The EA-18G Growler airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft is changing the game for joint and carrier air-wing employment. The Growler’s version of the ALQ-218 electronic-warfare surveillance system—which provides exceptionally enhanced geo-location capability compared to the legacy EA-6B—can be used for finding and fixing naval assets and relocatable surface-to-air missiles, both of which figure prominently in current and future operational scenarios. The APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar on the Growler is the most modern fielded airborne intercept and multipurpose radar in the Fleet and provides some of the best situational awareness airborne. Outfitted with the Link-16 data-exchange network to provide information to and from other aircraft, the Growler enhances the ability of the joint force to execute effectively.
Combining AESA with AIM-120 air-to-air missiles allows the EA-18G to maneuver closer to the threat location than the EA-6B would, increasing its AEA capability’s effectiveness. The Growler not only can locate and identify mobile threats and provide a fallback line of air defense, its on-board system can decrease the danger to other aircraft from a variety of air and surface threats. The EA-18G is now over halfway through Fleet transition and is beginning to have an impact on carrier air wing tactics while land-based expeditionary Growlers provide capacity beyond carrier strike-group platforms to ensure that AEA gives the entire joint force an optimum level of lethality, survivability, efficiency, and effectiveness.
In 2012, the Navy sent VAQ-132 on the first expeditionary Growler deployment to the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility. Participating in exercises in five countries and with seven different foreign military services, VAQ-132’s Growlers expanded the theater’s understanding of the AEA mission. In this case, a single Navy EA-18G squadron took the military’s newest operational tactical aircraft forward in support of Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet’s theater security-engagement policy. VAQ-132’s five Growlers succeeded in not only providing direct tactical liaison with U.S. and foreign forces, but also in solidifying the need for land-based AEA for commanders, planners, and operators throughout the joint force and with coalition partners. As the mission was to support strategic engagement through tactical exchange, the deployment was an unqualified success.
The Growler is well suited to current operations, and with Air-Sea Battle urging enhanced cooperation between Navy and Air Force units in anti-access scenarios, the expeditionary Growler deployment model in particular is well matched to supporting strategic and tactical engagement in future conflicts by, as Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said in these pages, “using the electromagnetic spectrum to attack an adversary’s entire killchain.”1 Therefore, a need continues for Growler forward presence to assure commanders that this asset will be fully integrated on day one of major combat operations. A significant source of that presence should be expeditionary, providing capabilities that make the whole force more effective.
How We Got Here
Expeditionary Growlers are the latest iteration of a history of the AEA community using its capabilities to support the full range of joint forces, not just other aircraft in a U.S. Navy carrier air wing. In addition to integrating in air wings, early Prowler squadrons provided adversary training for Navy units prior to deployment. Soon after the retirement of the Air Force’s EF-111, when the Prowler became the military’s only airborne tactical- jamming platform, Prowler squadrons were formed to support deploying Air Force expeditionary wings. The expeditionary Prowler aircrew went through the same fleet-replacement squadron training—including carrier qualifications—and the squadrons were required to meet Navy readiness metrics, but they operated from land and deployed to roughly the same locations as AEWs. Once the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq kicked off, the expeditionary squadrons continued to deploy independently and began to support more ground forces, especially once the radar-guided surface-to-air threat was eliminated in each country. Throughout this period of increased demand, Navy and Marine Corps Prowlers continued to provide the Pacific Command with presence when force levels allowed, but the Iraq and Afghanistan requirement demands strained the crews and aircraft, resulting in gapped availability in the Pacific.
The expeditionary model was scheduled to retire with the Prowler as the community transitioned to the EA-18G. All Growlers were going to be carrier-based, a decision made based on the Air Force’s commitment to a system-of-systems concept of expeditionary aircraft involving B-52 bombers, unmanned aerial vehicles, ground-based systems, and more. However, the Air Force plan failed to materialize, while simultaneously, AEA became “go/no-go” criteria for Army and Marine Corps forces operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Already a high-demand/low-density asset, AEA became a strategic resource controlled and tasked at higher levels of command. The result was a push to keep the expeditionary squadrons operational as the Prowler transitioned to Growler. Because the demand for AEA in the combat zones had not subsided, 26 Growlers were added to the program of record in 2009 to maintain the expeditionary role, and three of the first four transitioned Growler squadrons were shifted ashore.2 Now, as the Navy’s AEA community reaches the halfway point of the transition from Prowler to Growler, the sixth deployment of Growlers is under way; four of those are expeditionary.
