Australia's First Ea-18g Enters Production

Australia's first EA-18G enters production By: Andrew McLaughlin 23 Jun 2014

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/...duction-400660/

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I was wondering the other day will the Growlers be the first electronic warfare aircraft we've ever used in the ADF?

I'm guessing it was all done by warships in the past but they only have a certain range to jam missiles...or maybe the Royal Australian Corps of Signals does electronic warfare on land?

The RAN operated two EW configured HS748s for training purposes. They were capable of broadband noise jamming and voice spoofing. Strictly speaking then the Growler is not the first, but the first "operational" EW aircraft operated by the ADF.

Just to update the EA-18G Contracts

08/30/2012 12 992.4 FMS Case, AT-P-LEN, provides for the procurement of 12 Airborne Electronic Attack kit sets, the modification effort to convert six Australian Lot 33 F/A-18F to AEA-18G Aircraft, and support. Per AT-P-SCI, Australia has elected to obtain 12 new Lot 37/38 build EA-18G aircraft vice converting six Australian Lot 33 F/A-18F to EA-18G.
07/04/2013 12 1346.7 FMS Case, AT-P-SCI, provides for the procurement of 12 EA-18G aircraft and support.
09/24/2013 0 17.7 FMS Case, AT-P-GTM, provides for EA-18G Aircrew initial training and support related to ATP-SCI and AT-P-LEN FMS Cases.


US Program currently:

The Department of the Navy received three EA-18G airframes with installed Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) kits from Boeing in settlement of the A-12 litigation. The three EA-18G airframes and AEA kit quantities will be noted in
the FY 2014 budget as Lot 37A on the Boeing contract. A deobligation of $27M on the FY 2013 EA-18G Boeing MYP III Lot 37 airframe contract was authorized to re-allocate for the procurement of the engines and engines accessories. In addition, contract savings will be reallocated to fund the Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) electronics, other GFE and ancillary equipment to support the three EA-18Gs. The three additional EA-18G aircraft are considered "inventory objective" of 138 aircraft. These assets will be utilized as attrition aircraft and not considered part of the Program of Record of 135.

Gordy

Thanks for that answer Biggles81.

I'm pretty naive when it comes to electronic warfare and jamming. For example if you are up in the air in a F/A-18F Super Hornet with along side you you have a EA-18G Growler and you come up against a MiG is the Growler able to jam the MiGs Radar so it can't get a missile lock on you but does that in turn make the Super Hornets weapons jammed as well?

Or maybe the Growler can jam communications on the MiG as well or as I've read they even have the ability the jam cell towers on the ground so people can't use their mobile phone?

I guess I'll try do some for reading: Electronic Warfare for Dummies :D

Boeing Delivers 100th EA-18G Growler to US Navy

So according to that article the US Navy is in need of another 50-100 more Growlers to meet future requirements.

Hopefully it doesn't take too long for OUR Growlers to be built.

Cheers.

This post has been edited by F/A-18 Super Bug on Oct 12 2014, 01:34 PM

The RAAF has operated EW B-24 Liberators in WW2...

Electronic attack is the EA-18G mission.

I wonder how "dumbed down" our Growlers will be for export - or whether the yanks will release the full McKoy? :rolleyes:

Lockheed Martin : Federal Contracts Awarded to Companies in Texas (Oct. 14)

http://www.4-traders.com/LOCKHEED-MARTIN-C...ct-14-19198464/

Looks like the first of the Growlers A46-301 has started flying.

Details courtesy of AMI

http://www.boeing.com/features/2015/07/bds...wler-07-15.page

Cheers

MIchael

Thanks - another story here:

Boeing rolls out first Australian Growler James Drew 29 Jul 2015

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/...growler-415167/

VIDEO ON THIS PAGE: http://www.boeing.com/features/2015/07/bds...wler-07-15.page

ANOTHER GOOD STORY: http://aviationweek.com/defense/first-raaf...ls-out-st-louis

1st RAAF Growler: http://www.boeing.com/resources/boeingdotc...aaf_630x354.jpg

This post has been edited by Luig on Jul 30 2015, 04:04 PM

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Apparently two to VX-31 for Testing and RAAF Documentation, and the following ten into storage for around 12-15months, pending collection by fully qualified RAAF crews for ferry back to Oz.

Gordy

As well as stories above another good couple with extra details here:

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/a...ralia/30845221/
&

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blo...ada7aa2&ID=1911

This post has been edited by Luig on Jul 31 2015, 08:40 AM

Notice the 6 Squadron Boomerang is facing the opposite way compared to that on F-111s and the other Super Hornets.

