From the Pentagon to the battlefield, electronic warfare (EW) is a very big deal.
It seems like every day there are new tools, machines and applications that come into creation specifically to aid in the domain of electronic battles.
For example, the U.S. Air Force recently received its first new Compass Call electronic warfare plane.
The Compass Call will conduct a variety of electronic warfare missions to jam enemy signals, including communications, radar and navigation systems. This is expected to include suppressing enemy air defenses by blocking their ability to transmit information between weapon systems and command-and-control networks.
The U.S. Army has a new EW weapon of its own called the Terrestrial Layer System-Brigade Combat Team (TLS-BCT) that is expected to combine cyber, jamming and signals intelligence capabilities.
TLS-BCT is meant to provide smaller Army formations a means to understand their surroundings and disrupt networks and advanced electronics wielded by China, Russia and others. Control of the electromagnetic spectrum is critical in warfare, as it is used for weapons guidance, friendly communications, deception and enemy suppression.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has also made its way into electronic warfare.
One method for overcoming adversarial jamming in electronic warfare is AI-based STAP (space-time adaptive processing).
AI-based STAP uses machine learning algorithms to autonomously and adaptively probe, sense, and characterize threats and then automatically generate countermeasures to new, undefined threats in real time.
The DoD is also taking a hard look at offensive capabilities, broadly referred to as AI-based CEW (cognitive electronic warfare). These technologies help the military more effectively jam or spoof an adversary’s radar.
Additionally, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), is working on three closely related projects that apply AI to the EMS and target either radar or wireless communications.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Introduction to Electronic Warfare, a 3-day course that covers the basics of Electronic Warfare (EW) foundation designed for analysts, engineers, electrical engineers, project managers, electronic warfare technical professionals.
Introduction to Electronic Warfare provides the foundation for understanding the basic concepts underlying electronic warfare (EW). This course uses a practical building-block approach to facilitate student comprehension of the essential subject matter associated with the combat applications of EW.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.