US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter tphuang
- Start date
Jura The idiot
General
"It will be well over five years before half of the Marines F/A-18 Hornet aircraft that heavily depend on EA-6B support are replaced, and at least three years before the system-of-system concept bears fruit."
LOL haven't seen 'system of system' in a while, where's
Brumby
?
anyway, Opinion: Improve Land-based Electronic Warfare Aircraft Readiness
LOL haven't seen 'system of system' in a while, where's
Brumby
?
anyway, Opinion: Improve Land-based Electronic Warfare Aircraft Readiness
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Frankly 3 out of 4 services need to invest in EW capacities. The USAF has let theres slide, and has had to borrow USN assets, the USMC has maintained theirs but it's aging and there seems limited interest in Investment of farther EW abilities into F35B right now. And the Army really needs to look into ground based as does the Marines.
Jura The idiot
General
... there have been differences though:
"The Navy has now retired its EA-6Bs and is transitioning both its carrier-based and expeditionary squadrons to the EA-18G Growler, a hybrid variant of the F/A-18 Super Hornet. Standup of the Navy’s expeditionary squadrons is not complete, with about 40 new production EA-18Gs yet to be delivered. The expeditionary and carrier-based squadrons are all to be homeported at NAS Whidbey Island, WA.
In a departure from the Navy’s aircraft modernization strategy, the Marine Corps some years ago chose to pass on the Super Hornet and Growler in favor of awaiting development of the F-35B, the V/STOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. Unlike the Navy, the Marines saw the promise of the stealthy fifth-generation F-35B with its integrated EW systems as obviating the need for external support in high-threat environments. That premise resulted in the decision not to replace their aging EA-6Bs with new production EA-18Gs. Instead, their VMAQ squadrons are to be phased out in favor of a system-of-systems concept designed around non-dedicated platforms including UAVs to support the ground combat element. The first of four squadrons has already stood down and the second is scheduled to sunset in June 2017. Overall this plan stands down 50 percent of the joint expeditionary EW force and drops a Marine aviation capability that dates back to the Korean War."
(link available inside https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/us-military-news-reports-data-etc.t1547/page-661#post-432305)
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
The Marines plan on using Prowlers until about 2019. Heck the Marines will keep flying them until the wings fall off and they are held in the air by sheer force of will.
Jura The idiot
General
interestingly
"Beginning in fiscal year 2016, the USMC will gradually retire its fleet of 20 Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft. The service intends to replace them with an operational concept called Marine Air-Ground Task Force Electronic Warfare (MAGTF-EW).
A key component of MAGTF-EW is to offload at least some of the electronic warfare mission to larger, longer-range unmanned air systems, Hardison says. The decision to pursue a programme of record was made during FY2014, according to Headquarters Marine Corps. The service then launched a capabilities assessment of MALE/HALE unmanned aircraft, which is ongoing." according to
14 November 2014
US Marines in market for Reaper-sized UAS
(wiki sent me there
)so am wondering how 'MAGTF-EW' is going two years after
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Well like it says "Gradually Phase out."
Jura The idiot
General
OK OK but I'm interested in the replacement and not in something like as old as me (LOL!), and the USNI News link (from Today at 8:42 AM) left me with an impression it should be F-35Bs, while the FlighGlobal link (from 8 minutes ago) mentioned 'MAGTF-EW' in this context ...
my top-one google-search hit (dated 08 March 2016):
USMC prepares MAGTF EW to replace Prowler
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Likely a Combination, F35B's Radar system on it's own is a powerful Electronic warfare weapon. However some mission types would mean that you would want something else. V22 is a good platform for this as is KC130J or A Drone that is to say a EW platform that can loiter.
Jura The idiot
General
OK I just hope the Marines won't outsmart themselves (or jam themselves)