Heheh. Heraldry huh. The 'backwards facing boomerang' reminds me of a short lived 'backwards facing kiwi' on one of our A4Gs going to NZed with a quickly applied example AND...

The backwards facing knight chess symbol horse head on the c.1974 VF-805 A4Gs. This was deliberate but generally not liked at the time. Later when the two tone camo used, the VF-805 had a black forward facing horse head on tail. HUbloodyRRA! :-)

Anyway is the 'backwards boomerang' a mistake or deliberate?

This post has been edited by Luig on Aug 1 2015, 03:22 PM

That is shown as it appears on the 6 Squadron crest.
It has been previously applied on the tails of F-111s and Super Hornets in a "forward" orientation.


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OK - thanks.

Martin,

Yes I noticed that, and like you I thought it should always face forward, like the kangaroo in the roundel.

An interesting aspect of the 6 SQN badge is that it was originally proposed for 4 SQN, hence the fleur de lys and the French motto (from WWI).
However in about 1937, there was a squadron numbers swap, 4 Sqn was re-numbered 6 SQN, and hence the badge went to 6 !!

But now, 4 SQN has re-formed as the FAC unit at WLM, and they also have also reclaimed the boomerang badge !!! What a cluster...

This post has been edited by batman on Aug 1 2015, 06:25 PM

RAAF graphic: http://www.airforce.gov.au/imgs/Aircraft/EA18G-Growler.png

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“The first RAAF Growler (serial A46-301) designated AG-1, was completed on July 24 as the 116th Growler built, and Australia’s 100th Hornet-type airframe. The Australian Growlers are part of Lot 38 production and the first of the FY 2014 builds.” Nov 2015 Combat Aircraft Monthly "GROWLER DOWN UNDER"

The complete text story is attached BELOW WITHOUT GRAFX to make the file size in a 4 page PDF with the text only. The full five pages with graphics PDF may be downloaded from here:

http://www.f-16.net/forum/download/file.php?id=21747 (PDF 0.8Mb)

GROWLER DOWN UNDER Nov 2015 Brad Elward

“...Origins of the RAAF Growler
Just months after the last four RAAF F/A-18Fs arrived in Australia in late 2011, Australia voiced interest in acquiring 12 additional Super Hornets and exercising its option to upgrade 12 of the pre-wired F/A-18F+ aircraft into EA-18Gs. Of the original 24 Super Hornets purchased by Australia, the last 12 (beginning with A44-213) were built with EA-18G wiring and waveguides installed out to the wing-fold, blanked antenna cut-outs, and structural provisions for equipment racks.

A formal request for 12 EA-18G modification kits was announced in May 2012, with plans to convert six Super Hornets into Growlers beginning in 2015, and then to convert the remainder in the early 2020s. Within a year of that announcement, however, the Australian government changed course and decided to retain its 24 Super Hornets and acquire 12 new-build Growlers. Notification of sale was announced on February 28, 2013, with an estimated cost of US$3.7 billion....

...An operational test and evaluation period undertaken by VX-9 ‘Vampires’ will commence in January 2017 and will test RAAF Growlers for a six-month period alongside Navy Growlers.

As Boeing showed reporters following the roll-out ceremony, all 10 remaining ‘Aussie’ Growlers (AG-3 to AG-12) are on the production floor in some stage of build. Production will be complete by 2017. The remaining 10 RAAF Growlers will be stored in St Louis until they are needed.

Dan Gillian, Boeing vice-president for the F/A-18, told reporters that the Growlers will make the flight to Australia ‘in three tranches of four aircraft’. These deliveries will take place at some point in 2017.

In addition to the Growlers, the RAAF is creating a Mobile Threat Training Emitter System (MTTES) at Amberley and at the expansive Delamere Air Weapons Range (DELAWR) in Australia’s Northern Territory to support electronic warfare training. Both ranges will utilize a combination of radio frequency (RF) emissions to simulate radars and communications systems that can then be targeted for electronic attack and suppression of enemy air defense training. Australia plans to model the DELAWR range on the US Navy’s electronic warfare range at NAS Fallon, Nevada. Two additional enhanced simulators are being installed at Amberley, which will enable crews to simulate either the Growler or Super Hornet mission.

