The future of Airborne Electronic Attack Aircraft visited Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Monday, providing gawkers a glimpse of sleek things to come.

A test EA-18G Growler, up from China Lake, Calif., on its way to Patuxent River, Md., made a stop at NAS Whidbey on a blustery Pacific Northwest morning. As the aircraft taxied in, it sidled up to its predecessor, the EA-6B Prowler. The two aircraft side-by-side looked like a Jenny Craig “before and after.”

“It flies real nice,” said Cmdr. Al Bradford with an infectious grin as he stood next to the impressive new aircraft.

Admittedly a “Prowler guy by trade,” Bradford wouldn’t admit that flying the Growler was exactly like going from a Yugo to a Ferrari. But almost.

“It’s got a lot more power, it handles a lot better, it turns really nice,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to fly. It’s way more user-friendly. The transition will be a huge leap for us.”

The Growler combines the state-of-the-art, two-seat twin-engine F/A-18F Block Two Super Hornet with the EA-6B Improved Capability III system, providing next-generation electronic attack capability to the long-awaited replacement aircraft. In contrast, the Prowler requires twice the manpower.

Capt. Tom Tack greeted military personnel, media representatives, and community members with the Growler looming majestically in the background. An imposing, camouflage-clad servicewoman with an M-16 patrolled the tarmac. With the average, venerable Prowler just over 26 years old, Tack said there is an inherent difference in tactical prowess between the two jets.

“It’s a great day for the Electronic Attack community at Whidbey, great day for NAS Whidbey, great day for Oak Harbor and the Whidbey Island community, and really it’s a great day for the Navy and the Department of Defense because we are making a huge leap in the right direction with this airplane,” Tack said.

The captain said with more modernized systems and far easier — and cost effective —maintenance, the Growler is a superior aircraft.

“I can tell you, I’m going to be one envious retired captain when this thing hits the fleet in a year-and-a-half or so,” Tack said, adding that the sneak preview served as tangible proof of the aircraft’s existence. “It is a testament that this is not just an airplane on paper. It’s alive, it’s well, it’s here at Whidbey and it is the future of this base and the future of Electronic Attack for the United States Navy.”

The first jet will arrive in July 2008 and the Navy will rapidly transition 10 squadrons in a three-year timeframe starting in September of next year.

“Starting next summer you’ll see the airplanes arriving and by the end of 2012 all the EA-6Bs will be gone from NAS Whidbey and it will be an all-Growler airfield,” Tack said. “By the end of 2012 we anticipate being out of the EA-6B business.”

The Navy should see a slight decrease in the amount of military personnel required to fly and maintain the new aircraft, the captain said.

“The size of the community is going to shrink just a little bit,” Tack said. “Obviously the air crew is going to go from four crew members per airplane to only two. The airplane is significant in that it is easier to maintain. What you’re looking at here is about seven man hours for every flight hour. The EA-6B over here is about 57 man hours per flight hour, so we’re going to have a significantly easier aircraft to maintain and you’ll see a slight degradation in the size of the squadron, but it will be relatively insignificant.”

The EA-18G is being built by the industry team of Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Electric Aircraft Engines, Raytheon, and nearly 1,800 other suppliers. Boeing representative Robert Papakakis said testing is being carried out in phases in China Lake and Patuxent River. The final phase — called operational evaluation — should take place late next year.

“Testing is continual up until then,” he said. “It’s going very well so far.”

Oak Harbor Mayor Patty Cohen admired the plane along with members of the city council.

“The fact that it has finally arrived, that it’s sitting here on the tarmac, and it’s exactly what the men and women here at the naval air station need in order to take their training to the next level and be the best they can be,” she said. “That is fantastic.”

Once the aircraft start arriving, the mayor is hoping for a ride.

“That would be the highlight of my life, I think,” she said.