Copyright 2002 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc. St.
Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
December 19, 2002 Thursday Five Star Lift
Edition
SECTION: BUSINESS ; Pg. C10
LENGTH: 602 words
HEADLINE:
BOEING AWAITS NAVY'S DECISION ON RADAR-JAMMING SUPER HORNET; $7
BILLION PROGRAM WOULD REPLACE AGING FLEET OF VIETNAM-ERA AIRCRAFT
BYLINE: Cynthia Wilson Of The Post-Dispatch
BODY: It has been more than nine years
since the Navy called, asking if radar-jamming pods could be put on the
two-seater version of the Super Hornet.
Paul Summers,
program manager for Boeing's EA-18G aircraft, anxiously is awaiting a decision
now that the Navy finally will use the airplane he has been working on since
McDonnell Douglas got that call in November 1993. Boeing later bought McDonnell
Douglas.
The Navy's EA-6B Prowlers,
a four-seater Vietnam-era aircraft made by Northrop Grumman, are nearing the end
of their service life, and the Navy needs a replacement to neutralize enemy
air-defense systems in the early days of a battle.
If
the Navy picks the Super Hornet variant, dubbed the Growler, and if Congress
funds the potentially $7 billion program early next year, Boeing will begin
design and development work by the end of 2003, Summers said. The company would
deliver the first of 90 production aircraft in 2007.
"We believe the Navy is strongly behind the Growler as (its) choice,"
Summers said.
Defense experts agree.
Of the 122 Prowlers still in existence, more than 50 are out of
commission, mostly because of age. It is the only radar-suppressing aircraft in
service for the U.S. military, and the Defense Department is concerned that it
doesn't have enough of the aircraft to do everything the military would like
during a conflict.
The situation has forced the
department to move quickly to find a replacement, said Paul Nisbet, a defense
analyst for JSA Research Inc. in Newport, R.I.
Summers
said the Navy had considered Lockheed Martin's F-14 Tomcat, or a version of the
Joint Strike Fighter - a next-generation fighter jet that will be used by the
Navy, Air Force and Marines.
The Tomcat was ruled out
because the aircraft was getting old and is scheduled for removal from
inventory. The Joint Strike Fighter, meanwhile, isn't expected to go into
service until 2010.
Nisbet said modifying a
top-of-the-line Super Hornet to suppress enemy radar is the best option because
it gives the Navy flexibility to perform a variety of missions.
Equipped with three BAE Systems-engineered jamming pods and Northrop
Grumman sensors, the Growler can locate and suppress enemy radar up to 150 miles
away and destroy it if necessary, Summers said. The Growler also can perform
fighter and tanker duties.
By adding the Growler to its
inventory alongside the regular Super Hornet, the Navy can replace five aircraft
on an aircraft carrier deck with two, Summers said. He estimates that the Navy
would save $1 billion an nually in training, maintenance and fleet operations
costs, because the Growler is 95 percent compatible with the Super Hornet.
Although the Growler isn't expected to add new jobs at
Boeing's St. Louis plants, it would help sustain more than 5,000 jobs here
through 2013, said Pat Frost, a Boeing spokeswoman. Another 3,000 aerospace
workers employed by suppliers in the region also would benefit, she said.
If the Defense Department approves the program, more
Growlers could be built if the Air Force decides to buy the airplane, too,
Summers said. But if the Air Force's wish to put radar-jamming pods on the B-52
is granted, Boeing still would benefit, because it makes that aircraft, too.
In any case, Summers said a thumbs-up on the Growler
program would help Boeing keep the technical and engineering talent it has and
apply it toward future design and production of its unmanned vehicles.
"The Growler provides the bridge to the next-generation
(of Boeing fighter aircraft), which are the UCAVs (unmanned combat air
vehicles)," Summers said.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO; (1) BOEING CO.
Color Photo - Boeing's EA-18G, a variant of the Super Hornet (left), is a Navy
candidate to replace Northrop Grumman's aging EA-6B Prowler
aircraft, with a primary role of suppressing enemy radar.; (2) Color Photo by
DAWN MAJORS /POST-DISPATCH - Boeing employee Ed Klevorn (center) of St. Louis
sits in the EA-18G cockpit simulator as flight-simulation engineers Brian Royer
(left) and Trace Harper (right) give directions on how to navigate the course.;
(3) Photo by DAWN MAJORS /POST-DISPATCH - Boeing employee Ed Klevorn works the
cockpit simulator for the EA-18G, a variant of the Super Hornet dubbed the
Growler.; (* Note: Photos 1 & 2 ran as black and white photos in the
ILLINOIS FIVE STAR edition, page C10.)