RAAF crew training
Important to the introduction of a wholly new airborne attack capability is the establishment of a viable training pipeline for crews flying the new jet. Taking advantage of the US Navy’s vast EA experience, RAAF crews are undergoing initial training at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, with Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 ‘Vikings’, the Fleet Replenishment Squadron (FRS) responsible for training Prowler and now Growler aircrew and maintainers. The first RAAF student — a former General Dynamics F-111C and F/A-18F pilot — began his training with VAQ-129 in late 2013. Upon completion he became an instructor with the ‘Vikings’, where he helps train subsequent RAAF crews as well as US students, and is learning the instructional methods to take back to Australia for training future crews.

Training of the RAAF aircrew lasts roughly 10 months and focuses exclusively on ground-based operations. RAAF crews do not perform the carrier qualification (CQ) phase, which is required of US Navy pilots. The students go through VAQ-129 under either the Cat I or Cat II syllabus, depending on their prior experience. Cat I is for aircrew with no experience in the type, such as those transitioning from the F-111C, and Cat II is for those who had some time in the F/A-18F. The RAAF crew came from a variety of backgrounds, including F/A-18, F/A-18F, F-111C and AP-3C Orion, while one is a former Tornado exchange aircrew member. Australian aircrew are designated as pilots or air combat officers (ACOs), the latter including what the US Navy refers to as naval flight officers (NFOs) or electronic warfare officers (EWOs).

Five Growler aircrew completed training at VAQ-129 in late February 2015, and all are now embedded in US Navy EA-18G expeditionary squadrons, with which they will deploy operationally over the next two years. Wg Cdr Jarvis said, ‘Training with CVWP [Electronic Attack Wing, US Pacific Fleet] is essential to our ability to establish a credible AEA capability’. Speaking to Defense News in May 2015, Jarvis noted, ‘We need time to conduct not only Growler flying training, but also understand how to properly support, task, and operate the aircraft.’..."

Combat Aircraft Monthly Nov 2015

This post has been edited by Luig on Oct 3 2015, 04:59 AM

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 RAAF_TRANSITIONS_TO__FULL_SPECTRUM__FORCE_C_A_M_2015_11_pp4_NO_GRAFXprnBW.pdf

A lot of 'gobbledegook' in this report that I'm hoping someone does understand BUT good on 'em and here is hoping that it all works out OK....

U.S., Australia Cooperating On EA-18G Growler Communications-Jamming System Upgrade 20 Nov 2015 Megan Eckstein

http://news.usni.org/2015/11/20/u-s-austra...-system-upgrade

"Five Growler aircrew completed training at VAQ-129 in late February 2015, and all are now embedded in US Navy EA-18G expeditionary squadrons, with which they will deploy operationally over the next two years."

Holy Crabs Batman - does that mean the above said 5 Growler crews will be CARQUAL'ed Crabs :P

In the long post about HOWLER training above did you miss this sentence?

"...RAAF crews do not perform the carrier qualification (CQ) phase, which is required of US Navy pilots...."

Now what are 'expeditionary ops'? Probably the same ops that the USAF crews participate within - ashore. http://www.mountainhome.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123420621

Just confirming an observation per earlier threads regarding the 6 Sqn RAAF Boomerang motif.

Lined up at Nellis in January 2016, I noted that 6 Sqn Super Hornets wore both :

A44-224 wore it "traditionally", per rearward sweep.
A44-204 wore the more "war like, aim to hit" doesn't return forward sweep motif

A44-203 is also noted in November 2015 wearing the "war like, aim to hit" motif,..per below


Its started,........

Gordy

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Interesting thread over on the Aussie Modeller Forum showing a US Navy Growler with a 6 Squadron Flash and Aussie Flag
http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/forum/vie...php?f=2&t=12932


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FWIW OLD VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDQTwrj4nRI

SCREEN GRAB Below: I would have thought the flag would be mirrored with the Union Jack part on the left - Southern Cross on right. I think a template used on the other side has been mirrored - incorrectly - on this side? Would have to see more examples however in better quality perhaps.

This post has been edited by Luig on Jan 30 2017, 05:36 PM

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The Growler in Australia: Part of the RAAF’s Augmentation of Its Tron Warfare Capabilities 04 Apr 2017

http://www.sldinfo.com/the-growler-in-aust...e-capabilities/

PHOTO: http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/...472-960x640.jpg

(IMG:http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/FD8A9472-960x640.jpg)

This post has been edited by Luig on Apr 4 2017, 09:01 AM

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