by JOSEPH TREVITHICK

The EA-6B Prowler—one of the United States’ oldest warplanes—won’t be around in a few years. But until then, the bulbous, twin-engine jet will spend its time scrambling Islamic State’s radios and cell phones.

Navy Prowlers attached to the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush first jammed Islamic State last year. But the Navy’s EA-6Bs left the area in November as the Bush returned home.

Now the Marine Corps is flying the EA-6B over Iraq from an undisclosed air base, officials with the Marines’ Middle East headquarters tell War Is Boring.

The Prowler first flew in 1971 … and it’s still flying.

An aging electronic warfare plane designed to scramble enemy radars, the Prowler can now shut down everything from a jihadi’s smartphone to bombs triggered by garage door openers.

The warplanes—part of Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron Four—arrived just as the Navy’s EA-6Bs left. The Marines’ Prowlers are part of a new crisis response force in the Middle East.

Given the nature of the Prowler’s mission, the Pentagon considers the veteran airplane a highly sensitive asset—and officials are tight-lipped about what the plane can precisely do.

The jets—a stretched version of the now-obsolete A-6 bomber—can carry missiles for homing in and destroying radar transmitters. The Prowler can also detect Islamic State signals, which is useful for gathering intelligence.

But despite the Navy’s EA-6Bs leaving the Middle East, the sailing branch still has its own jammers in the region. The flattop USS Carl Vinson is in the Persian Gulf with a squadron of considerably more modern EA-18G Growler electronic-attack jets.