppression aircraft supported all U.S. and coalition forces—in fact, the availability of the EA-6Bs was a go/no-go criterion for many strike missions. If Navy defense suppression wasn’t available, the missions didn’t fly.”
In comparison with the EA-6A, the EA-6B was a major improvement. Its fuselage was lengthened to accommodate four crewmembers: a pilot, an ECM officer—responsible for navigation, communications, defensive electronic countermeasures, and dispensing chaff—and two electronic warfare operators (EWOs). The Prowler was equipped with far more advanced and powerful systems, built around as many as five ALQ-99 high-power tactical jamming pods. One pod was mounted in a streamlined fairing on top of the fin, while the other four were carried under the wings and featured windmill generators to provide the necessary electrical power.
By 1990–1991, each U.S. Navy carrier air wing (CVW) had a single electronic warfare squadron made up of four EA-6Bs. However, during peacetime training, their crews were not allowed to use the ALQ-99’s full power. As a result, when they first went to war against Iraq on January 17, 1991, the extent of their capabilities came as a surprise. Once ‘cut loose,’ the Prowlers caused the F-14s’ radar homing and warning (RHAW) systems to go haywire, and they interfered not only with their own IFF signals but also with a large portion of radio communications. A later investigation concluded that these emissions were a major factor behind the communications difficulties that several Navy formations experienced over Iraq on the opening day of the war.
In the Claws of the Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000 is published by Helion & Company and is available to order here.
Photo by U.S. Navy
