Electronic Weapons: September 25, 1999

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Canada will sell off its fleet of 10 Challenger and 40 Silver Star electronic warfare training aircraft, hiring civilian contractors to provide this service in the future.--Stephen V Cole

The Navy, desperately short of EA-6B Prowler electronic jamming aircraft (needed for operations over Iraq and over Kosovo) has taken four planes from development and training squadrons in order to increase the number of deployable aircraft to 92. The Navy is overhauling other aircraft in an effort to increase the Prowler force to 104 aircraft (108 now with the four reclaimed aircraft). The Navy plans to overhaul 10-15 Prowlers a year to keep the force in the air through 2015, when it will have to be replaced. Boeing has designed the F-18G Wild Hornet (a jammer version of the F-18F Super Hornet) but the Navy may decide to go with a pilotless drone instead.--Stephen V Cole