Defense News
January 28 February 3, 2002
Pg. 8

Prowler Replacement Cost Could Hit $82 Billion

By Frank Tiboni, Washington

A joint U.S. Navy and Air Force study has identified 27 options, costing $21 billion to $82 billion, to replace the EA-6B Prowler, the U.S. military s aging tactical electronic-jamming aircraft, according to a report obtained by Defense News.

Costs and solutions vary greatly, from buying a fleet of business jets, with a total ownership cost of $26 billion, to fielding a combination of jammer-equipped F/A-18s, B-52s and F-22s, $82 billion price tag, the report said.

Other options included restarting old Prowler and A-6 Intruder assembly lines, or fielding a combination of Joint Strike Fighters and 737s, according to an unclassified summary of the report, entitled "Airborne Electronic Attack Analysis of Alternatives (AEA-AOA)."

The Dec. 15 report concluded there will be no significant breakthroughs in electronic warfare before the Navy begins replacing the 122-airplane Prowler fleet in 2010, the summary said.

"The study team did not discover an individual or mix of transformational technologies, systems, or military concepts of operations that would warrant the elimination of a complete and comprehensive airborne electronic attack capability from the U.S. air superiority arsenal," the report said.

The Navy will start funding the electronic attack program in 2004, spending $1 billion during the next five years, according to the Navy s 2002 Program Objective Memorandum.

The Navy s aviation directorate is expected to estimate cost, schedule and risk for three carrier-capable options by the end of January, a Navy official told Defense News Jan. 24.

The report also will be used as a road map for the newly formed Airborne Electronic Attack Joint Requirements Coordination Oversight Group, according to a Jan. 15 Navy document obtained by Defense News. Co-chaired by Navy and Air Force officials, the group will define joint electronic attack requirements to prevent duplication, the document said.

The group is expected to brief Edward "Pete" Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, on its results in June, the document said.

"Consideration of the need to improve an aging capability is under consideration," a Pentagon spokeswoman told Defense News Jan. 25.

Navy Capt. Ken Krech, who directed the report s writers, declined comment on the report.

Electronic warfare supporters on Capitol Hill and industry want the Navy and the Air Force to act on the report.

In Pentagon s Court

"The study is very thorough. Now it s up to the services and senior Pentagon leadership to push it through. We don t want the ideas thrown out," a congressional aide told Defense News Jan. 24.

Members of the study team briefed Congress on Jan. 15, the congressional aide said.

Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., co-chairman of the Electronic Warfare Working Group on Capitol Hill, declined comment on the report because he has not been briefed on its findings, said Pitts aide, Ken Miller.

A former electronic warfare officer in Vietnam, Pitts has said in previous Defense News interviews that he wanted the U.S. military to consider the business jet option along with a F/A-18G Super Hornet variant dubbed the Growler.

The head of the Association of Old Crows, the Alexandria, Va., non-profit organization that promotes the importance of electronic warfare and information operations in the U.S. military, said the study provides a solid foundation to begin rebuilding the U.S. military s electronic-jamming capability.

"Hopefully, there will be a re-evaluation of the mission area and affordable solutions for each service to develop a capability that meets their requirements," Vern Luke, executive director, Association of Old Crows, told Defense News Jan. 24.

Believing that stealth aircraft were undetectable by enemy radar, the U.S. military let its electronic warfare capability slip after Desert Storm. By 1996, the Air Force had retired the EF-111A Raven and F-4 Wild Weasel, two-thirds of its electronic-jamming aircraft.

But when Serbia shot down an Air Force F-117 in March 1999, support rose in the Pentagon for a return to conventional electronic jamming.

Luke and other Old Crow members received a classified briefing from the study team on Jan. 17. The director said he disagreed with one aspect of the report: that no significant leaps in electronic warfare technology are expected in the next 10 years.

He said computer network attack, or the use of computer viruses and techniques to disrupt enemy electronic systems, is a promising information technology that could aid conventional electronic jamming.

Prowler Overwhelms Signals

Built by Northrop Grumman Corp., Los Angeles, and fielded in 1971, the Prowler carries radio and radar-jamming equipment that overpowers enemy communications systems with electromagnetic energy.

The four-person aircraft also carries the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, built by Raytheon Co. s Electronic Systems, Tucson, Ariz., an air-to-ground missile that carries a sensor in its nosecone that homes in on radiation emitted from ground radar and surface-to-air missile systems.

The Prowler is undergoing significant improvements to its avionics, data links and jammers, which should be completed by 2005.

Gail Kaufman contributed to this report.