Nine years ago the Navy retired its dedicated carrier tanker, carrier anti-sub, and a plane with double the range of anything flying off the deck....

Story here.

This story is enough to make you get a bit emotional and to wonder what they were thinking.  The weird thing?  They're trying to recapture all these capabilities when they have airframes sitting in the desert that can be easily refurbished for use today.

If all of the above isn't bad enough then focus on the ES-3A model.  Electronic warfare back in vogue?  Well this would be an AWESOME supplement to the Growler....if we were serious about EW!

I guess this magnificent airplane suffered from the biggest sin in aviation.  It just plain worked well but wasn't sexy enough.