We wont get Growlers. Nobody except the USN can buy Growlers. Israel is the only country till date who gave us active ECM suites which they themselves have deployed. Not even Russia has given India access to their ECM technology.
Everybody gives only highly downgraded versions. ECM and ECCM is the solely meant for the country who developed it.
The Americans are not even releasing their ECM suite for the F-35 to partner countries. All member countries for the F-35 have to develop their own ECM or buy a downgraded version from the US. That's the primary reason for Israel to develop the F-35's ECM suite in India.
This is considering the enemy is not jamming the Growler. Don't forget that the Growler is supposed to be an airborne ECM platform. No airborne platform can ever match the ground based or ship based jammers placed on vehicles and ships. The Growler is primarily meant for protection against SAMs and enemy fighters. It in no way provides high capacity jamming.
The rest of the mumbo jumbo, you are free to keep it to yourself.
Australia has decided that 12 of the 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets it has ordered will be wired for electronic attack capabilities while they are still on the production line, allowing it to upgrade the aircraft to the US Navy's E/A-18G Growler configuration at a later date if it wishes to.
“Wiring 12 of the Super Hornets as Growlers will give us the opportunity to provide taxpayers with better value for money,” says defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon. “If finally pursued, the relatively small investment will significantly enhance the Super Hornet’s capability by giving electronic attack capacity and therefore the ability to nullify the systems of opposing aircraft.”
The wiring will add A$35 million ($23 million) to the A$6.6 billion that Canberra agreed to pay for 24 Super Hornets in early 2007. If all 12 aircraft were eventually converted into Growlers, it would cost an additional A$300 million. A final decision will not be required until around 2012, says the defence ministry.
The E/A-18G remains in operational test for the USN, but initial operational capability is expected shortly. The Growler is essentially an F/A-18E/F fitted with ITT ALQ-99 radar jamming pods and an interference cancellation system, Northrop Grumman ALQ-218(V)2 radio frequency receiver and Raytheon ALQ-227 communication countermeasures suite for electronic surveillance.
The modifications will give Australia the option to “significantly enhance” its aircraft, Fitzgibbon says. “It will also provide the Super Hornets with counter-terrorism capability through the ability to shut down the ground-based communications and bomb triggering devices of terrorists,” he adds.
Fitzgibbon meanwhile criticised the previous Australian Government that made the original order for not considering Growlers initially. John Howard's administration, which placed the order after deciding to retire Canberra's General Dynamics F-111 fleet and to provide a stop-gap ahead of the delivery of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, lost the 2007 general elections.
“It was apparent that the Howard government didn’t properly anticipate the need to retire the F-111 in 2010,” says Fitzgibbon (below). “If they had taken a more prudent approach in making the Super Hornet decision rather than rushing to fill their impending air combat capability gap, they may have realised that this was a more effective approach to take.”
Boeing is also considering a so-called “Growler lite” export version of the E/A-18G, which can be delivered without the radar jamming pods and interference cancellation system. The initiative targets international customers who are keener on the aircraft’s enhanced awareness capabilities than the Growler’s electronic attack aspects. Australia, Brazil, India and Japan are some of the potential customers for the Super Hornet and the Growler.
Australia to wire F/A-18Fs for Growler upgrade
the Aussies are getting 12 out of the 24 SHs to be wired as Growlers and have the option to upgrade them when needed. The Growler can't be jammed by any known chinese or Paki jamming systems whether on ground, air or sea. The F-18G is the world's most advanced airborne ECM platform and the Rafale can only hope to be able to match it and Aussies are getting the whole thing and not the lite version. I never said anything about it being able to match ground or sea based jammers but its the best for the air.
The modifications will give Australia the option to “significantly enhance” its aircraft, Fitzgibbon says. “It will also provide the Super Hornets with counter-terrorism capability through the ability to shut down the ground-based communications and bomb triggering devices of terrorists,” he adds.
i would like to see the Rafale shut down bomb triggering devices of terrorists. Proof again that SH still remains the ideal option, more advantages than the Rafale and at a much lower cost. Growler lite is for customers who don't want the full option Growler.
as for Israel getting the F-35 read on...
Israel 'close to deal on F-35' - UPI.com
TEL AVIV, Israel, June 24 (UPI) -- After protracted disagreements, the Israeli Defense Ministry was reported Wednesday to be close to sewing up a deal to buy up to 25 U.S. F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin, which Israeli leaders believe is essential to counter Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the two sides reached an agreement on several Israeli demands to integrate Israeli technology into the aircraft. That followed a series of visits to Washington by the commander of Israel's air force, Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, and the air force's equipment and procurement director, Brig. Gen. Kobi Bortman.
The final breakthrough came at the Paris Air Show last week when Israel's defense minister, former chief of staff Gen. Ehud Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, met with top Lockheed Martin officials.
According to Israeli reports, the Americans agreed to allow the Israelis to incorporate their own electronic warfare and communications systems into the fifth-generation fighter, and to allow the Israeli air force to maintain the aircraft independently of the United States.
The Post reported that one of the Americans' "main concerns regarding the installation of Israeli systems was that it would require configurations to the jet's internal computer system and expose top-secret technology to Israel." The Israelis apparently agreed to bypass the computer mainframe when installing the systems.
Israel has made an all-out effort to acquire the F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, because its range, striking power and radar-evading stealth characteristics make it essential to counter the S-300PMU air-defense missile systems Jerusalem fears Russia will sell to Iran to protect its nuclear facilities and other strategic targets.
