As the sun sets on USS George H.W. Bush’s (CVN 77) current deployment, it also sets on the illustrious career of the EA-6B Prowler with the US Navy.
The jet is retiring after 42 years of service, and this deployment aboard the Bush is its last. The Prowler will be replaced by the EA-18G Growler, a variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet.
Cmdr. Christopher “TJ” Jason, commanding officer of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 134, who has flown in the Prowler as an electronic countermeasures officer since 2000, said:
We’re actually flying the Prowler longer than the Navy intended.
The EA-6B Prowler has been the Navy’s main aerial platform for electronic warfare since 1972, first seeing service in Vietnam, until October when the jet supported missions over Iraq and Syria while deployed with the Bush.
Prowler pilots are more dependent on their own strength and situational awareness than in modern airframes because they don’t have electronically assisted controls or air-to-air radar.
Press release, Image: US Navy