By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Surrounded by enemy fire, trapped in a valley between mountains and unable to use certain sensors, drones, fire-control and radar applications, a forward-positioned Army infantry unit suddenly finds itself with no radio, sensors, electronics… or GPS. Their communications are jammed, disabled and rendered useless, making them isolated and vulnerable to lethal air and ground attacks. Does this outnumbered infantry unit have any options with which to avoid destruction? How can they get air support or armored vehicle reinforcement?
This very realistic possible threat scenario, increasingly becoming more ominous with modern technical advances, is precisely why the Army, Navy, Air Force are moving quickly to modernize its arsenal of electronic weapons — and further integrate them with cyber systems. With an increasingly crowded and complex electromagnetic spectrum, contemporary electronic warfare threats are naturally extremely serious, as they can operate on a greater number of frequencies, attack with greater range and strength and fire from less detectable locations.
What if a carrier strike group were suddenly overwhelmed by an incoming salvo of anti-ship and ballistic missiles too numerous for ship-fired interceptors to counter in time? This kind of scenario is a key reason the Navy continues to fast-track EW-driven ship defenses capable of finding and “jamming” the guidance systems and RF sensing of approaching weapons so as to interfere, jam and “throw them” off course.
Years ago, former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert famously made the statement that “whoever dominates the electromagnetic spectrum” will prevail in future conflict. Certainly the ability to control, monitor or jam enemy communications, radar, weapons guidance systems and drone datalinks and RF signals could prove decisive in any modern warfare engagement.
The ability to “blind” an enemy, overwhelm or disable air defenses and radar and deny an adversary the ability to communicate or target could determine victory in war. With this in mind, the US military services have for years now been fast-tracking multiple EW technologies.
EW programs are varied and far-reaching, spanning from frequency-jamming counter IED EW developed years ago in Iraq to more recent ship-integrated EW called SEWIP, for Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program. SEWIP is designed to jam guidance systems of incoming enemy anti-ship missiles, blind enemy RF communications and datalinks connecting drones to helicopters and ships. The latest increment, called Block 3 SEWIP, is increasingly able to deconflict the spectrum, jam systems at longer ranges and operate on a greater number of frequencies. Aircraft systems such as the now airborne Next-Generation Jammer pod are able to jam multiple frequencies at one time, and fighter jets such as the F-35 now operate with increasingly sophisticated EW systems.
High Tech EW
Some of the newest EW systems use what is referred to as narrowly configured “pencil beams” designed to emit a more precise, yet smaller and less detectable signature. Naturally broad, wide-ranging large EW emissions can give away a position by letting an enemy detect a location or find a “line-of-bearing” into electronic systems. This goal can also be achieved through the use of omni-directional antennas which can tailor the direction or scale of an electronic signature to reduce the possibility of being detected.
However, despite rapid advances with these systems and ongoing upgrades, a prominent member of Congress is concerned that EW is not being developed and integrated fast enough.
“I’m seeing a lot of talk, a lot of thinking going on behind closed doors. I don’t see the output, the actual combat capability output that we need in EW. We’re not there yet,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired electronic warfare one-star general with the Air Force, said earlier this week during an event hosted by the Hudson Institute. “A lot of planning, not a lot of output. We’re just too slow.”
Bacon’s comments align with and support many ongoing Pentagon initiatives aimed at rapid integration of commercial-off-the-shelf technologies able to be adapted for military use. Technological advances are taking place so rapidly that military weapons developers are making new efforts to harvest innovations of great relevance and integrate them into evolving weapons systems. Bacon’s comments speak to and underscore the Pentagon’s longstanding effort to expedite the acquisition and weapons development process into a more streamlined, fast-developing system. The concept is to ensure weapons development keeps pace with technological progress and ensures that the latest innovations are woven into evolving systems as they emerge. This prevents government developed technology from being obsolete by the time they are operational and instead ensures they continue to operate on the cutting edge.
One way the Pentagon seeks to do this, and it is an ever-evolving approach, is to advance what it calls “open architecture,” a term referring to the use of common standards and IP protocols to ensure the technological infrastructure is in place to accommodate new systems, technologies and innovations as they emerge. Integration is the focus, and many current EW weapons developers seek to engineer news systems which can easily be upgraded by software.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. This was originally posted on 19FortyFive.com as part of a syndication agreement to publish their content. You can find more of their content at 19FortyFive.com
