Key Points and Summary – The EA-18G Growler is the U.S. Navy’s premier electronic attack aircraft, designed to jam enemy radars and communications to protect friendly forces.
-Its combat prowess was highlighted in June 2025 when it scored its first “kill,” destroying a Houthi helicopter on the ground with an anti-radiation missile.
A joint test team including the Flight Test Division of the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA/EV), the French Naval Aeronautics Experimentation Center (CEPA/10S), and the U.S. Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 are leading flight tests that will enable the French fighter jet Dassault Rafale to aerial refuel with naval aviation’s F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler. The tanker qualification partnership paves the way for an extended reach and enhanced interoperability for allied airpower. (U.S. Navy photo by Erik Hildebrandt) Erik_Hildebrandt
PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 11, 2025) – U.S. Navy Sailors direct an E/A-18G Growler, assigned to the “Vikings” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129, on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Aug. 11, 2025. Theodore Roosevelt, flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9, is underway conducting exercises to bolster strike group readiness and capability in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Cesar Nungaray)
-A former pilot describes its sophisticated jamming as the “next best thing to true stealth” and claims a perfect record: no Growler, nor any aircraft it was protecting, has ever been shot down.
The platform is being continually upgraded with systems like the Next-Generation Jammer to ensure its dominance.
What Is an EA-18G Growler?
Earlier this year, during a U.S. strike on Houthis near the Persian Gulf, an EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft “killed a Houthi Mi-24 Hind with an AGM-88E anti-radiation missile,” The War Zone reported in June; the report was confirmed by the U.S.Navy.
The site noticed a “kill mark” of a Hind in an officially released photo of a Growler onboard an aircraft carrier.
The Hind was struck on the ground, according to TWZ’s reporting.
“The first instance of AARGM use in combat was from an E/A-18G deployed on Ike, during this current deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet region,” a Navy official confirmed to the site in June, although the official did not confirm that the kill mark was a result of that specific engagement.
An E/A-18G Growler, attached to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141, taxis on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), while underway in the Indian Ocean, July 24, 2025. The USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group (GWA CSG) is conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. George Washington is the U.S. Navy’s premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nicolas Quezada)
An EA-18G Growler, assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 209, U.S. Navy Reserve, prepares for takeoff as part of Exercise Southern Strike 2021 at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center in Gulfport, Miss., April 19, 2021. Southern Strike is a large-scale, conventional and special operations exercise hosted by the Mississippi National Guard and is designed to maintain combat readiness, build relationships, and strengthen combat readiness across all branches of the U.S. military. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Jon Alderman)
“The Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) Carrier Strike Group led pre-planned self-defense strikes into Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen,” the Navy official told The War Zone. “This was a joint and coalition effort that struck 60 Houthi targets across 16 sites in Yemen, including anti-ship missile sites, storage facilities, and command and control centers. Also destroyed was a rotary-wing aircraft; the aircraft was unmanned and not airborne at the time.”
About the Growler
The EA-18G Growler started production in 2007 and entered operational service two years later. According to the Navy, while the F/A-18 Hornet has been around since the 1980s, the Growler “introduced significant advancements in radar, avionics, payload capacity and electronic attack.”
Back in August, the Navy announced that the F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft fleet had surpassed 12 million flight hours.
Per Boeing, its manufacturer, the Growler is “the most advanced airborne electronic attack (AEA) platform and is the only one in production today.”
The company and the Navy, according to Boeing, “continue to invest in advanced Growler capabilities to ensure it continues to protect all strike aircraft during high-threat missions for decades to come.”
What the Growler Can Do
According to the website of the Office of the Director, Operational Tests and Evaluation (DOTE), the Growler is described as “a land- and carrier-based, radar and communication jamming aircraft.”
The Growler integrated the AEA system into the F/A-18F using several elements: A “modified EA-6B Improved Capability III ALQ-218 receiver system,” an advanced crew station, ALQ-99 jamming pods, a Communication Countermeasures Set System, an Expanded digital Link 16 communications network, an Electronic Attack Unit, an “Interference Cancellation System that supports communications while jamming,” and “satellite receiver capability via the Multi-mission Advanced Tactical Terminal.”
“Combatant commanders use the EA-18G to support friendly air, ground, and sea operations by countering enemy radar and communications,” the DOTE website says.
The Growler is an incredibly capable machine. Its capabilities include jamming integrated air defense systems; supporting air defense missions; enhancing situational awareness and mission management; and improving connectivity among national, theater, and tactical strike assets.
In addition, the AN/ALQ-249, described as the “next-generation jammer (NGJ),” is in the works to be added to the Growler’s arsenal.
“NGJ will augment, and ultimately replace, the legacy ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System that is currently used on the EA-18G Growler aircraft,” the DOTE website adds. “NGJ will be a game-changer for the warfighter and EW community.”
“Close to True Stealth”
Adam Daymude, a former pilot of the Growler, answered questions on Quora about how the Growler gets around anti-radiation missiles.
His explanation was cited this week by Aviation Geek Club: “My sweet baby was and is one bad mamba jamba.”
The former pilot went on to describe a bit about how radar-jamming works on a Growler—very differently, it turns out, than during the air warfare of the past.
“The type of jamming you’re thinking of is what’s called barrage jamming. Basically, you take the RADAR’s energy, crank it up to 11, and it makes your buddies impossible to see through all the brightness. That didn’t work for long,” he said. “Our enemies ain’t stupid. Let’s just say you jam at 1KHz. The RADAR only has to jump a few Hertz to make it invisible.”
He went on to say that not only has a Growler never been shot down—neither has any plane a Growler was protecting. The aircraft’s jamming capability is to thank for that.
“Even air-to-air we’re the next best thing to true stealth,” the pilot went on to say. “Those guys are just otherworldly, and I would never want to go against them for real. My flight of 12 managed to take out one, and it was a complete mistake on his part. I won’t tell you what that mistake was, but 12:1 is a fairly decent ratio. And we were all Top Gun/Top Shock (SFTI/GTI) grads.”
Growlers in Australia
Australia’s fleet of 12 Growlers, achieved initial operational capability in 2019. Those planes, flown by No. 6 Squadron at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, complement the country’s F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
Those EA-18G Growlers and Hornets in early September were deployed to the Philippines as part of Exercise Alon 2025.
In the exercise, according to Australian Defense, “RAAF Growlers and Super Hornets flew dissimilar air combat tactics (DACT) and basic flight manoeuvres (BFM) with the Philippine Air Force, while RAAF P-8A Poseidons, KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transports, C-17A Globemasters and C-130J Hercules supported joint maritime, airlift and refueling missions.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver:
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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