Electromagnetic warfare
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Electromagnetic warfare or electronic warfare
The electromagnetic environment
Military operations are executed in an information environment increasingly complicated by the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum portion of the information environment is referred to as the electromagnetic environment (EME). The recognized need for military forces to have unimpeded access to and use of the electromagnetic environment creates vulnerabilities and opportunities for electronic warfare in support of military operations.[2]
Within the information operations construct, EW is an element of information warfare; more specifically, it is an element of offensive and defensive counterinformation.[4]
NATO has a different and arguably[citation needed] more encompassing and comprehensive approach to EW.[5] A military committee conceptual document from 2007, MCM_0142 Nov 2007 Military Committee Transformation Concept for Future NATO Electronic Warfare,[citation needed] recognised the EME as an operational maneuver space and warfighting environment/domain. In NATO, EW is considered to be warfare in the EME. NATO has adopted simplified language which parallels those used in other warfighting environments like maritime, land, and air/space. For example, an electronic attack (EA) is offensive use of EM energy, electronic defense (ED), and electronic surveillance (ES). The use of the traditional NATO EW terms, electronic countermeasures (ECM), electronic protective measures (EPM), and electronic support measures (ESM) has been retained as they contribute to and support electronic attack (EA), electronic defense (ED) and electronic surveillance (ES). Besides EW, other EM operations include intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), and signals intelligence (SIGINT). Subsequently, NATO has issued EW policy and doctrine and is addressing the other NATO defense lines of development.
Primary EW activities have been developed over time to exploit the opportunities and vulnerabilities that are inherent in the
Subdivisions
Electronic warfare consists of three major subdivisions: electronic attack (EA), electronic protection (EP), and electronic warfare support (ES).[2][6]
Electronic attack
Electronic attack (EA), also known as electronic countermeasures (ECM), involves the offensive use of electromagnetic energy weapons, directed energy weapons, or anti-radiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities, or equipment with the intent of degrading, neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capability including human life. In the case of electromagnetic energy, this action is most commonly referred to as "jamming" and can be performed on communications systems or radar systems. In the case of anti-radiation weapons, this often includes missiles or bombs that can home in on a specific signal (radio or radar) and follow that path directly to impact, thus destroying the system broadcasting.
Electronic protection
Electronic protection (EP), also known as an electronic protective measure (EPM) or electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM) are a measure used to protect against an electronic enemy attack (EA) or to protect against friendly forces who unintentionally deploy the equivalent of an electronic attack on friendly forces. (sometimes called EW fratricide).[7] The effectiveness of electronic protection (EP) level is the ability to counter an electronic attack (EA).
Flares are often used to distract
Electronic warfare self-protection (EWSP) is a suite of countermeasure systems fitted primarily to aircraft for the purpose of protecting the host from weapons fire and can include, among others: directional infrared countermeasures (
An electronic warfare tactics range (EWTR) is a practice range that provides training for personnel operating in electronic warfare. There are two examples of such ranges in Europe: one at RAF Spadeadam in the northwest county of Cumbria, England, and the Multinational Aircrew Electronic Warfare Tactics Facility Polygone range on the border between Germany and France. EWTRs are equipped with ground-based equipment to simulate electronic warfare threats that aircrew might encounter on missions. Other EW training and tactics ranges are available for ground and naval forces as well.
Antifragile EW is a step beyond standard EP, occurring when a communications link being jammed actually increases in capability as a result of a jamming attack, although this is only possible under certain circumstances such as reactive forms of jamming.[8]
In November 2021,
Electronic warfare support
Electronic warfare support (ES) is a subdivision of EW involving actions taken by an operational commander or operator to detect, intercept, identify, locate, and/or localize sources of intended and unintended radiated electromagnetic (EM) energy. These Electronic Support Measures (ESM) aim to enable immediate threat recognition focuses on serving military service needs even in the most tactical, rugged, and extreme environments. This is often referred to as simply reconnaissance, although today, more common terms are intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) or intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR). The purpose is to provide immediate recognition, prioritization, and targeting of threats to battlefield commanders.[2]
The distinction between SIGINT and ES is determined by the controller of the collection assets, the information provided, and the intended purpose of the information. Electronic warfare support is conducted by assets under the operational control of a commander to provide tactical information, specifically threat prioritization, recognition, location, targeting, and avoidance. However, the same assets and resources that are tasked with ES can simultaneously collect information that meets the collection requirements for more strategic intelligence.[2]
History
The earliest documented use of EW was during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. The British Army, when trying to relieve Ladysmith, under siege by the Boers, used a searchlight to "bounce" Morse code signals off the clouds. The Boers immediately spotted this and used one of their own searchlights in an attempt to jam the British signals. This was graphically described by Winston Churchill in his book London to Ladysmith via Pretoria.
During the
During World War II, the Allies and Axis Powers both extensively used EW, or what Winston Churchill referred to as the "Battle of the Beams": as navigational radars were used to guide bombers to their targets and back to their base, the first application of EW in WWII was to interfere with the navigational radars. Chaff was also introduced during WWII to confuse and defeat tracking radar systems.
