What you should know about the type of Navy jet that crashed near Mount Rainier

UPDATE: Search crews located the wreckage of the missing Navy aircraft near Mount Rainier on the afternoon of Oct. 16. Air search crews found the EA-18G Growler crash site on a “mountain slope east of Mount Rainier” around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. to the North Island Naval Air Station.

WASHINGTON – A Navy aircraft crashed east of Mount Rainier during a “routine training flight” on Tuesday.

According to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI), the two crew members were still unaccounted for Wednesday morning after the Navy EA-18G Growler crashed around 3:23 p.m. on Tuesday.

The EA-18G Growler is similar to the F/A-18F Super Hornet – the US Navy Blue Angels jet type – and features sophisticated electronic warfare equipment. All Growler squadrons are based at NASWI, except for one squadron (VAQ-141), which is based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.

According to the Navy’s website, the similarities between Growler and Super Hornet jets provide the Growler with scope for future upgrades and growth.

The Growler jets cost about $67 million each and are built by Boeing. The aircraft has a pilot at the front and an electronics technician behind him.

PHOTOS: The Boeing EA-18G Growler

Production of the Growler test aircraft began in 2004 and completed its first flight in 2006. It wasn’t until 2008 that the first production aircraft arrived on Whidbey Island, and the jet wasn’t used in combat until 2011.

“Within the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy is the sole operator of the Growler, although the EA-18G is operated cooperatively with the Royal Australian Air Force,” the Navy wrote on its website.

The two-seat Growler was the successor to the four-seat EA-6B Prowler, an aircraft no longer operated. The Prowler, which arrived at NASWI in 1971, required a pilot and three electronic countermeasures officers to operate.

The Growler was able to be downsized to two operators when it replaced the Prowler due to the new ALQ-218 receiver, improved connectivity and connected displays.

Before the Growler, the Prowler was an important aircraft used to jam and destroy enemy radars. According to the National Naval Aviation Museum, the Prowler was instrumental in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

According to the Navy, the Growler is “the Navy’s first line of defense in hostile environments.”

The Super Hornet and the Growler serve different missions, the Navy said shortly after the Growler began combat operations.

Combatant commanders use the Super Hornet to conduct offensive and defensive air combat missions, attack ground targets, refuel other aircraft in the air and provide organic tactical reconnaissance capabilities.

The Growler, on the other hand, is used by combatant commanders to counter enemy radar and communications systems, jam integrated air defense systems, “support non-integrated air defense missions and emerging non-lethal target groups, and provide enhanced lethal suppression through high-speed precision defense systems” targeting radiation missiles.

Boeing said the Growler is “the most advanced airborne electronic attack (AEA) platform and the only one currently in production.”

The 60.2-foot-long and 16-foot-tall Growler has a thrust force of 44,000 pounds. The jet has a wingspan of 44.9 feet and weighs 33,094 pounds when empty.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.