The mobile S-300 is one of the highly advanced air-defense systems in the world. Known in the West as the SA-20, it is capable of shooting down aircraft or cruise missiles from altitudes as low as 30 feet to as high as 90,000 feet.
Gen. Richard Hawley, former commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command, asserted recently, "For non-stealth aircraft, the SA-20 represents a virtual no-fly zone."
Moscow, pressed by Israel and the United States not to provide Iran -- or its Arab ally Syria -- with the S-300, has repeatedly denied that it intends to do so. But according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel think tank, the Russians could still sell Tehran the S-300V, a less capable system known as the SA-12 in the West.
There has been repeated speculation that Israel may launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear installations to block its efforts to enrich uranium to weapons grade.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has demanded the Israelis stay their hand to give his diplomatic outreach to Iran time to pursue an agreement with the Islamic republic that it will not build nuclear weapons.
From that perspective, U.S. agreement to allow Israel to fit its own equipment into the F-35 -- the crux of the standoff over the aircraft -- could be seen as an effort to placate the Israelis at this critical period.
"Israel currently believes that its F-15I and F-16I aircraft maintain a viable strike option against Iranian nuclear targets," according to a Washington Institute analysis published in March.
"As long as this remains the case, Israel may remain receptive to requests to give diplomacy more time. Increasingly clear, however, is that Israel regards the S-300 (in any configuration) as closing an important window of opportunity; Iran's acquisition of the S-300 would render Israel's current strike options dramatically more difficult, and could force Israel to considerably move forward any strike timetable."
Israel originally had its sights on the U.S. F-22 stealth fighter since development of that jet began in the early 1990s. But the Americans decided to block any foreign sales of the F-22, known as the Raptor and which is now in service with the U.S. Air Force.
Israel switched its sights to the F-35A, which is being developed by Lockheed Martin and eight foreign partners -- Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.
Israel wants an initial purchase of 25 aircraft, enough for one squadron with delivery starting in 2010, and an option for 50 more.
incredible isn't it, though the Issies don't get access to the mainframe which would be very stupid for US to just give it away after spending billions and years developing it, yet the Issies have permission to by-pass and add-on their own equipment.
AIRSHOW-Pentagon F-35 chief blasts Boeing comments
General calls Boeing remarks inappropriate
* Denies Washington offering partners "dumbed down" F-35 (Adds details, quotes and byline)
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
PARIS (Reuters) - The head of the Pentagon's F-35 fighter program blasted Tuesday what he called Boeing Co's inappropriate marketing of a new F-15 fighter model with radar-evading capabilities that it is marketing as an alternative to the Lockheed Martin Corp-built F-35.
Brigadier Gen. David Heinz, program executive officer for the F-35, said Boeing was free to market its F-15 "Silent Eagle" plane, but rejected a claim by Boeing executives that Washington was selling a "dumbed down" version of the F-35 to international partners.
"I state categorically that I am not doing a different variant of aircraft for my international partners today," Heinz told Reuters in an interview at the Paris Air Show.
He said foreign countries who bought the F-35 would be subject to a U.S. disclosure process and U.S. export controls, but the aircraft being sold today were the same airplanes that were also being built for the U.S. military services.
"So for Boeing to make statements about a 'dumbed down' variant ... is absolutely incorrect and it is speculative and I believe, a very disappointing marketing ploy to drum up business," Heinz added.
Boeing's military aircraft president Chris Chadwick said the F-15 was being marketed only to existing F-15 customers, and was not in direct competition with the F-35.
"If there are other customers who would like to talk to us about the enhanced version of the F-15 (the Silent Eagle) we'd be happy to discuss," he said, responding to Heinz's remarks.
Boeing's F-15 and F-18 fighter jets are competing against Lockheed's F-16 for massive fighter jet orders around the world. Analysts say Boeing, the top U.S. exporter and the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier in prime contracts, risks getting edged out of the fighter market altogether as the U.S. government focuses more and more on the F-35.
Keen to keep its fighter production lines open, Boeing in March unveiled an F-15 version that offers some radar-evading capability as an alternative for countries that can't afford the F-35 fighter being developed by Lockheed for the United States and eight other countries.
Boeing has said it is speaking to companies in the United States and abroad about co-funding development of a new F-15 version aimed at Asian and Middle East markets that would incorporate coatings to help avoid detection by radar.
Jim Albaugh, who heads Boeing's defense business, told reporters in Paris on Sunday that the new F-15 offered a comparable level of stealth capability to what Washington was willing to sell to foreign military sales customers.
"We are not trying to say that this is an airplane that has full-aspect stealth capability," Albaugh said. "It doesn't. But from a front-radar cross-section, it has all the stealth that has been approved for export by the U.S. government."
Heinz first criticized how Boeing was marketing its F-15 Silent Eagle at a news conference in Washington on June 2, and also took a swipe at its radar-evading capabilities.
He said Boeing's work to reduce the frontal radar signature of the F-15 Silent Eagle would give it an edge over other fighters of its generation, but was still no match for the F-35: "You put (the new F-15) against a fifth-generation guy, the second he turns, he looks just like the Goodyear blimp."
Last week, Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz said the service was committed to buying the F-35 and should not get distracted by modernizing earlier fighters. It was more important to "make the leap" to the new plane and keep the unit cost for those airplanes competitive, he said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
well what do u make of this??
