Grumman EA-6B Prowler - Seattle, WA
N 47° 31.208 W 122° 18.039
10T E 552650 N 5263204
One of many static aircraft displays located at the Museum of Flight at King County International Airport. Admission fees apply.
Waymark Code: WMVHKM
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2017
Views: 7
Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Grumman EA-6B Prowler. The Museum of Flight website contains a
page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:
The Grumman (now Northrop Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is an electronic warfare aircraft that was operated by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Outfitted with advanced avionics and jamming equipment, the Prowler is designed to protect aerial strike forces by jamming enemy radar and communications. It also performs electronic surveillance and gathers electronic intelligence. Based on Grumman's A-6 Intruder airframe, the EA-6B sports a radome on its vertical stabilizer, an enlarged cockpit for two or three Electronic Countermeasures Officers, and the ability to carry and fire anti-radiation missiles (ARMs). It has gone through multiple upgrades in its four decades of service, and its ability to suppress enemy air defense remains formidable.
The Prowler has been in service since 1971 and, at one point, was the only tactical radar support jammer for the U.S. Armed Forces. It served in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and has participated in numerous other combat and support missions.
The Museum of Flight's Prowler flew with Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-134 (“Garudas”), which was based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. Following the Navy’s decision to replace its Grumman Prowlers with Boeing EA-18G Growlers, the National Naval Aviation Museum offered this Prowler to The Museum of Flight on long-term loan. This EA-6B was officially decommissioned on May 27, 2015, following its final active-duty flight – to The Museum of Flight – where the Prowler became the first electronic-warfare aircraft to go on display.
This aircraft loan courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida.
A nearby placard also highlights this EA-6B Prowler in more detail and reads:
Tactical Electronic Warfare
In 1966,
the U.S. Navy requested a new electronic counter-measures (ECM)
aircraft based on a modified version of the Grumman A-6 Intruder.
The Prowler was designed with advanced avionics and a tactical jamming system that is carried in external pods under the aircraft to disrupt communication and gather intelligence from enemy transmissions. Since the Prowler's initial deployment in 1972,
it has served as a tactical electronic warfare aircraft for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines and later the U.S. Air Force.
Electronic Countermeasures
In a strike mission the EA-6B Proweler is assigned to suppress the enemy's air defenses.
This includes detecting and jamming enemy radar systems,
communication and neutralizing enemy surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The Prowler can transmit electromagnetic energy that interferes with the enemy early warning, tracking and fire control radars, and the ability to communicate. Most SAM systems require electronic tracking by a radar system; the Prowler can detect these radar signal and launch an AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) that tracks the signal and destroys the SAM system.
Well-Earned Retirement
The EA-6B Prowler served the U.S.
Navy for 45 years, and deployed in conflicts in Southast Asia to current conflicts in the Middle East. The Museum's aircraft was part of the official Prowler retirement ceremony, ending its service with the U.S. Navy. In June 2015, the Prowler made its final active duty flight before being decommissioned and delivered to The Museum of Flight for permanent display.