OAK HARBOR – When the Navy’s venerable radar-jamming jet is retired over the next decade, its supersonic replacement will continue to be based at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, the Navy said Tuesday.
The announcement came the same day an independent federal panel decided against adding Whidbey, Naval Station Everett or any other major Washington state military bases to a possible hit list for closure or realignment.
The decision to bring new radar-jamming planes to the air station “is a permanent marker for NAS Whidbey,” U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash, said Tuesday.
| The new radar-jamming planes would start arriving in 2008 and gradually replace the EA-6B Prowlers by 2013.
* Whidbey would get 57 of the new planes, compared with 68 in the current fleet. * The number of personnel assigned to the new planes would drop by 1,106. There are 3,163 people assigned to the Prowler mission now, and nearly 11,000 military and civilian personnel at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. * The EA-18G is quieter than the Prowler. A Whidbey environmental assessment predicts a 14 percent reduction in noise. |
The new plane, the EA-18G, will have the same airframe as the F/A-18 Super Hornet, a supersonic fighter and attack plane that is becoming the mainstay of the Navy fleet aboard aircraft carriers and land bases in trouble zones.
The EA-18G is under development at a Boeing plant in St. Louis, Mo., and Boeing expects the Navy to issue a contract for the production of 90 of the planes, spokeswoman Kathy Cook said.
The Navy will conduct a 30-day environmental assessment and comment period at Whidbey before finalizing the decision to bring the EA-18Gs there, Larsen said.
The new jet will replace the EA-6B Prowler, a Vietnam War-era plane that has been updated over the decades. Some consider the radar jammers the key plane in the military fleet, because they provide cover for fighters and bombers.
“Simply put, airborne radar jamming is critical for our armed forces,” said Larsen, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “These planes are a go or no-go asset. If they don’t fly, the fighters don’t fly.”
The EA-18Gs will be phased into service starting in 2008, with 10 squadrons of Prowlers to be replaced by 2013, the Navy said. The number of radar-jamming planes at Whidbey would drop from 68 to 57 over that time. Over the six-year transition period, the number of personnel on base would drop by 1,106, Larsen said.
There are nearly 11,000 military and civilian personnel now working at Whidbey, and such a loss is “not considered all that significant,” base spokeswoman Kim Martin said.
The newer planes will be quieter than the Prowlers. A Navy environmental assessment predicted 14 percent less noise overall.
The announcement comes on the heels of the Navy saying in June that it plans to shift an entire squadron of intelligence reconnaissance planes from Rota, Spain, to the Oak Harbor base.
Whidbey is the host of another reconnaissance squadron, as well as four squadrons of P-3C Orion patrol planes.
“It’s been a pretty good run for Oak Harbor the last few months,” Larsen said. “What’s important about this is everything that makes NAS Whidbey a great place for the Prowler makes it a great place for the EA-18G.”
Cook, the Boeing spokeswoman, said two test-flight models of the EA-18G are being assembled now, and the first flights are scheduled for September 2006.
The new jet will have radar-jamming improvements, as well as the latest radar capability, Cook said. About 500 Navy personnel were run through a simulator to demonstrate that the plane’s mission could be preformed with two people, compared with the crew of four on the Prowler, Cook said.
The Navy’s choice of Whidbey came minutes after the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission issued its latest additions of U.S. military bases for possible closure or consolidation. Larsen said it made sense for the Navy to wait until the independent panel made that decision before announcing that it wants the EA-18Gs at Whidbey.
Neither Whidbey nor Naval Station Everett were under consideration for closure, he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said testimony before the commission proved that the Pentagon didn’t consult with Washington state homeland security officials about removal of a squadron of F-15 Air National Guard fighters from Portland, Ore.
Cantwell has lobbied the commission to reverse a Defense Department recommendation to move the fighters – the only combat-ready squadron in the Northwest – to other states.
“The Pentagon failed to consult with state officials before recommending changes that could weaken the security of the Northwest,” Cantwell said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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