Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

What ever happened to this program? It made some headlines shortly after the retirement of the Spark 'Vark. An all USAF crew even made a carrier landing in a fairly well publicized event. After Billy Bob left office, however, I didn't hear anything more about it.

When did USAF personnel stop flying in the Prowler, or have they? Prowlers will be headed out in a few more years, so even if there are some Zoomies still in EA-6s, they won't be for long.

Thanks!

F-16.net Sponsor

Good question there, TC. I wonder if it wouldn't be such a bad idea for the USAF to take over the Prowler airframes as the stress would be much less on them than carrier ops. Of course, if they were smart, they'd either go joint crews on the Lightning Bug (Growler) or buy some themselves.

What I don't get is why someone doesn't put a EW suite on something like a Block 60 (it's got the room in the spine and more could be made in wingtip pods) and the USAF would then have a great jet with a common footprint etc.

I still prefer Wild Weasels. Wise man say: Man who blows up his enemy's radar, has no radar to deal with on the ingress or egress. Razz

But, before I go Off Topic

somebody has to know something about Blue Suiters flying Prowlers.

TC - Just think of keeping a weapons station or two on the jets I mentioned and voila! Wild Weasel Thumb

I'd like to hear about Blue Suiters flying Prowlers, too. Come on, people Very Happy

Just found this after the forum realignment--I'll do some research on this. I can use this in my novel. I'll try and find the squadrons. Should't be too hard to find...

I'd like to say a big thanks to the mods for establishing this one!

It's my understanding that air force will have crews on the EA-6B Prowlers until they are retired. Not so for the EA-18 Growlers. Supposedly not up to air force standards or something, that opens the door for EB-52 stand off jammers (if they can get the funding, not likely) and all sorts of possibilities. What about a U.A.V. stand off jammer?

I think they should be able to do the same thing the Navy did with the Bug with the Viper. Since they both have roughly the same mission and have had similar development histories, this is seemingly the next logical step, wouldn't you think?

All that jamming stuff adds a lot of weight, though...especially to a single engine jet. The Spark 'Vark, Prowler, and Growler are all 2 engine birds.

I know, then retrofit the Viper with the F110 or F135 if they can fit the Viper--remember I'm a civ, and don't know sierra-hotel-india-tango about the Viper! No matter how well I can swear using the NATO alphabet

Never understood why they never converted any F-15E airframes into Weasel follow ons after F-4G retirement. I'm sure the Vipers that are HARM slingers work just fine, but it would seem that the two place Mudhens would be fairly easy to convert. Also- they are big enough, couldn't they be made into an EA-18 Growler equivalent?

Since the Vietnam War, the US has moved away from specialized aircraft dedicated to only one mission, to airframes capable of multitasking.

My only experience with the -15E is flying Jane's F-15, where I had to fly SEAD missions, the basic Strike Eagle can fly as a Wild Weasel, and compared to flying the F-16 in Jane's IAF and doing the same style of missions--I would much rather fly the Viper against an IADS site.

I take it you are referring to a game- would you feel the same way if it was for real? Wink

I would LOVE to talk to a Weasel crewmember, talk about a busy day at the office!!!

yes, but until I hear different from one of the pilots here, I trust Jane's they've been in the intel analysis business for years, and they had help from some real smart people who've BTDTAGTTS.

Check out the change to my sig.

All comes down to $$, and we ain't got enough to buy everything...

that's right, the DoD always gets the short end of the stick.

Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

Joint USN-USAF Prowler Ops