Tag Archives: EA-18G Growler

Garuda Growlers Go German…and points East

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A Navy EA-18G Growler assigned to the “Garudas” Electronic Attack Squadron, VAQ 134, at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, flies over the flightline at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 4, 2021. Six such aircraft are expected to arrive at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, March 28, 2022 to support deterrence operations there. VIRIN: 210504-F-DU873-1049C

Six U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler aircraft of VAQ-134 (The Garudas) out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island recently appeared at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, ready to ply their EW/SEAD trade if needed– which hopefully they won’t be.

As noted by the Navy, the Growler “integrates the latest electronic attack technology, including the ALQ-218 receiver, ALQ-99 tactical jamming pods, ALQ-227 Communication Countermeasures Set and Joint Tactical Terminal — Receiver satellite communications.

“About 240 Navy personnel, including maintainers and pilots, will accompany the aircraft to Germany. Those aircraft will remain based in Germany and are expected to fly missions in support of eastern flank deterrence and defense.”

VAQ-134 was originally commissioned on 7 June 1969 at NAS Alameda, flying the huge EA-3B Whale, then later transitioned to the EA-6B Prowler.

“Based on an old Hindu myth, the Garuda is the bird that took Wisnu, the God of War, wherever necessary in his quest to protect God’s creation from those evil forces that sought to upset and destroy it.”

The Garudas are termed an “expeditionary” electronic attack squadron that “deploys worldwide to support U.S. Air Force expeditionary wings, allied/coalition task forces, Marine aircraft groups, and U.S. Navy strike groups.”

This came about after the Air Force put their F-4G Wild Weasels and EF-111 Electric Ravens out to pasture in 1996, falling back on Navy and Marine Prowlers and/or tossing the occasional ALQ pod and HARM missile on F-16CJ/DJs (a concept which, as it turns out, didn’t work even against marginal adversaries without hiccups), as the Pentagon thought at the time advanced EW would be rarely needed short of suppressing Saddam’s battered post-Gulf War air defense net or some sort of strike against the Norks. Fast forward 25 years and it is a much different story.

Ike Zapper

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Official caption: “ARABIAN SEA (April 13, 2021) An E/A-18G Growler attached to the “Zappers” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130 prepares to land on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Arabian Sea, April 13, 2021. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.”

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Trent P. Hawkins)

The aircraft, BuNo 168251 AC–501, carries memorials under the starboard side of the canopy to QM2(SEAL) James Suh, killed 28 June 2005, and CTICS(IWEXW) Shannon Kent, killed 16 January 2019, both Navy servicemembers recently lost in combat. Kent, notably, is the only female cryptologist to be killed in action in the history of naval cryptology.

The Zappers date back to 1959, when they flew AD-5Q AEW versions of the A-1 Skyraider as VAW-13, later EA-1Fs, with which they started a regular presence off Vietnam on USS Midway (CVA-41) in March 1965.

This would continue, as the squadron changed to VAQ-130 and switched to flying EKA-3B “Electric Whales” through June 1974, when their detachments completed their 32nd Yankee Station deployment, having been a feature on the decks of at least 13 different carriers during those nine years.

A U.S. Navy Douglas EKA-3B Skywarrior (BuNo 147663) from Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAW-13 Det.66 Zappers at Naval Air Station Alameda, California (USA). The aircraft was attached to Attack Carrier Wing 6 (CVW-6) aboard the aircraft carrier USS America (CVA-66) for a deployment to Vietnam from 10 April to 16 December 1968.  U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.253.3749

In 1975, they ditched the Whale for the smaller and more effective EA-6B Prowler, an aircraft they would fly throughout the rest of the Cold War and a series of deployments to Southwest Asia, only switching to the Growler variant of the Rhino in 2011. They are currently attached to Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet, out of Whidbey Island, and serve under the tactical command of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3.

Fuji Growler

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Vader 505, an EA-18G Growler from the “Star Warriors” of U.S. Naval Air Forces Navy Reserve Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 209, flies past Mt. Fuji during a training event in Japan.

VAQ-209 is the U.S. military’s only Reserve electronic attack squadron and is currently forward deployed to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. (Photo credit: CDR Pete Scheu, VAQ-209 Public Affairs)

Fuji has been a popular backdrop for the Navy and Marine Corps for more than 75 years. 

Speaking of spectacular, the Star Warriors also recently posted this photo of one of their Growlers accelerating in afterburner during a training mission over Japan. Little wonder their callsign is “Vader.”

(Photo Credit: LCDR S. Mankins, VAQ-209)