EA-6B Equipped With ICAP III Readied For Deployment To Fleet

[highsea]

The U.S. Navy could have its first EA-6B Prowler airplane with the Improved Capabilities System III (ICAP III) electronic attack weapon system ready as early as December, according to Tony Manich, principal deputy program manager for the EA-6B Prowler, Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md.

The Navy plans to deploy its upgraded EA-6Bs to the fleet by September 2005.

ICAP III is an electronics receiver suite that jams or overloads hostile communications, disrupting the enemy's efforts to conduct network centric warfare (NCW). It provides advanced "selective-reactive" jamming and geolocation capabilities for the EA-6B Prowler. The Navy and U.S. Marine Corps use the Prowler to protect strike aircraft, ground troops and ships by jamming enemy radar, electronic data links and communications.

Selective-reactive jamming means the system can focus its jamming power on specific radar frequencies. ICAP III's geolocation capabilities allow it to determine the location of an enemy's radar system and then pass that information on to others on the network.

ICAP III will replace ICAP II, which the Navy is currently using, Manich said. Whereas the ICAP II receiver tells you the type of threat, such as a surface-to-air missile (SAM), ICAP III can tell you where the threat is coming from, he said. The new system, unlike its predecessor, can follow several SAM sites continuously, Manich said.

"There are some great capabilities and possibilities with this system. We {have] some emerging threats that we simply have to go after with this system," he said.

The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) conducted a technical evaluation (TECHEVAL) of ICAP III in February. The command then completed an Operational Test Readiness Review of the system in March, which authorized the program to transition to the OPEVAL phase.

In June 2003, the Navy awarded a $91.8 million contract to Northrop Grumman for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of ICAP III. Under the deal, Northrop is designing and producing 10 ICAP III upgrade kits plus spares and installing them in a fleet of EA-6B Prowlers. The Navy anticipates an initial operating capability for the ICAP III EA-6B Prowlers in September 2005.

"The key element of NCW is collaborative targeting and collaborative identification," Sam Abbate, deputy integrated product team leader for Northrop Grumman's electronics warfare programs, told NetDefense. "ICAP III is a key node to NCW because it is going to put vital and timely information on the network."

As the Prowler is phased out by 2015, the ICAP III system will migrate to the F/A-18G, Manich said. The Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) also will be built into ICAP III, he said. MIDS is designed to provide secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant voice and data communications capabilities for U.S. and allied forces. The services plan to install MIDS on the B-2, MH-60, EA-6B, F/A-18 and F-16.

http://www.paxriver.org/news/index.cfm?stage=show&news_id=243

This will improve SEAD and DEAD for our forces. The US learned an expensive lesson in the Balkans, when a low frequency Soviet built radar was able to target one of our F-117's.

Incidentally, rumor has it that the F/A 22 is similarly equipped with frequency hopping jammers, and a high power generator is under development that will actually fry the enemy radar system when it attempts to target the AC. I will post more on that in the Military Aviation forum.

 

[gf0012-aust]

I'm wondering why the Growler wasn't tagged for this? Is it organic or a load up package?

The Prowler must be getting some hours on its airframe - I was under the impression that was one of the reasons for dropping them off for Growler development.

 

[highsea]

Organic, AFAIK. The system will be migrated to the Growler at a later date, as I understand. It was kind of a rush job, as these things go

IIRC, this program started up about 5 years ago, and the Growler wasn't really in the picture at that time. The Prowler still has some life left in it, surprisingly. I worked on the re-wing project some years back.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Organic, AFAIK. The system will be migrated to the Growler at a later date, as I understand. It was kind of a rush job, as these things go

IIRC, this program started up about 5 years ago, and the Growler wasn't really in the picture at that time. The Prowler still has some life left in it, surprisingly. I worked on the re-wing project some years back.

Did you do cold testing on the rewings or just replace them anyway?

 

[highsea]

They were all replaced as part of a general upgrade program.

The platform was 30 years old at the time, and there were several factors involved in the upgrade decision. For one thing there was a lot of corrosion problems, and switching to a composite wing would partially address that issue. Also, since the airframes were getting so old, many of the planes had G-limitations that were preventing them from being used. The rewing also addressed that.

Another issue was the cancellation of the A-12 program. The A-6 line was already shut down, so building new A-6's was not a good option. This left us with a gap in the medium strike all-weather capability, which the F-14 and F-18 were not designed to fill. The A-6 could carry more weapons, and had better all-weather/night capabilities.

Today the Super Hornet has replaced the Intruder, but until the Growler comes online, the Prowlers are still needed. The thought at one time was that stealth would rid us of the need for a dedicated EW platform, but the slow development of stealth (and the F-117 shoot-down) caused us us rethink that philosophy.

Even so, the Prowlers were set to be retired, but the incident in the Balkans showed us that stealth alone was not the answer. Hence the ICAP-3 Prowler upgrade, which is intended to hold us over until the Growler enters service.

 

[gf0012-aust]

The thought at one time was that stealth would rid us of the need for a dedicated EW platform, but the slow development of stealth (and the F-117 shoot-down) caused us us rethink that philosophy.

Even so, the Prowlers were set to be retired, but the incident in the Balkans showed us that stealth alone was not the answer. Hence the ICAP-3 Prowler upgrade, which is intended to hold us over until the Growler enters service.

The stinkbug shootdown was more of a planning and personal doctrinal issue than a platform vulnerability though. Although I agree that stealth was never going to be a viable stand alone solution. It reminds me of the Le May days when MacNamara thought that ICBMs made bombers redundant.

If you look at the performance stats for the stinker since its first disclosure, then it's hours up, weapons delivered to loss ratio is extraordinary. I would question whether any plane can match the numbers.

 

[highsea]

The stinkbug shootdown was more of a planning and personal doctrinal issue than a platform vulnerability though.

That's true. They had flown the same route 4 nights in a row. Not too bright of our planners. There were F-16's with HARM's that could have suppressed the SA-3 battery, but they had been recalled, and the single Prowler that was in the area was too far away to be effective.