EA-18G boasts F-22 kill (PHOTOS)
By
Stephen Trimble
on February 25, 2009 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)
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Today was Electronic Awareness Warfare Appreciation Day at Andrews AFB. The
base hosted a sort of petting zoo for high-tech jamming systems. I noticed a
Boeing EA-18G parked on the side, and struck up a conversation with the
pilot.
As we chatted about interference cancellation systems, I couldn't help but
notice an odd decal decorating the side of the fuselage. I asked the pilot:
What's that aircraft decal on the fuselage?
"That's an F-22," he said.
Well, why is it there?
Because this is the EA-18G that killed an F-22," he explained.
Um, really?
Alas, after that bombshell, the conversation quickly dried up. I did learn
the EA-18G kill was courtesy of a well-timed AIM-120 AMRAAM shot. And I
learned the simulated combat exercise took place at Nellis AFB. How the
EA-18G escort jammer got the shot, and whether its jamming system played a
role in the incident were not questions the pilot was prepared to answer.
For the spotters, the aircraft pictured above is EA-1, the first of two Lot
27 F/A-18Fs converted into flying prototypes for the EA-18G program.
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