Expeditionary Advantages
In carrier-based naval aviation we are so accustomed to training and operating as a carrier air wing that the concept of tactical air support from land seems unnecessary. Air wings start work ups as individual squadrons, but begin to operate collectively early in the training cycle, with an entire work up event at Naval Air Station Fallon dedicated solely to operating as a wing without the rest of the strike group involved. What advantage could a land-based platform provide to the carrier strike group beyond what the embarked air wing can already provide? Expeditionary AEA provides four primary benefits to expand the reach and effectiveness of Navy tactical air and the joint force: capacity, flexibility, persistence, and freedom of maneuver.
Capacity. Most obviously, expeditionary squadrons provide numbers. With the same training and readiness matrix, inclusion of either an expeditionary or carrier-based Growler should appear transparent from an Air Tasking Order (ATO) standpoint. By adding expeditionary squadrons ashore, a theater commander has added capacity to a capability in high demand without straining an already crowded aircraft carrier.
Flexibility. This is certainly an advantage of expeditionary AEA. Having a foundation of carrier training allows a squadron to move aboard with a difficult but not unachievable push. Since the aircrews are trained similarly with a foundation of carrier experience, moving aboard remains an option. More significant, commanders can also maneuver expeditionary AEA units around theater in a short time with a scalable logistics footprint. This translates into support from multiple directions for multiple lines of approach. In times of crisis, a squadron of Growlers and attendant support from the U.S. West Coast can be moved to bases in the Pacific within 36 hours, as opposed to a multi-day transit for a carrier and air wing. In fact, in 2011 during the first Growler deployment, VAQ-132 launched its first missions over Libya within 18 hours of getting word to relocate from Iraq. Meanwhile, being ashore provides the ability for an air or maritime component to execute from multiple axes simultaneously without degrading capabilities from either direction.
Persistence. This is another advantage of expeditionary Growler. The aircraft is not tied to a carrier’s deck cycles, and in recent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, the ability to launch and be on-station almost instantly (as opposed to hours of transit and refuel when launching from a carrier) provides a valuable rapid-response capability. Relatively limited with only a single deck crew, carrier-based aircraft often end up having to transit back before the mission is complete. Being free from the deck’s schedule also means that an expeditionary Growler squadron can operate off-cycle, covering missions while the carrier resets. Providing battlespace-wide persistence and responsiveness to support the joint force makes expeditionary AEA flexible for commanders in theater.
Freedom of maneuver. Unexpectedly, the main advantage of expeditionary AEA is that it provides the aircraft carrier and carrier strike group freedom of maneuver. At times in the past five years, strike groups were tied to locations for the primary purpose of providing AEA to forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were other engagement and presence missions to be accomplished by the air wing elsewhere in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, or Horn of Africa, but often the only aircraft tasked by higher authority were the Prowler or Growler. The expeditionary Growler meets theater AEA requirements and enables the strike group to maneuver to other locations that may be more tactically or strategically advantageous. Not having to remain within a specific range of the operations area for a possible alert, Growlers allow a carrier to transit for other missions, resupply, or security. Expeditionary AEA provides force wholeness for the carrier strike group and air wing that often suffers when non-kinetic electronic-attack effects are required. These are but a few of the advantages inherent in land-based Growler operations.
The ‘New’ Deployment Model
For the past decade, the standard for an air wing or expeditionary AEA has been to leave home station, transit to the Middle East, and fly ATO missions. While the first Growler expeditionary Pacific deployment didn’t fit the model, it didn’t reinvent the wheel, either; Navy and Marine Prowlers have filled Pacific Command force requests periodically over the past 12 years, and Japan was a regular deployment location for expeditionary Prowlers prior to 9/11 as they cycled between Operations Northern and Southern Watch and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. However, to get a sense of what the first expeditionary Growler deployment to Japan entailed, the maritime-patrol community provides a good model.
