US Navy to supply Australia with refurbished jammers for EA-18Gs

Flight International ^ | Aug 24, 2012 | Dave Majumdar

[Yo-Yo]

The US Navy (USN) will dip into its own inventory to supply Australia with the ALQ-99 jammer pods it needs for its future Boeing EA-18G fleet. The southwest Pacific nation is converting 12 of its 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets into the electronic attack Growler configuration.

While the low-band transmitter for the ALQ-99 suite is relatively new and in production, the mid-band jammers are not in production.

"We will be teaming with Cobham, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, to deliver low band transmitters to the RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force]," says the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). "The remainder of the transmitters and ancillary equipment--radomes, hardbacks, ram air turbines and universal exciters--will be provided as refurbished out of USN/USMC [United States Marine Corps] excess inventory."

The USN says that it expects to transition its forces to the Next Generation Jammer that is currently being developed.

"With the Next Generation Jammer IOC [initial operational capability] scheduled for 2018, we expect that the RAAF, USN and USMC will be using the ALQ-99 pods for one to two years until the USMC retires its ICAP [Improved Capability] III EA-6Bs in 2019," NAVAIR says. That will leave "just the RAAF and the USN as ALQ-99 users until the Next Generation Jammer comes online in adequate numbers for the USN to retire the ALQ-99."

[Yo-Yo]

Two interesting things from this:

1) I've always heard that the US could not sell the ALQ-99, in which case either an exception must be made for Australia, or this will technically be considered a "loan" to the RAAF, and

2) The USMC will not be flying EA-18Gs. I suppose they will be out of the jamming business until a suite can be developed for the F-35B.

[Dartman]

Very versatile aircraft, that Super Hornet. I wish Canada had ordered a whole fleet of them 10 years or so ago. Instead, we sit around with a bunch of aging F-18s waiting for the F-35 Edsel.

[A.A. Cunningham]

excess inventory

Which doesn't exist.

This is an idiotic move by DoD.

2) The USMC will not be flying EA-18Gs. I suppose they will be out of the jamming business until a suite can be developed for the F-35B.

Sunset for Marine Prowlers has already slipped past the 2019 date. The Corps will continue to fly the type until a viable solution to provide SEAD to the FMF exists.

[tanknetter]

"I suppose they will be out of the jamming business until a suite can be developed for the F-35B.

The plan is that the "B" will have integrated (well, bolt-on) jamming capability and will replace the Prowler in USMC service.

The Marines I've spoken to on the matter really like the idea. They're kinda tired of how their jamming capability has been raided over the last 10-15 years to support USAF needs that have been unfulfilled since the loss of the EF-111A. The F-35B jamming capability will be much more closely aligned with their needs and their needs only; not only insulating it from being raided to support joint ops but ALSO permitting them to put an organic airborne jamming capability aboard the LHD/LHA fleet.