Navy declares crew of EA-18G dead after crash near Mt Rainier
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RIP. Sending prayers.
Been holding out hope. So sad...
RIP Aviators
RIP Aviators
Sad indeed.
CFIT?
If not, what went wrong? Could they not have punched out?
The investigation will yield the cause of this awful event.
May these two pilots rest in peace and may their families get closure to their loss in this lethal accident.
CFIT?
If not, what went wrong? Could they not have punched out?
The investigation will yield the cause of this awful event.
May these two pilots rest in peace and may their families get closure to their loss in this lethal accident.
They've been publicly identified. I was thinking there was a possiblity that one or both could have been USAF crew embedded in a Navy EW squadron.
https://www.king5.com/article/news/...fied/281-8dfb767c-db4a-4f02-b125-58069727b34b
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ictims-identified-as-31-year-old-navy-pilots/
Here's a map of where the wreckage was found:
https://www.king5.com/article/news/...fied/281-8dfb767c-db4a-4f02-b125-58069727b34b
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ictims-identified-as-31-year-old-navy-pilots/
Here's a map of where the wreckage was found:
Both are wearing Navy wings.They've been publicly identified. I was thinking there was a possiblity that one or both could have been USAF crew embedded in a Navy EW squadron.
https://www.king5.com/article/news/...fied/281-8dfb767c-db4a-4f02-b125-58069727b34b
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ictims-identified-as-31-year-old-navy-pilots/
Here's a map of where the wreckage was found:
...and have Navy rank. I am grieved for the loss.
Sure. However, I was just noting that I remember hearing about USAF crews embedded in these squadrons after the EF-111 was retired. However, this was clearly a US Navy crew.
That’s true. USAF personnel have been in Navy EW squadrons since the early 90s, when the USAF decided to abandon tactical EW as a capability by retiring the EF-111. They stepped even further away when they eliminated jamming capability on the B-52s. All done to meet budget cut targets.
Not their best decision, in my opinion, there is a place for tactical aircraft that can perform the EW mission, and the Growler is a good one.
In fact, the Growler is a USN success story. Basically, an NFO Admiral named Don Gaddis went to Boeing and negotiated the modest changes in the Super Hornet for it to be able to do EW as a replacement for the EA-6B that was nearing the end of its fatigue life.
By harnessing advanced computing, the WSO in the Growler handles what the 3 ECMOs did in the EA-6B. The airplane was modified, just a bit, to have equipment in what was the gun bay, and on the wingtips, replacing sidewinder rails, and to carry the updated ALQ-99 pods from the latest capability improvements in the EA-6B.
A whole new airplane was delivered to the USN for under $1Billion. A true bargain and an acquisition success story. There was a lot of resistance in DOD and some concern over delivered capability, but the EW airplane is over 90% common with the fighter version, simplifying maintenance, training, and tactical employment.
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Doesn't the USAF have a version of the C-130 that does some of that? Of course that's not that fast and I don't think carries any weapons. I heard the EF-111 didn't have any weapons either.
I haven't heard of any Marines embedded in those squadrons. I thought that the Marines were operating their own Prowlers - at least until 2019?
The “big stick” in EW (or, EA, Electronic Attack) is the AGM-88 or HARM.
EA is highly classified, and there are really incredible capabilities out there, but sometimes, you just need the 150lb blast-frag warhead to get your point across.
No, the C-130 version doesn't do any of the same things as the EF-111/EA-6B or Growler, no matter how fast it flys.
The Air Force ate their children (Electronic Combat capability plus a lot else) to free up the funds to buy F-22s. The F-22s passed their testing with flying colors, only to have the acquisition terminated early anyway by the current administration (at the time). The fixed cost of the F-22 program is so high for the small number of aircraft the AF is looking to retire them early to save funds.
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Hypoxia? Sudden disassembly preventing ejecting or immediate injury?
Sadly, CFIT is the most likely scenario.
Perhaps preceded by pilot G-LOC.
One of the issues with low level flying is the airspeed. Safe ejection airspeed is typically 0-350 knots.
The seat works up to 450 knots though injury to the crew is certain.
But we would often fly at 500+
If the pilot G-LOCs the WSO doesn’t have a lot of options. The plane can hit the ground seconds later. But an ejection isn’t survivable, either.
Perhaps preceded by pilot G-LOC.
One of the issues with low level flying is the airspeed. Safe ejection airspeed is typically 0-350 knots.
The seat works up to 450 knots though injury to the crew is certain.
But we would often fly at 500+
If the pilot G-LOCs the WSO doesn’t have a lot of options. The plane can hit the ground seconds later. But an ejection isn’t survivable, either.
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I think you've mentioned seeing one fired before. That thing looks pretty big. Probably not as big as an SM-6 carried by a Super Hornet.
