Grumman EA-6B Prowler

EA-6B Prowler
Grumman EA-6B Prowler in flight
Role	Electronic warfare/Attack aircraft Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Grumman Northrop Grumman
First flight	25 May 1968[1]
Introduction	July 1971
Retired	March 2019, U.S. Marine Corps
Status	Retired[2]
Primary users	United States Navy (historical) United States Marine Corps (historical)
Produced	1966-1991
Number built	170
Developed from	Grumman A-6 Intruder

The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy; it was used during the Vietnam War. Development on the more advanced EA-6B began in 1966. An EA-6B aircrew consisted of one pilot and three Electronic Countermeasures Officers,^[3] though it was not uncommon for only two ECMOs to be used on missions. It was capable of carrying and firing anti-radiation missiles (ARMs), such as the AGM-88 HARM.^[4]

The Prowler was in service with the U.S. Armed Forces from 1971 until 2019. It carried out numerous missions for jamming enemy radar systems, and in gathering radio intelligence on those and other enemy air defense systems. From the 1998 retirement of the United States Air Force EF-111 Raven electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-6B was the only dedicated electronic warfare plane available for missions by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Air Force until the fielding of the Navy's EA-18G Growler in 2009. Following its last deployment in late 2014, the EA-6B was withdrawn from U.S. Navy service in June 2015, followed by the USMC in March 2019.