During Operation Allied Force, no strike aircraft, including the stealthy F-117s and B-2s, flew without Navy and Marine EA-6B Prowler cover—once again validating the requirement for airborne tactical electronic warfare (EW) in support of offensive air operations. With the only such aircraft in service today, the Prowler fleet continually deploys in support of joint operations and exercises around the world. Unfortunately, these deployments divert Marine EA-6Bs from serving their primary purpose: the support of Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs). The Marine Corps should regain operational control of its EA-6Bs and return them to the business of supporting Marines.
Purple Prowlers
In 1998, the U.S. Air Force retired the last of its aging fleet of EF-111A EW aircraft and began to rely upon Department of the Navy EA-6Bs for tactical EW support. The Navy reacted by establishing four land-based expeditionary squadrons with the primary mission of supporting the electronic warfare requirements of the Air Force and the commanders-in-chief (CinCs) of the nine unified commands. Commonly referred to as "purple squadrons," these units include limited numbers of Air Force air crews and maintainers to ease Navy manpower requirements. The purple squadrons needed time to become fully operational, and Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) Prowlers and crews helped out by covering a small number of joint operation deployments. Unfortunately, this temporary solution has evolved into a standing requirement for Marine Prowler squadrons.
In November 1994, the Marines of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron Four (VMAQ-4) deployed to Sigonella, Italy, in support of Operation Deny Flight over Bosnia-Herzogovina. Within 72 hours of the deployment order, the crews were in combat firing High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) and jamming enemy radar while supporting a NATO strike on suspected surface-to-air-missile (SAM) sites. The Marines remained on station for 65 days until the USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) entered the Adriatic and Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 130 (VAQ-130) Prowlers took over the tactical EW mission.
VMAQ-4's rapid response demonstrated Marine aviation's expeditionary nature to the CinCs, but it also started yet another cycle of deployments that has eroded the MAGTF concept.
The primary role of the Marine Corps is "to provide Fleet Marine Forces of combined arms, including integrated aviation and logistical components, for service as part of a naval expeditionary force." The MAGTF uses a task-organized, integrated, combined-arms approach to accomplish its mission. Every MAGTF includes ground, air, command, and combat service support elements, and it is these four elements operating together as one warfighting unit under one commander that make a MAGTF capable of rapid-response expeditionary operations. No single element is more important than the others; they all serve a purpose and they all serve one commander.
Alfred A. Cunningham, Marine aviator number one, said, "The only excuse for aviation in any service is its usefulness in assisting troops on the ground to successfully carry out their operations." Today's doctrine states "Air support to the MAGTF commander remains the Marine Corps' primary aviation concern." Thus the purpose of Marine Corps aviation, established early in its history, remains unchanged to this day.
Its expeditionary nature further distinguishes Marine Corps aviation. Only a MAGTF has the internal capability to construct and operate expeditionary airfields under the harshest battlefield conditions. The Air Force requires a permanent hard-surfaced runway in a host country, and the Navy requires an aircraft carrier in the vicinity of the operational area. While the carrier air wing provides incredible firepower when on the scene, it does not provide a MAGTF commander with the internal aviation support required by the ground combat element.
Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare
Electronic warfare is one of the specified missions of Marine Corps aviation, and today's inventory of Marine aircraft contains only one platform that can fulfill all of the EW functions—the EA-6B Prowler. Exploiting the ALQ-99 receiver and tactical jamming system, the USQ113 communications jamming system, and the AGM-88 HARM, the Prowler can detect, degrade, and destroy enemy radar and communication systems. As the number and complexity of battlefield radar and communication systems increases, the importance of EW in support of MAGTFs also increases.
The battlefields of today and tomorrow are filled with radar and communications systems. Counter-battery radars, digital data links, and radar-guided surface-to-air missiles are only a few of the systems that will confront a MAGTF commander. The close air support (CAS) required by the Marines on the ground will be unavailable in an area populated by mobile and fixed-site SAMs. An offensive antiair warfare campaign to roll back the enemy's air defense network will be required in order for CAS aircraft to operate effectively. Only Prowlers will be able to provide the support required for attack aircraft to operate without sustaining heavy losses.
The Marine Corps maintains four Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadrons (VMAQs), all based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Each squadron has five aircraft, but many recently have been scheduled for induction into Standard Depot Level Maintenance (SDLM) and others are being refitted with new centerwing sections. As a result, the actual number of aircraft available per squadron has varied; some squadrons have been reduced to operating with only one aircraft.
