Two U.S. Electronic Warfare Aircraft Collide and Crash: How Significant is the Damage? Why Did They Get Stuck in Midair?

Two U.S. Navy fighter jets collided in mid-air and crashed on the 17th, with four crew members ejecting to escape. At the time, the "Gunfighter Skies Airshow" was being held at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, aimed at commemorating aviation history and showcasing modern military power. However, the crash of the two EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft has drawn significant global media attention.

Why did the two planes get stuck in mid-air?

Video footage shows that the two electronic warfare aircraft made contact in the air, becoming stuck and unable to separate, even hovering momentarily in mid-air, a scene that is quite rare. Military enthusiasts commented, "The footage looks so bizarre it seems AI-generated." What exactly caused this? Xiao Ning, deputy editor of "Weapons" magazine, analyzed: the flight altitude was insufficient, preventing the two fighter jets from executing evasive maneuvers.

Xiao Ning: After the collision, the engines of both aircraft likely malfunctioned, and their flight attitudes completely changed. The wings, vertical stabilizers, and horizontal stabilizers could no longer provide normal aerodynamic lift and control torque, making it impossible to maintain flight. Additionally, the aircraft were already in a low-altitude, low-speed state, lacking the height and speed to support evasive maneuvers. The engine thrust could not keep the aircraft level or climbing, and they were in a near-stationary unstable state for a short time, appearing to hover while actually beginning to descend and enter a crash state. Even if the pilots pushed the throttle to the max and turned the controls fully, they could not change the situation. This brief "hovering" was merely an illusion; to execute evasive maneuvers, a height of over two to three thousand meters is needed. The pilots could use training maneuvers like a tailspin to recover, but the altitude in this incident was too low, completely lacking the conditions for recovery.

Xiao Ning believes that the Growler pilots from the VAQ-129 Electronic Attack Squadron based in Whidbey Island, Washington, should not have been assigned to perform such a risky and tight formation flying display.

Xiao Ning: The EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft is large, being a two-seat model, and the upgraded F/A-18E/F has a larger wingspan and overall body compared to the earlier F/A-18A/B models, which affects maneuverability and response speed. If there is a mistake in control or coordination, it is easy to have a mid-air collision. From this exercise, there were indeed hidden dangers in the performance coordination. First, the two pilots did not fully understand the on-site performance actions and stunt choreography, nor did they have sufficient mutual coordination. Secondly, the VAQ-129 squadron also has to undertake combat missions, and switching from combat tasks to demonstration stunts can expose problems if there is no long-term, practiced muscle memory training, especially in high-demand, high-pressure public demonstration tasks.

△ U.S. military EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft

What is the extent of the loss for the U.S. military due to the crash of the EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft?

It is estimated that the crash of these two Growler electronic warfare aircraft resulted in over $200 million in direct economic losses for the U.S. Navy. Why is this aircraft so valuable? Military expert Fu Qianshao explains that its high cost is primarily due to its "electronic" capabilities.

Fu Qianshao: This electronic warfare aircraft is currently the only relatively advanced tactical carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft in the U.S. military. It is generally used to escort air assault formations, undertaking "door-kicking" missions, entering enemy territory densely populated with radar or air defense weapon systems to implement both soft and hard kills. Soft kill involves launching strong electromagnetic interference waves, while hard kill involves launching anti-radiation missiles to attack enemy radar or communication systems. Its unit price is relatively high, as it typically requires several electronic countermeasure pods, making it much more expensive than the F/A-18E/F. Since the EA-18G is deployed on aircraft carriers, the U.S. currently has only about a few dozen of them. The quantity is already insufficient, and with two aircraft lost, the damage is quite significant.

They are already expensive, and the numbers are low; they are indispensable in wartime, and looking back, they are basically out of production. Losing one means one less, and this incident has put the U.S. military in a particularly awkward position. Fortunately, at the moment the two aircraft began to descend, four parachutes deployed. Why did four pilots eject from the two aircraft?

Fu Qianshao: The value of these pilots is quite high. One is responsible for flying the aircraft, while the other mainly handles the electronic warfare equipment and electronic devices. Previously, tactical electronic warfare aircraft like the EA-6B had four crew members, but now with the EA-18G, there are only two, which increases the workload significantly.