(Click to Embiggen)
GULF OF THAILAND (Aug. 11, 2011) Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) Airman Raymond Burrell, from Orlando, Fla., and Airman Thomas Robertson, from Sarepta, Calif., fuel an EA-6B Prowler assigned to the Gauntlets of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136 aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jacob D. Moore/Released)
Boq
All A-6 airframes (A-6B, KA-6B, EA-6B) were scheduled for phased retirement beginning in 1994, when the stealthy, super-duper (and super-expensive) A-12 was supposed to start rolling off the assembly lines. Problem is, the A-12 was cancelled in 1991, but the A-6 retirement schedule was never changed to reflect that.
After some mad scrambling in 1994, the Navy realized that neither the F-14 nor the F-18 would ever be the bomb truck that the A-6B was, and the F-18 couldn't carry the fuel load of the KA-6B tanker variant, and so it bought the "upgraded" (i.e., bigger and heavier) F/A--18E. Then someone realized that the Navy still had a need for an aerial jammer, and some more scrambling resulted in the F/A-18F, which had two basic problems -- it didn't have the loiter time, and its wings were too thin to support jamming pods, generators *and* anti-radar missiles.
In a rare demonstration of common sense, the Navy dug in its heels on the E/A-6B and gave it new wings, an additional mission, and a new designation -- the E/A-6G.