U.S. Marine Corps EA-6B Prowlers (including one with stunning sharkmouth) return to the U.S. after fighting Daesh from Turkey

David Cenciotti
3 Min Read

EA-6Bs with interesting markings returning to the U.S. after flying in support of Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

On Oct. 7, six EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft belonging to the VMAQ-4 “Seahawks” of the U.S. Marine Corps landed at Lajes airfield, Portugal.

As the images in this post, taken by our friends at APS- Associação Portugal Spotters, show the Prowlers got some interesting markings and insigna, including a pretty cool and usual Sharkmouth.

vmaq-4-return_04

163398/RM06 USMC badge on rudder using radio callsign “Tabor86”
163047/RM007 “Agent 007” callsign “Tabor84”
163527/RM “Q4” callsign “Tabor83”
161885/RM09 “Shark`s teeth” callsign “Tabor82”
163031/RM08 “Jam this” callsign “Tabor81”
162936/RM05 callsign “Tabor85”

Tanker support was provided by KC135R 62-3518 “Spirit of kokomo” from AF reserve at Grissom ARB, Indiana.

The aircraft were returning from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, from where they have supported Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS in Syria and Iraq since April.

vmaq-4-return_01

vmaq-4-return_02

EA-6Bs are among the most important assets in the air war against Daesh: they eavesdrop “enemy” radio signals and jam those frequencies in order to prevent terrorists from talking one another on the radio or cell phone, or use portable transmitters to trigger IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).

vmaq-4-return_05

vmaq-4-return_06

vmaq-4-return_07

The ageing Prowlers are being replaced by the Boeing EA-18G Growler, an Electronic Warfare variant of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet that already replaced the EA-6B Prowlers in U.S. Navy service.

vmaq-4-return_08

Image credit: APS- Associação Portugal Spotters

 

Salva

Salva

Share This Article
Follow:
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
5 Comments