Ogden Johnson III wrote:
"MICHAEL OLEARY" wrote:

Actually, the other VAQ squadron was VAQ-143 which never moved
beyond the precommissioning stage. So, the jets and the training
throughput were used elsewhere in the community. However, the
replacement is the EA-18G. IOC for this aircraft is supposed to be
2009.

How many has Congress funded, appropriated the money for
construction, and are underway at Boeing?

Two prototypes building now, I believe, with additional test aircraft in the
next couple of years.

You and I both know that Congress doesn't fund procurement in advance and
the program isn't at the stage where mass production is possible. But there
was something like $400 million in the FY 05 Appropriations bill for EA-18G
development, and it looks like the EA-18G is included in the current
multiyear procurement authority for Super Hornets. So it's not a certainty,
but it's far from vaporware.

Last I heard, USAF is
still pushing the F-22 variant,

Unless they've hung an arresting hook on the plane, it's not a starter for
the USN. In any case, what has been talked about for the USAF in the same
timeframe is more likely B-52s with jammer gear. The JSF/F-35 is also being
talked about. I've seen no one mention the F/A-22 as a jammer recently.

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