February 27, 200917 yr From ARES RAAF Goes for Growlers Posted by Robert Wall at 2/27/2009 1:32 AM CST The Royal Australian Air Force could be the first non-U.S. military service to operate EA-18 Growler electronic attack aircraft under a deal announced in Australia today. The deal is also noteworthy for the fact that it indicates the U.S. is willing to share some of its most advanced technology with close allies -- neither the EA-6B nor EF-111 jammers were exported. The EA-18G deal comes not long after the Pentagon agreed to let the U.K. buy RC-135 Rivet Joints, the highly sensitive signals intelligence system. Australia is not buying new Growlers; instead it would modify 12 of the F/A-18E/Fs the country previously committed to buying under a A$6.6 billion program. “Wiring twelve of the Super Hornets as Growlers will give us the opportunity to provide taxpayers with better value for money,” defense minister Joel Fitzgibbon says. A final decision on buying Growlers, including the jamming kit, is expected around 2012. The electronic attack modification “will also provide the Super Hornets with counter-terrorism capability through the ability to shut down the ground-based communications and bomb triggering devices of terrorists,” Fitzgibbon notes. At this point, the government is making a A$35 million downpayment so half of the 24 F/A-18E/Fs on order could be turned into Growlers. Making the wiring and other internal modifications now, while the fighters are in build, is cheaper than a retrofit program, the Australian government says. A further A$300 million would be needed to complete the Growler effort.
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