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The Royal Australian Air Force’s premier electronic attack aircraft, the F/A-18G Growlers, have returned victorious from a series of combat tests as part of the Red Flag 2023 air combat exercises.
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Royal Australian Air Force aviators from the RAAF Amberley-based No. 6 Squadron have returned from this year’s incarnation of the world’s largest air combat exercises with critical lessons and celebrated successes.
The United States Air Combat Command training activity is designed to expose participants to a wide range of air warfare scenarios. The scenarios took place in the skies above Las Vegas, Nevada from 23 January to 10 February with the RAAF detachment working alongside 3,000 personnel from the United States and the United Kingdom, delivering electronic warfare effects in the battlespace.
Commanding Officer of No. 6 Squadron, Wing Commander Steven Thornton, said the “threat replication at the Nevada Test and Training Range and in the airspace utilised for Red Flag is some of the most advanced in world”.
RAAF Growler crews worked alongside a range of platforms including United States Air Force F-22A Raptors, United States Marine Corps F-35Bs and Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons — building interoperability between the partner nations, while also getting an up close idea of how their respective platforms performed in combat scenarios.
WGCDR Thornton added, “The Growler provides a unique capability within the battlespace by disrupting, deceiving or denying a broad range of military electronic systems, including radar and communications. The opportunity to exercise with both the United States and the Royal Air Force in this environment is significant.”
No. 6 Squadron’s Growlers played a central role in bringing an added layer of complexity to the training environments, helping to build detailed readiness for the forces involved in the training scenarios, something highlighted by the US Air Force’s 414th Combat Training Squadron Commander, Colonel Jared Hutchinson, who said, “When it comes down to it, the mission of Red Flag is all about readiness.
“From the very first day that the participants show up they get just about the hardest scenario that we can put together. None of the problems are now solvable by an F-16, an F/A-18 or an F-35. You need an integrated and team solution, across cyber, across space, across the coalition, to solve it. Nobody can do it themselves," COL Hutchinson explained.
Based on F/A-18E/F Super Hornet variant of the wildly successful Boeing Hornet, the EA-18G Growler has proven itself to be an invaluable asset to the US when deployed overseas. The Growler incorporates a number of advancements over the traditional Super Hornet, including:
- an additional avionics suite;
- enhanced radio frequency receivers;
- an improved communications suite; and
- ALQ radio-frequency jamming pods, which enable it to jam enemy systems.
Australia’s fleet of 11 EA-18G Growlers will be based at RAAF Base Amberley and operate in conjunction with the air, land, and sea forces. Initially purchased alongside the more traditional Super Hornet variants to supplement Australia’s ageing fleet of classic Hornets and the diminished strike capability following the retirement of the F-111s, prior to the full integration of the Air Force’s 72 planned F-35A Joint Strike Fighters.
Australia’s Growlers were part of a larger US Navy buy of 44 Super Hornets and Growlers in July 2014, with the first Australian EA-18G making its first flight in July 2015.
