Grumman A-6 Intruder & EA-6B Prowler
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Warpaint Series 146
Author: Andy Evans
Publisher: Guideline Publications
ISBN: 978-1916759220
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 56
While Grumman made a name for themselves building US Navy fighter aircraft, they also branched out into other types, including the E-2 Hawkeye AWACS plane and the subject of this book, the A-6 Intruder & EA-6B Prowler. Following the typical Warpaint treatment, this book starts out with the development of the Intruder as a replacement for the Douglas A-1 Skyraider and covering the initial A-6A production. Following the origins, the book then moves into the later variants, with sections on the A-6B, A-6C, KA-6D, and A-6E, as well as the final A-6F & A-6G that didn’t enter production. After the variant description, the book then goes into a brief operational history, which has to be brief given the decades of service the Intruder had.
The book does not stop with just the bomber variant, though, and next up is the electronic warfare variants. The first one of those was the EA-6A Intruder, which first showed up shortly after the initial A-6 entered service. These planes proved the concept of an electronic warfare Intruder but also highlighted the need for an improved version. The result of that brought about the EA-6B Prowler, the four-seat electronic warfare version that ended up being the longest-lived variant with the last USMC unit finally retiring the type in 2019.
Complementing the written history, this book is filled with excellent photos showing the wide variety of colors, markings, and camouflage schemes worn by the Intruders & Prowlers over the decades. Early on, these aircraft were quite colorful, which then became very drab with the adoption of the TPS low visibility camouflage. Balancing these photos are the color profiles that further document the schemes and markings.
This is a welcome addition to the extensive Warpaint Series and is a good choice for a library looking for a solid all-around reference on the A-6/EA-6A Intruder and EA-6B Prowler. My thanks to Guideline Publications for the review copy. Visit their website for more information on this title and the Warpaint Series as a whole.