Posted on 02/09/2011 4:25:54 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
For the last four months, a detachment of five new American EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft have been operating in Iraq. Exactly what they are doing there is classified. The EA-18Gs are replacing the aging EA-6Bs that now provide electronic protection against enemy radars and missiles for navy and air force aircraft. The air force retired their EF-111 electronic warfare aircraft in 1994, on the assurance that the navy would get the EA-18G into service before the EA-6Bs died of old age. The older 27 ton EA-6B carries a crew of four, while the highly automated 29 ton EA-18G has only two people on board. The EA-18G carries up to five electronic warfare pods, plus two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and two anti-radiation (HARM) missiles. It may be the last manned aircraft to handle the EW job. UAVs are becoming more capable, and will eventually take over this dangerous task.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
Is it true that if you were standing next to an EA-6B when it turned on its system... you’d die?
I do not know. I never seen one die.
lol
Back in the day, we used to call the EW aircraft “queers,” & it pissed off the straight arrows to no end. :)
wonder if PC stopped all that.
The pods were powered by wind driven turbine driven generators, so to stand next to them while operating would be a trick.
The answer to your question is that microwave energy heats things up. The bigger the generator, the greater the heat. What uses microwaves? A lot of radar systems. How do you jam them? One method is to produce an overwhelmingly powerful signal that floods their receiver.
So if you see an EA-6B with its pod propellors spinning as it flys past at 500 kts, don’t stand next to it.
That is a sea story. The jammers transmit radar waves at frequencies MUCH higher than the frequency to excite water molecules. Besides, the jammers (at least the high power portion) are powered by a ram air turbine on the front of the jammer pod that only operates when the aircraft is flying.
ll! good point
My personal favorite, and non-offensive in mixed company was the flying drumstick.
Notice how the Engineers copied the aerodynamic shape of the chicken leg to give the EA-6 its inherent flying qualities and sleek profile, not unlike that of a barnyard chicken.
YGBSM!
Legend has it this phrase was uttered by the first pilot told what his new job in the skies above Vietnam was going to be. “Ok, you let the gooks paint you with their radar. And when they launch a SAM at you, you fire a missle back at them.”
ping
That being said, my understanding is that the reason for the gold foil canopy liners is to create a Farraday shield around the occupants so that they do not cook themselves with microwave radiation when they go active...
That sounds like a Bill Engvall line from “Here’s Your Sign”.
Negative. Microwave ovens have a higher frequency ~2.45 gigahertz (GHz). However, even lower frequencies excite molecules, they just are as efficient at it. This is slightly countered by amplitude.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread263363/pg1
The USAF will retire the F-16 as the F-35 comes online and will be left with no EW dedicated aircraft and no “Wild Weasels”. The EA-18G is flexible in that it allows you to perform both missions without any modifications. With a plug and play external configuration capability it will be easy to use in SEAD and DEAD missions. Why the USAF is going through all the trouble of possibly modifying several platforms (B-52, F-15E, EC-130) is beyond me. Purchase the Growler! If it’s good enough for the Navy then it should be good enough for the AF. If they want to study the possibility of modifying the F-35 for this role, fine, but that’s a long term solution, we need this capability now, not later.
Except when they are being run on the bench. You ever see what happens when a jammer radiates without a water load inside an IMA van?
sky-pig
Individual jammers are configured to transmit on specific bands within the spectrum; 1-10 - VHF-Ku.
Now you are incorrect. Attack radar operates in the 10 gigahertz range.
Yep, you are correct. I got my decimal place misplaced in my head.
However, radar signals can definitely give you a nice burn if you are too close to the transmitter. There is always a matter of harmonics.
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