Ed,

I had that same reluctance, but they made me go anyway!

Likely for the same reason we A-6B guys had to.

IIRC, the Prowler cost ~$30 million a copy and each of its pods (usually carried 4) were about $1 million (1972 dollars). The crew consisted of 1 stick (~$175 thousand training cost) and 3 ECMOs (~$125 thousand each to train).

By contrast, the A-6Bs were all converted A-6As, so their incremental additional cost to the Gummint was pretty low and they were flown by a crew of 2 already tasked and trained for other work, who were then given the equivalent of about 2 weeks OJT on the mysteries of the B. Not an ideal solution, but a damn cost effective one.

The A-6E TRAM (which I never knew) combined the capabilities of the A and B, and incorporated the system upgrades that were piloted in the 12 A-6C models. The E became the Navy's all-purpose, all-wx attack platform, including the SAM hunting ability. The EA-6B gained HARM capability about the time the A-6 community was disestablished, and (I suspect) quite likely for that very reason.

Sidebar: Watching all 4 crew shell out of a Prowler in extremis is a bit like watching the 82nd airborne leave for work. Seats and chutes all over the place all at once. Especially colorful off a "cold" catapult shot.

--
Mike Kanze

"If voting could really change things, it would be illegal."

- Cynical comment posted in Revolution Books, New York City


"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message ...
On Thu, 8 Nov 2007 13:08:07 -0800, "Mike Kanze"
wrote:

Ed,

Having been out of the cockpit about three decades, I really can't say whether today's Prowler community "weasels" in the manner you describe. I can say though that trolling for SA-2s - including FAN SONG lock-on/high PRF indications and missile launch - were a part of the A-6B Intruder community's "job description" throughout the B's deployment during the VN conflict.

The A-6B was strictly a SAM hunter and not used for full-system night/IMC bombing like the A-6A. Each deploying A-6 squadron carried a mixed bag of 10 - 12 A-6As, usually 3 A-6Bs, and (later in the VN war) three or four KA-6Ds. The A-6B was a stopgap measure, cheaper than the Prowler, and only carried a crew of two. The B/N was strictly a weaponeer and not any kind of ECM guru, so losing a B and/or its crew did not entail as much "intelligence loss" risk as losing a Prowler. Also, at that time (1972) the Prowler was brand new and relatively dear. Add to that the then obvious winding down of the VN war and the fear of components from a pod or the Prowler itself falling into NVN/Soviet hands - and the reluctance to send Prowlers feet dry is understandable.

I had that same reluctance, but they made me go anyway!

Worked over the years as a partner with F-100F Weasels and F-105F
Weasels flying the F-105D model during Rolling Thunder and then during
Linbebacker I/II flew the F-4E as the "killer" element with the
F-105G. Got a couple of trips with an F-4C Weasel but they didn't have
the first class sensors that the 105G did. Never got to fly with an
F-4G, but by that time the mission had evolved to pretty much a
Weasel-only tactic without the ground-pounder element to kill the
detected site.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com