To alleviate these shortages, squadrons returning from deployment have transferred aircraft to the squadrons preparing to deploy. While this can work for planned deployments, it falls short when squadrons must deploy for contingencies.
Since Operation Deny Flight in 1994, the Marine Corps has been called on often to deploy EA-6Bs:
· Incirlik, Turkey, (twice) in support of Operation Northern Watch
· Aviano, Italy, (six times) in support of operations over Bosnia-Herzogovina
· Iwakuni, Japan, (twice)
· Aviano (yet again) for Operation Allied Force
Marine EA-6Bs frequently support joint operations and exercises, but rarely support Marine operations or training.
The expeditionary nature of Marine Prowler squadrons cannot be overstated. They are the only airborne tactical EW units capable of operating in a true expeditionary manner. While it is true that Navy "purple squadrons" can easily land and takeoff from the same prepared fields as the Marines, only the Marine squadrons are equipped and trained for expeditionary airfield operations.
Such specialized equipment includes van-based intermediate level maintenance support and a fly-in support package required to keep the aircraft flying for extended periods. Additionally, the Marines bring to the conflict an organic intelligence-gathering capability in their Tactical Electronic Reconnaissance Processing and Evaluation System (TERPES), which collects and processes signals intelligence data received from the EA-6B and other external sources. These data are vital for the MAGTF commander in today's age of information warfare. All in all, it is the expeditionary capabilities that set Marine squadrons apart from Navy expeditionary squadrons.
Current Operations
An annual planning conference now schedules EA-6B units to fulfill the CinCs' requirements. Today, EA-6Bs must support three forward-deployed sites at all times. Contingency support comes in addition to these requirements, which leaves the Navy and Marine Corps stretched thin and sometimes unable to cover the requirements. As a result, planners have been forced to consider Marine and Navy expeditionary squadrons identical for scheduling. MAGTF integrity and Marine aviation supporting Marines on the ground is no longer the focus. Whenever possible, schedulers try to send Marine EA-6Bs to support the forward-deployed Marine forces in the Western Pacific. Navy squadrons, however, recently have deployed as often as Marine squadrons to Iwakuni. At times, the theater has gone without EW support.
North Korea is seeking the capabilities required to establish itself as a formidable military power. Modern weaponry combined with vast amounts of old equipment and a large standing army indicate that the threat from North Korea is growing, not subsiding. If the Marines are called to fight in Korea, support from a full aviation combat element—including EA-6Bs—will be required on day one to slow and stop North Korean forces streaming southward. Under the current deployment schedules, however, the Marine Expeditionary Force commander may be forced to request EA-613 support via the Commander-in-Chief Pacific. Delays in positioning EA-6Bs could leave the commander unable to conduct an effective offensive air war, because all fighter and attack aircraft will be vulnerable to the extensive North Korean radar-guided surface-to-air missile threat.
This scenario has application throughout the world. Recent operations in Eastern Europe, continuing no-fly zones in Iraq, tensions between China and Taiwan, and evacuations of American personnel in Africa have all resulted in U. S. military assistance. Since the CinCs have operational control of the Marine EA-613 units, the Marine Corps is required to gain approval from the National Command Authority to use its own squadrons.
Proposed Deployment Plan
First, the Marine Corps must keep its current structure of four VMAQ squadrons with five aircraft each. Marine EA-6B support of the forward-deployed MEF in Iwakuni, Japan, on a traditional six-month basis will be the backbone of the proposed deployment schedule. It is imperative that units in WestPac tasked with deterring the North Korean threat train together on a daily basis—and the Prowlers must train with the aircraft and ground troops they will be supporting in the event of a conflict.
A second squadron, scheduled to deploy to Japan, will be in an active six-month work-up period participating in combined arms exercises, Green/Red Flag exercises, Scorpion Wind, Hornet's Nest, and also will support weapons and tactics instructor (WTI) courses at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. The emphasis during this workup cycle will be on supporting and operating with Marines whenever possible. A particular emphasis will be placed on integrating with the aviation and ground units located on the West Coast who presently have little interaction with EA-6Bs. This will be the squadron's opportunity to sharpen its warfighting skills while educating the rest of the MAGTF about the EA-6B's capabilities.
While supporting the MAGTF commanders is the most important task of the Marine Prowler squadrons, the needs of the worldwide CinCs cannot be ignored. To fulfill this requirement, a third squadron will maintain a 96-hour stand-by status for contingencies. The stand-by squadron will be free to conduct training with other aviation units on the Mid-Atlantic Electronic Warfare Range, located at Cherry Point, and with the Second Marine Division nearby at Camp LeJeune.
