by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington D.C.) Several years ago, former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert made the interesting and impactful statement that “whoever controls the electromagnetic spectrum” will prevail in future wars.
US Navy EA-G Growler & EW Technology
This statement resonated across the service and, to a certain extent, anticipated the fast-growing Pentagon emphasis upon EW. The US Navy EA-G Growler EW aircraft for example, has not only been critical for decades but is now breakthrough to new dimensions of tactical significance, given the rapid maturation of EW technology and its ability to impact combat.
For many years, EW weapons have been able to find a “line of bearing” and identify enemy communications signals, radar, and even some electronic guidance. Passive EW can search for signals without emitting a signature and giving away its location, whereas active EW weapons can effectively “jam” or disable enemy electronics. It takes little imagination to see how impactful this can be in combat, as “blinding” enemy communications and weapons guidance systems could certainly determine the outcome in warfare.
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More recent applications of EW have been rapidly merging with cyber operations and even AI-empowered computer systems. Advanced EW can now accomplish several key things such as identify signals and actually “deconflict” the spectrum to a certain extent, distinguish friendly from hostile signatures and even specify which kinds of signals they are. Antenna technology has also evolved such that it can increasingly be omni directional and tailor its signature to specific areas and not emit a more detectable 360-degree signal for enemies to detect.
Part of the intent, especially for offensive EW weapons, is to emit a more streamlined, precise signal which can be more impactful but also emit a much smaller and less detectable signature. EW can also include “frequency hopping” wherein weapons guidance systems can, for example, hop from one frequency to another to essentially stay on track to a target and essentially “counter” enemy countermeasures and keep a weapon on track to its target.
This kind of technology is critical with the Growler, a longstanding platform able to help protect other aircraft from being jammed or disabled by enemy EW. It can help establish a protective EW “bubble” in support of key attack aircraft, while also operating with a capacity for offensive operations. Depending upon range, Growler emitted EW might be able to blind enemy ship or ground radar, better enabling missiles to make it to their target without being intercepted. EW is also increasingly able to identify and disable RF guidance systems directing incoming enemy weapons. The more streamlined, narrow and targeted an electromagnetic signal is, the less detectable it is, one reason why weapons developers are engineering EW weapons to emit multiple “pencil-like” electronic beams.
This technology is critical to Growler modernization as it is being engineered with the cutting edge Next-Gen Jammer technology, a system which can track and jam multiple signals at one time and operate on a greater number of frequencies. This multiplies combat options and increases both an attack and defensive envelope.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19 FortyFive 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.
