I hope the new stuff is automated enough that a two man crew is able to keep up with it. I would think the loss of two EW officers might be a big loss in capabilities.
It would have to be highly automated to go from three ECMOs to one. The EM band has expanded greatly and there are frequencies to monitor and jam that weren’t even in use 25 years ago.
“I would think the loss of two EW officers might be a big loss in capabilities.”
ECMO-1 was used as a copilot/navigator, which any modern (post 1990) navigation system would largely replace. The 2 ECMOs in the back did ELINT work as well as jamming, although a lot of that could easily be done better with automated systems and recorders.
By the time it retired, the EF-111 EWO could get bored much of the flight...