In almost every way, the 2012–13 expeditionary AEA Pacific Command deployment resembled many of the P-3 deployments of the past couple of decades. A squadron main body deploys to a forward location—in this case, like so many P-3 deployments, Misawa, Japan. From the hub, the squadron conducted scaled detachments to participate in exercises throughout theater. The first exercise and smallest scheduled was Cooperation Afloat Readiness And Training (CARAT) Singapore, one of a series of exercises familiar to Navy P-3 and surface units that have operated in the Pacific. Growler participation in CARAT Singapore was three flyers providing unclassified introductory briefings and planning support. While security concerns for the Growler couldn’t be overcome in time for the aircraft to participate, CARAT Singapore presented a model of execution for the deployment: identify an exercise, coordinate the role of Growlers (however large or small), and integrate AEA into the exercise objectives.
As the deployment progressed, VAQ-132 was able to integrate expeditionary AEA into exercises critical to joint readiness in the Pacific, including Valiant Shield, exercising naval and air access to contested battlespace, and Maritime Counter Special Operations Forces, designed to rehearse air and naval utilization in defense of the Republic of Korea. In addition, the deployment included engagement at the tactical level in support of strategic objectives, most notably with Exercise Growler ’12, wherein VAQ-132 operated out of Australia with Royal Australian Air Force units just weeks after that country announced its intention to purchase and operate EA-18Gs.3 Along with Japan-wide exercises of joint U.S. and Japanese Self Defense forces, numerous local exercises with the Air Force and deployed Navy P-3s, along with capabilities briefs to commanders and planners throughout the Pacific Command, the inaugural expeditionary EA-18G deployment there proved successful at laying the foundation for future integration in exercises and operations.
This demonstrated the key advantages of expeditionary AEA as outlined previously. The normal AEA presence in Pacific Command is a single EA-18G squadron attached to Commander, Task Force 70 (CTF-70) on board the USS George Washington (CVN-73). This presence is bolstered periodically by carrier strike groups that transit the 7th Fleet area of responsibility and periodic but not regular Prowler deployments. During VAQ-132’s deployment, the normal presence was doubled, providing additional capacity to the 7th Fleet.
On numerous Valiant Shield events, the tasking called for Growler support of Navy-centric missions from the George Washington, and expeditionary Growlers demonstrated flexibility by joining with carrier-based Growlers at the appointed time, altitude, and frequency to seamlessly execute the mission. During other events, Growlers conducted joint integration by providing direct liaison and synchronization with U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps units from Andersen Air Force Base as part of Valiant Shield, maintaining persistence with these exercise units while the air wing on the George Washington supported important strike group training requirements. As for freedom of maneuver, there was no better proof of this than Exercise Keen Sword, with CTF-70 operating with joint and Japanese units off Okinawa in far southern Japan, and VAQ-132 providing AEA for U.S. Air Force and Japanese Air Self Defense Force units out of Misawa in the far northern part of the country. Expeditionary AEA allowed the exercise commander to provide AEA in two geographically separate target areas, maintain carrier air wing and strike group integrity, and provide uninterrupted support of joint forces.
A push is under way to expand expeditionary Growlers by commissioning more squadrons and creating a more operational command structure at the type wing level.4 Commanders from unit to Fleet level should welcome this—from the individual squadron, ship, or infantry company, to the joint task force. Because these are high-Demand/low-density assets, the requests for AEA are not subsiding, and when conflict erupts, the requests swell. Expeditionary Growlers have proved worthy of the investment in supporting these requests. It is essential that integration of the operational and command-and-control structure of what is becoming, with the addition of Australian Growlers, a combined capability continue in order to ensure Growlers are properly employed on day one of a conflict.
1. ADM Jonathan W. Greenert, USN, “Imminent Domain,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, December 2012, www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2012-12/imminent-domain.
2. Joint Statement of VADM Mark Skinner, USN; LGEN Terry G. Robling, USMC; RADM Kenneth E. Floyd, USN, to Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, 2 November 2011, http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=62d62c23-b723-40c3-ad33-dcd768f00fba.
3. “Australia buys 12 EA-18G Growlers,” Defensetech.org, http://defensetech.org/2012/08/24/australia-buys-12-ea-18g-growlers/.
4. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Report of the Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives on H.R. 4310, 32, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-112hrpt479/pdf/CRPT-112hrpt479.pdf.