Back to news

November 30, 2018 | International, C4ISR

What will forces need in complex EW environment?

By:

Sophisticated adversaries have been leveraging the electromagnetic spectrum to create significant dilemmas for U.S. and allied forces, say officials, and transformative efforts are needed to deal with an increasing complicated threat.

“China is outspending us probably 10 to 1 on trying to figure out how to use and manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum. Russia showed us what they're going to do with it in their incursion into Ukraine ... Electromagnetic warfare, electronic warfare at the maneuver level,” Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the annual Association of Old Crows symposium held Nov. 28 in Washington, D.C.

“We haven't designed ourselves to fight that fight. They have demonstrated that they are not only willing, but they're [also] capable of deploying and employing electronic countermeasures at the ground and maneuver level. It is a reality that we are going to have to adjust to.”

The capabilities forces need

For the Army, it's not going to be one thing, Col. Mark Dotson, the capabilities manager for electronic warfare at the Cyber Center of Excellence, said at the symposium Nov. 27. There have to be layered capabilities and effects, each increasing range and sensing capability.

“We're still sorting through that,” Dotson said, noting the need to develop from the current tactical focus all the way to the strategic level.

“We're trying to expand our scope and get into what are those other things we need. Do we need artillery delivered capability? Do we need loitering munitions? Is it going to manned or is it an unmanned aircraft?”

In addition, Dotson said, the Army needs systems integrating EW, cyber and signals intelligence, and the service has started generating requirements working with the Intelligence Center of Excellence and the Cyber Center of Excellence.

“I think SIGINT and EW go hand in hand, so us not sharing going forward and working like a team like we do now makes no sense,” Col. Jennifer McAfee, Dotson's counterpart for Terrestrial and Identity at the Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, told C4ISRNET in a November interview.

McAfee added that the team is also joining up with the other centers of excellence to ensure that when they are pursuing requirements for airborne or ground systems, the Intelligence and Cyber centers are plugged in to leverage EW expertise and not create duplicative efforts.

Geolocating solutions

Others across the joint force have expressed the desire for more decoys, physical or non-physical, to confuse or confound enemy systems.

“It's network electronic warfare from air, sea and land; it's smart warfare combined with advanced decoys, whether they're physical decoys or cyber decoys out there; drones, swarms and jamming drones,” Col. John Edwards, commander of the 28th Bomb Wing, said at the symposium.

“Things that go out there to where an air defense operator cannot distinguish between what is cyber and what is real out there.”

Such aerial systems can be used to either overwhelm or distract air defenses, allowing strike aircraft to penetrate, or take the point jamming the air defenses and thus assuming all the risk leaving the more expensive and manned systems in the rear.

On the ground side, officials have also discussed the need for more investments in decoys.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of Army Cyber Command, told reporters in August that big investments needed to be made in this area. He envisioned forces being able to drop a decoy emitting strong signals off a truck at a fork in the road, thus drawing enemy attention to it.

“Now we're presenting multiple dilemmas to the adversary,” he said.

One of the difficulties of modern warfare is all jammers and sensors emit some kind of a signal in the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning they can be geolocated and targeted. This means if an enemy wants to use it, they have to take into account a risk calculus in revealing their position.

“Jammers are emitters, emitters are targets. I think that's something we really ought to be thinking about,” Selva said. “If you're going to operate in an electronically dense environment ... the tools actually reveal their position."

Similarly, decoys can be used to throw adversaries off the trail of friendly forces or distract from other items forces might want to protect.

”If I have something like a counterfire radar, that's really important to me. Maybe what I want to do, again, is push an alternate threat to the adversary," Fogarty said.

In these complex environments, Selva said forces need to be able to identify, localize and characterize the jammer. If that's possible, then forces can decide what to do with it. If the answer is they want to kill it, they have to have a tool to kill it.

“If you can't do all three of those things, the jamming is very effective,” he said.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/11/29/what-will-forces-need-in-complex-ew-environment

On the same subject

  • Norway orders state-of-the-art Leopard 2 A7 tanks: Rheinmetall supplying main armament, fire control technology and sensors

    April 14, 2023 | International, Land

    Norway orders state-of-the-art Leopard 2 A7 tanks: Rheinmetall supplying main armament, fire control technology and sensors

    For Rheinmetall, the total value of the order comes to ?129 million?if Norway exercises the option to procure additional Leopard 2 tanks, the order will be worth an additional ?44...

  • Northrop offers Triton drones to Australia, as US budget request pauses orders

    March 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    Northrop offers Triton drones to Australia, as US budget request pauses orders

    By: Nigel Pittaway MELBOURNE, Australia — Faced with a possible two-year production pause in the wake of the Trump administratoin's fiscal 2021 budget request, Northrop Grumman is offering to accelerate MQ-4C Triton drone production for Australia at what it says is the lowest price it has ever offered for an unmanned platform. Under the budget request, funding for U.S. Navy MQ-4C acquisition will be suspended until at least FY23, and aircraft that was to be built in low-rate initial production Lots 6 and 7 will now be deferred. However, the proposal leaves the door open for Triton production to recommence in 2023 while securing funds to complete development of the IFC 4 variant of the drone. This latter model is required by the U.S. Navy to replace its aging fleet of Lockheed Martin-made EP-3E Aries II aircraft used for signals reconnaissance. Speaking in Canberra on March 4, Northrop's chief executive in Australia, Chris Deeble, said the company's proposal is to move forward production of five aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force into the current, and funded, low-rate initial production 5 batch during the two years the U.S. Navy might not buy the aircraft. “PB21 has created an incredible opportunity for Australia. We've been working with the U.S. Navy to provide an option to buy the rest of their aircraft as part of the LRIP 5 contract,” Deeble said. “That provides a significant unit-cost saving to Australia, so now's the time to buy more than ever.” Australia has a requirement for six Tritons, built to the IFC 4 standard, under Project Air 7000 Phase 1B. However, it currently has only one aircraft on order, which would be built as part of LRIP 5 and requires a more finalized contract by May 15 if the plan is to go ahead. Deeble said Australia will need to make a decision on the additional five aircraft by the end of June. Northrop Grumman's proposal is to add the five Australian aircraft to the existing three aircraft in LRIP 5 (two U.S. Navy and one RAAF aircraft), bringing the total to eight. Deeble said the offer preserves Australia's planned funding profile for Triton acquisition and that the delivery schedule will remain the same. Should Australia finalize an agreement to meet its six-Triton requirement, it expects to receive them between 2023 and 2025, with declaration of final operational capability in the 2025-2026 time frame. "The two key points are, this will probably the best price you will be able to achieve for the Triton capability, and we're remaining within the [Australian] defense profile,” Deeble added. “We also look to provide Australian industry opportunities as a consequence. And committing to an additional five aircraft in LRIP 5 will provide about AU$56 million [(U.S. $37 million)] of opportunity in that regard.” https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2020/03/04/northrop-offers-triton-drones-to-australia-as-us-budget-request-pauses-orders/

  • BAE Systems awarded $2.5 billion in contracts with Denmark and Sweden for new CV90 combat vehicles

    December 9, 2024 | International, Land

    BAE Systems awarded $2.5 billion in contracts with Denmark and Sweden for new CV90 combat vehicles

    Under these contracts, Denmark is procuring 115 new CV9035MkIIICs, while Sweden has agreed to acquire a total of 50 new vehicles.

All news