Letter to Appropriations Committee on EWWG Priorities
April 25, 2002
The Honorable C.W. Bill Young
Chairman
House Appropriations Committee
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable David Obey
Ranking Member
House Appropriations Committee
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Young and Ranking Member
Obey:
We write to request your support for
several important initiatives that will help ensure that the EA-6B Prowler
will be able to conduct Electronic Attack missions in support of U.S. and coalition air
operations vital to our national security interests.
As
you know, the EA-6B Prowler possesses a unique mission capability
that is in continual high demand to support our worldwide military
operations, especially in Afghanistan.
During Operation Allied Force, Prowlers were the “go-no-go”
criterion in any NATO strike package. The Prowler is the
only aircraft in our inventory that is dedicated to the suppression of
enemy air defenses and already is in a low-density high-demand category.
We are gravely concerned that we are “using up” this resource
far more rapidly
than anticipated and,
without some positive action, EA-6Bs will be out of service before a
replacement aircraft can be fielded.
With this in mind, we request your support for the following
priorities:
- Wing
Center Section Inboard Panels (WCSIP). At present, because of the
WCSIP fatigue problem, the Navy has restricted the flight envelope of
over 40% of the EA-6B aircraft, eight have been grounded, and 18
additional aircraft will reach the equivalent fatigue limits by the
middle of 2003. As you
know, the Prowler is the first aircraft to go “over the beach”
into enemy territory. As such, it must retain the capability to perform high-G
turns to avoid enemy surface-to-air missiles.
Wing panels are essential to maintaining the capability of the
Prowler to perform high-G turns – thus saving lives.
Given that the lead-time to fabricate and install a WCSIP is 24
months, there will be an unacceptable number of EA-6B aircraft out of
service until the WCSIP can be made available.
While $35 million has been identified in the FY 2002
Supplemental Appropriations for WCSIP replacement, to keep pace with
the projected replacement need, an
additional $31 million is necessary for FY 2003.
- Band
9/10 Transmitters.
The Navy and Marine Corps have an inventory requirement for 263
transmitters and they still need 43 transmitters (at a cost of $29
million) to meet the requirement. Admiral Clark, Chief of Naval
Operations (CNO), and General Jones, Commandant of the Marine Corps,
have included the EA-6B Band 9/10 transmitters on their FY 2003
Unfunded Priority Lists (UPL). Procurement
of Band 9/10 transmitters removes duplicative training, maintenance,
and logistics and the procurement allow the Navy to retire 275 aging
Band 9 transmitters.
- J-52
Engines.
A recent investigation found a common failure point in the
engine 4.5 bearing that has led to the grounding of 88 of the 360
EA-6B engine inventory. With
future conflicts in the war against terrorism on the horizon, this
technical detail threatened to sideline the critical life saving
mission of the Prowlers. As
a result of these failures, increased maintenance and testing on the
engine to ensure the Prowler is mission capable is placing a strain on
the active and reserve units alike.
An additional $12 million in FY 03 would help accelerate engine
repair to the goal of 24 engines per month.
- On-board
Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS).
The EA-6B is one of two remaining non-OBOGS equipped combat
aircraft that will be integral to carrier air wings in the near
future. It is known that
Prowler crews regularly run out of oxygen during the long missions
that are now the norm. According
to a conservative Department of Defense (DoD) studies, there is a
projected 10-year cost avoidance in excess of $33 million and a 3:1
payback on investment after OBOGS retrofit.
It is imperative that these aircraft be equipped with the same
“slimline” OBOGS, at a cost of an additional $9 million, as
used in current F/A-18 aircraft in order to operate aboard CVN-77 and
subsequent carriers.
- Risk Reduction for Follow-on Electronic Attack Platform. With the completion of the
Airborne Electronic Attack Analysis of Alternatives (AEA AoA), it is
vital that Services continue to move forward and provide funding for
the next-generation electronic attack aircraft.
Despite its importance to air superiority, the Prowler
faces heavy tasking, severe shortfalls in operational readiness and
the prospect that it will need to be augmented prior to 2010.
Providing an additional $30 million
in RDT&E will help ensure that the follow-on platform will stay on
schedule to replace the Prowler without any degradation in our
electronic attack capability. Prowlers
are already over 30 years old. We
need to accelerate a follow on to retire the fleet before it reaches
50 years old. This
request is #67 on the CNO’s UPL.
- USQ-113
(V3) Communications Jammer.
Our enemies routinely use cell phones to coordinate attacks on
allied aircrews. The
USQ-113 (V3) provides expanded frequency coverage and advanced
communications jamming waveform technologies that are critical to
defeating cell phones and other enemy communications devices.
This ability to “listen in” and cut-off enemy lines of
communication is important in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, the Navy has only 35 USQ-113’s available for
CINC operations worldwide. An
additional $37 million will provide for 57 units for the Navy and
two additional units to buy out the U.S. Marine Corps requirement.
This request is #20
and #43, respectively, on the CNO’s UPL.
The EA-6B is a
low-density, high demand asset and its availability is critical to our
national defense. However,
out of a total inventory of 122 EA-6Bs, only 65 are in service.
Further, there are currently 40 aircraft that are grounded because
they are missing an engine. This
is unacceptable. We
appreciate your consideration of these requests and look forward to
working with you to ensure we
maintain an Electronic Attack capability to enable a flexible response to
future contingencies.
Cordially,
Rep.
Rep. Rick Larsen
Rep. Mark Steven Kirk
Electronic Warfare Working Group
Congressman Joe Pitts, Founder and Chairman
420 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202 225-2411 phone 
202 225-2013 fax