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WHY THE GROWLER DEMO TEAM IN 2026?

I know some are asking why do we need airshows and in particular the Growler Demo Team in 2026? It’s always a legitimate question that deserves an intelligent response, so here’s my best attempt.

I'm sure some will inquire about the environmental impact, the fiscal impact and the dangers. But to airshow goers like I, the public exhibition of risk is one of the objectives. It's naturally risky to be in aviation because aviators are taking up a dare to fight the oldest forces known to humanity: gravity and drag to counter with thrust and lift, albeit with safety in mind. That's aviation for you.

To quote from the YouTube “Airshow Team Growler” as one of the pilots, “Mr. Rogers” explained, “Our primary mission is to showcase the capabilities and performance of the EA-18G Growler to the American public.” This is done by having instructor aircrew take the EA-18G Growler to the maximum performance with precision in a controlled environment. Also this year, the team is a bit more diverse, with two women aircrew who were not caught up in the events of May 17, 2025, as the Growler Demo Team operates with four pilots and four electronic warfare officers (EWOs).

See the airshow community is the most inclusive I've been in, and ever will be in. Nobody cares who you voted for at an airshow. Just that you requite the public servants’ love enough to vote and give back. Airshows are all about patriotism, building community, opening your mind to learning new skills, and optimizing your full potential in service to community. To me, it’s worth booking expensive airfare to go attend airshows.

Additionally, no other professional sport has humans operating machines in close formation at high speed and low altitude, looking so beautiful doing so as spectators see the speed, hear plus feel the sound, and smell the airshow. Not something you can experience on a screen. I’m deeply proud we have an airshow demo team at NAS Whidbey Island, and I hope the lessons learnt from May 17’s events allow the team to continue building community plus inspiring my fellow airshow fans. Let's hope for airshows forever.

"Today, our aircraft manufacturers are producing unprecedented volumes of aircraft in demand by the military and are continuously working on the development of modern aviation systems. The two-seat version of the Su-57, developed by specialists at the Sukhoi Design Bureau, can be used not only for pilot training but also for organizing and managing combat operations of a joint group of manned and unmanned aircraft, creating a unified information and control space," Rostec said.

This is part of a broader push to enhance the capabilities of the Luftwaffe. While the Tranche 4 jets are slated to replace the Luftwaffe’s early Tranche 1 aircraft, which have far more limited capabilities, Berlin also plans on buying another 55 Eurofighters as a partial replacement for the Tornado swing-wing combat jet. As well as these 93 Tranche 4 Eurofighters, Germany has ordered a batch of 20 Tranche 5 Eurofighters, with a contract for these signed late last year.

Falling outside the scope of Project Quadriga, but just as important for the Luftwaffe, is the plan to transform 15 existing Eurofighters into electronic warfare aircraft. The resulting Typhoon EK jets will feature an Arexis electronic warfare suite from Saab and be able to employ AGM-88E Advanced Anti-radiation Guided Missiles to suppress and destroy enemy air defenses. The EKs will replace Germany’s Tornado ECR jets that have been serving in this role since the 1990s and will give the Luftwaffe an important capability boost.

The practical result: government programmers can reprogram the jammer to counter new threats without sending it back to the contractor for expensive, time-consuming code changes. When an adversary adapts its radar tactics, NAWCWD’s team can update the jammer’s response in days instead of waiting months for a contract modification.
“This enabled the government operators of the pods to generate a huge variety of high-performance electronic attack techniques at vastly reduced costs and development times, as compared to other systems,” said Roger Dickerson, principal research engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute.