The Navy’s newest carrier-based aircraft, the EA-18G Growler, has arrived at Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 9, located at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

From now until next spring, the “Vampires” of Electronic Attack Branch, will put the new aircraft through a rigorous series of tests in operationally realistic scenarios to evaluate its combat effectiveness. These tests will include large-force mock battles against the world’s premier professional adversaries, carrier-based strikes, and continuous testing at the U.S. military’s premier electronic warfare and air combat ranges. 

Last summer, VX-9 received three new Growlers, a derivative of the Navy’s versatile F/A-18E/F Super Hornet multi-role fighter. The Growler, which currently embodies some of the same electronic warfare technology as the EA-6B Prowler it is replacing, also retains most of the outstanding weapons, sensors and cockpit displays present in the Super Hornet. 

Together, those capabilities make the aircraft one of the most tactically versatile, lethal, and survivable air defense suppression aircraft the world has ever seen. 

The Growler stands ready to replace the Prowler, home-based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The current tests and evaluations will serve as an independent assessment of the how the EA-18G performs with fleet representative procedures in an operationally realistic environment. 

Last summer the tests kicked off in dramatic fashion, as the Vampires roared aboard the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) with three EA-18Gs, commencing the first-ever west coast and night carrier-arrested landings for the new jet. During that time, the Vampires gathered key qualitative and quantitative data on the performance of the aircraft in a carrier-based environment. 

Days later, the Vampires were off to NAS Fallon, Nev. to further test the Growler against both land-based and airborne adversary units in Fallon’s vast combat training range complex. 

Upcoming detachments will include a second visit to Stennis as well as a detachment to Nellis AFB to evaluate the Growler’s interoperability with U.S. Air Force assets.