The fourth squadron will be in a six-month recovery period after returning from WestPac. This period will allow time to take some well-earned leave, complete required Marine Corps training (rifle range, pistol range, etc.), and transfer aircraft. Flying will be kept to the minimum required to keep the aircrew current and proficient.
The rotation cycle looks like this:
· Contingency alert at Cherry Point (six months)
· WestPac work-up at Cherry Point (six months)
· Iwakuni deployment (six months)
· Recovery period at Cherry Point (six months)
This schedule puts Marine Corps requirements first, but at the same time fulfills the contingency requirements of the CinCs. It does require the Navy to fulfill the fulltime requirements of a Prowler squadron at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, and a Prowler squadron at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Recent approval to establish a fifth expeditionary squadron should help ease the Navy deployment cycles.
Making the proposed deployment plan work will require a strong commitment in several areas. The Marine Corps must man the VMAQs at or near their table of organization levels. A strength of five aircraft per squadron must be maintained in at least three of the four squadrons. Additional funding in support of training operations will need to be set aside. Marine general officers must ensure that the CinCs view Marine EA-6Bs primarily as an integral part of the MAGTF—and the CinCs will have to consider the Marine EA-6Bs contingency weapons to be requested only when necessary. Finally, the Navy must be ready to deploy its purple squadrons as a complete warfighting unit whenever called.
We must change the way we look at Prowlers. Navy expeditionary EA-6Bs, high-demand, low-density platforms, should be used in much the same way as F-117s and B-2s—send them to the fight, use them, and then send them home to prepare for the next fight. Keeping a squadron in theater in case they are needed is a luxury we can no longer afford.
The Future of Tactical Electronic Warfare
Operation Allied Force was a watershed event for tactical Electronic Warfare. While EW certainly played an important role in Operation Desert Storm, not until the Kosovo campaign did EW take center stage. For probably the first time in history, wartime operations were planned in which the loss of an aircraft was deemed unacceptable. To meet this requirement, the EA-6Bs provided electronic attack and suppression in direct support of strike forces, which increased their effectiveness. Prowlers generally have been employed in general support, although both the Prowler and attack communities prefer direct support. Unfortunately, the present inventory of EA-6Bs is insufficient to provide direct support to large numbers of strike forces.
The development low-observable technology led many to believe that the requirement for standoff jamming would cease to exist. In theory, F-117s, B-2s, F-22s, and Joint Strike Fighters would evade enemy radar and deliver their smart weapons precisely on target without EA-6B support. Time has told a different story. Major General Dennis G. Haines, director of combat operations for the U. S. Air Force Air Combat Command, speaking at the Air Power Projection Conference in June of 1999 said, "Stealth reduces the signature of an aircraft but does not make it invisible. We have really neglected electronic warfare."5 During Operation Allied Force, EA-6Bs were integrated into the missions flown by the F-117s and B-2s.
The future of airborne tactical electronic warfare is unclear. While the air war in Kosovo made the need apparent, the services lack a plan. Improved Capability 1111 (ICAP III) EA-6Bs are scheduled to begin joining the fleet in 2004. Full replacement of the current ICAP II fleet is scheduled to be completed by 2009 and the ICAP III Prowlers will continue to fly until 2015. Several issues including fatigue life of the center and outer wing sections, fuselage fatigue, parts availability, and the small number of airframes left in the inventory make it likely that some replacement will emerge by then. Current proposals include:
· An EW variant of the F/A-18F SuperHornet dubbed the F/A-18G
· An EW variant of the Joint Strike Fighter using its active electronically scanned aperture (AESA) radar in conjunction with jamming pods
· An EW package capable of being employed on the V-22 Osprey
· Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of carrying an EW payload
An analysis of alternatives study is under way.
The Goal
The Marine Corps has lost operational control of its EA-6B Prowler squadrons to the worldwide unified commanders-in-chief, who consider the Prowlers a national asset. The Marine Corps itself, however, is a national asset that must not lose sight of its purpose. To fight as an integrated force, Marines must train as an integrated force. Marine Corps EA-6Bs must return to their roots as electronic warfare support for the MAGTF commander.
Major Hofer, an EA-6B electronic countermeasures officer, is the Developmental Test Project Officer for the EA-6B at the Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. He flew with VMAQ-4 supporting operations over Bosnia-Herzogovina.