Key Points – The EA-18G Growler, a specialized electronic warfare aircraft based on the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet, provides a “protective electronic umbrella” for US Navy carrier air wings.
-While sharing over 90% of its airframe with the Super Hornet, the Growler replaces the M61 cannon with an electronic palette and is fitted with specialized jamming pods like the ALQ-218 on its wingtips.
-The US Navy is currently upgrading the Growler’s capabilities by replacing its legacy ALQ-99 jamming pods with the new, more powerful AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system, ensuring it remains effective against modern and emerging threats.
What Is Ahead for the EA-18G Growler?
At the time the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was designed, the intent was for the airframe to take the place of not one—but three—aircraft types on the decks of the US Navy’s fleet of aircraft carriers.
First and foremost, the F/A-18E/F was produced to replace the F/A-18C/D “Classic Hornets” that were based on the original A/B-series design.
With the new configuration, new inlet, more powerful engine, and numerous other changes, the Super Hornet was to become a more capable and powerful attack platform.
It was also going to displace a second aircraft now: it would assume the role of the F-14 Tomcat as the point defense interceptor fighter for the fleet.
But the third carrier aircraft that the F/A-18E/F would take over for was the older-generation EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare aircraft. The platform that now enables the mission is often described as a “protective electronic umbrella” for the carrier air wing, and it is a specialized version of the Super Hornet.
The aircraft, otherwise known as the EA-18G Growler, is an airframe based on the two-seat combat-capable F/A-18F.
It does, however, have several differences compared to the two-seat Super Hornet.
F/A-18F v. EA-18G Growler
For the specialized mission that the EA-18G is responsible for, the Growler is assumed to have extra wiring on board to accommodate the electronic warfare (EW) hardware.
In the case of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), they ordered 24 of the two-seat F models, but they had 12 of the aircraft “pre-wired” so they could be converted to Growlers by just adding the extra gear required.
Besides the extra wiring harness, reportedly, additional equipment has been added to condition the extra electrical power and provide insulation and shielding to minimize electromagnetic interference as much as possible.
The aircraft also utilizes fiber optic cabling for various critical functions.
The fiber optic cables carry transmissions of high-bandwidth data, enhancing communication in jammed environments and supporting the aircraft’s advanced electronic warfare systems. Fiber optic cables, in general, provide high-speed, reliable data transmission—essential to the Growler’s mission of disrupting enemy radar, communication systems, and data links.
Several of the other differences more or less observable on the surface of the Growler are:
-The M-61 onboard cannon, which is one of the weapons on board the E and F models, has been deleted. In its place is an electronic palette that is part of the electronic attack equipment used in the EW mission.
-There is an additional, large protruding antenna on the back of the aircraft and aft of the cockpit, along with the satcom antenna as well behind it.
-The missile launch rails on the wingtips appear to be permanently modified to support the ALQ-218 Tactical Jamming Receiver, which is the same pod as was used on the EA-6B Prowler.
-The aircraft would also have two or more (as many as four) of the AN/ALQ-99 jamming pods—one under each wing and even centreline as well—mounted on hardpoints commonly used for weapons, targeting pods, or fuel tanks.
The Next Generation for the Growler
The AN/ALQ jamming pods being used on the Growlers from the beginning were the same model as used on the EA-6B.
However, for more than a decade, a plan has been in place to replace them with a set of three new pods—one medium-band, one low-band, and one high-band.
The mission of the Growler is to ensure that the kill chains maintain integrity against growing threat capabilities and capacity. The EW capacity of the aircraft needs to be kept current by the development of countermeasures against adversary weapon systems.
The pod central to that mission and first in that modernization package is the AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB). This pod is the major part of a larger NGJ system that will augment and ultimately replace the ALQ-99.
The NGJ System is the next step in the evolution of Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) for the US Navy’s carrier air wing. It is essential to keep the Growler current with emerging EW threats.
The NGJ-MB pod utilizes the latest digital, software-based, and Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technologies to generate an enhanced airborne electronic attack capability, disrupting enemy air defense and ground communication systems.
Updates will enable the Growler to remain a long-lived platform into the future. It is almost inevitable that this aircraft will continue to be flown with the US Navy well into the generation when the aircraft emerging from the F/A-XX program enters operational service.
About the Author:
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
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