''Growler'' Officially A New Name In Anti-Radar Warfare

The Navy’s new airborne jamming aircraft will be known officially as the EA-18G “Growler,” its informal moniker for the last several years, the Pentagon has announced. EA-18G GrowlerThe designation comes two years after the Navy petitioned the Air Force Materiel Command, which assigns aircraft names and numbers for all the service branches, for the title. About 30 names, including “Shocker,” “Demon ” and “Gator,” also were considered, said Chuck Wagner, a spokesman for the Naval Air Systems Command. The plane, which is to enter service beginning in 2009, replaces the EA-6B “Prowler,” a Vietnam War-era workhorse that is being retired. The Growler will be based on the Navy’s F/A-18F Super Hornet, a two-seat fighter-bomber, but equipped with radar jammers and HARM anti-radar missiles rather than the Super Hornet’s complement of bombs and missiles. EA-18G GrowlerThe first two Growlers, both test models, are expected to roll out of Boeing Inc.’s Super Hornet assembly plant in St. Louis next year. The Navy expects to buy 90 of the planes by 2013 and spread them among 10 electronic warfare squadrons. Each operational Growler will cost about $66 million, the Navy estimates, and the service is spending an additional $1.5 billion on research and development. All the Growlers are expected to be based at Whidbey Island, Wash., home of the Prowler.