EA-18G gets new nickname on flattops - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

EA-18G gets new nickname on flattops

The Navy’s EA-18G Growler has a new name — at least on the radio. The electronic attack aircraft that joined the fleet last year will be known as a “Grizzly” on aircraft carriers worldwide.

The nickname “Growler” sounds too much like the EA-6B “Prowler,” its electronic attack predecessor, and the Navy wanted to avoid confusion on flight decks.

“The names ‘Growler’ and ‘Prowler’ were too close to be safe,” said Kim Martin, a Navy spokeswoman at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. “ ‘Grizzly’ is a name that doesn’t sound like any other name.”

The Boeing-made EA-18G will continue with “Growler” as its primary nickname. It will be known as a “Grizzly” only in operational situations.

The usage will be similar to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets’ operational moniker, “Rhino.”

The formal operational name comes just a few months after the Growler began conducting its first carrier-based operations on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan.

The first Growler squadron, Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 132, may be ready to deploy later this year, Martin said.

“Grizzly” is a common name in military circles. NATO refers to a Russian-made surface-to-air weapons system as the SA-17 Grizzly, and the military contractor Xe, formerly Blackwater, manufactures a 22-ton urban assault vehicle known as the Grizzly armored personnel carrier.