As battlefield communication and radar technology improved, so did electronic warfare, which played a major role in several military operations during the Vietnam War. Aircraft on bombing runs and air-to-air missions often relied on EW to survive the battle, although many were defeated by Vietnamese ECCM.[11]
In 2007, an Israeli attack on a suspected Syrian nuclear site during
In December 2010, the Russian Army deployed their first land-based multifunctional electronic warfare system known as
The 'Borisoglebsk-2', when compared to its predecessors, has better technical characteristics: wider frequency bandwidth for conducting radar collection and jamming, faster scanning times of the frequency spectrum, and higher precision when identifying the location and source of radar emissions, and increased capacity for suppression.
During the first two days of the
Russian EW capacity to disrupt GPS signals is credited with the reduction in the success of Ukrainian usage of
Ukraine was losing some 10,000 drones a month due to Russian electronic warfare, according to a 19 May 2023 report by the
In popular culture
In the movie
See also
- Cyberwarfare
- Electromagnetic pulse
- Electromagnetic interference
- Electronic harassment
- Ivan's hammer
- L3Harris Technologies
- Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD)
Other electronic warfare systems:
- ADM-160 MALD
- Krasukha (electronic warfare system)
- Radar warning receiver (RWR)
- Samyukta electronic warfare system
- Sky Shadow (radar)
Historic:
- 36th Electronic Warfare Squadron
- 55th Wing
- Battle of Latakia: the first recorded use of deception EW in a naval battle
- No. 100 Group RAF
U.S. specific:
- Association of Old Crows
- DARPA
- Electronic warfare officer
- Fleet Electronic Warfare Center
- Joint Functional Component Command – Network Warfare
- National Electronics Museum
- U.S. Marine Corps Radio Reconnaissance Platoon
- USACEWP(United States Army Computer Network Operations-Electronic Warfare Proponents )
References
Citations
- ^ "To Rule the Invisible Battlefield: The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Chinese Military Power". 22 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Joint Publication 3-13.1 Electronic Warfare" (Online PDF available for download). Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) - Armed Forces of the United States of America. 25 January 2007. pp. i, v–x. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
EW contributes to the success of information operations (IO) by using offensive and defensive tactics and techniques in a variety of combinations to shape, disrupt, and exploit adversarial use of the EM spectrum while protecting friendly freedom of action in that spectrum.
- ^ "Russian Electronic Warfare. Page 20" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
- ^ a b "Electronic Warfare; Air Force Doctrine Document 2-5.1" (PDF). Secretary of the Air Force. 5 November 2002. pp. i, v–x. Archived from the original (Online PDF available for download) on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
- ^ "Electromagnetic warfare". NATO. March 22, 2023. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
- ISBN 978-3-319-46700-9.
- ^ Huber, Arthur F.; Carlberg, Gary Gilliard; Prince Marquet, L. D. (2007-01-01). "Deconflicting Electronic Warfare in Joint Operations". Defense Technical Information Center. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
- S2CID 4339184.
- ^ "Having a catch up with… Lynette Willoughby". 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
- ^ "History of Electronic Warfare". Blogspot.com. December 7, 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ Dickson (Col), John R. (May 1987). "Electronic Warfare in Vietnam: Did We Learn Our Lessons?" (PDF). DTIC.mil. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ Katz, Yaakov (September 29, 2010). "And They Struck Them With Blindness". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ a b Fulghum, David (November 26, 2007). "Israel Shows Electronic Prowess". Aviation Week and Space Technology. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ "Borisoglebsk-2". Deagel.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-04.
- ^ Administrator (February 11, 2015). "Russian Army Units of Eastern District Have Received New Borisoglebsk-2 Electronic Warfare Vehicles". armyrecognition.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ "Putins nya supervapen skrämmer Nato" [Putin's New Superpower Scares NATO]. Svenska Dagbladet. 16 August 2015.
- ^ Shoki Driver (9 February 2015). "Russian Military News in English". shokidriver.blogspot.se.
- ^ The Russian Air War and Ukrainian Requirements for Air Defence. Royal United Services Institute. 7 November 2022.
- ^ Axe, David. "Russia's Electronic-Warfare Troops Knocked Out 90 Percent Of Ukraine's Drones". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ^ KYLE MIZOKAMI (21 April 2023). "GPS-Guided Bombs Should've Been Ukraine's Ace in the Hole. Then, Russian Jamming Stepped In". popularmechanics.com. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
- ^ Mia Jankowicz (22 May 2023). "Ukraine is losing 10,000 drones a month to Russian electronic-warfare systems that send fake signals and screw with their navigation, researchers say". popularmechanics.com. Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ "Trenches and tech on Ukraine's southern front". The Economist. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ Osinttechnical on X(Twitter) (11 March 2024) GMLRS strike
- ^ a b Sakshi Tiwari (13 March 2024) 'Big Win' For HIMARS! Russia’s 'Notorious' Palantin EW System, That Kept Spoofing Ukrainian Drones, Bites The Dust
- ^ Kaitlin Lewis Ukraine Destroys Russia's New High-Tech Radar Jammer With US-Made HIMARS
Sources
- This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force
- This article incorporates DTIC.
- The Changing Capability of Manpack Electronic Warfare Systems Archived 2016-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
- Carlo Kopp. "Electronic Warfare in Operation Desert Storm", Australian Aviation, June/July/August, 1993
- Association of Old Crows Archived 2020-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Electronic Warfare Jamming Systems Archived 2016-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Information Warfare, Information Operations and Electronic Attack on APA
- Electronic Warfare Products Archived 2018-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Air Force Instruction on Electronic Warfare (EW) Operations (PDF)
Further reading
- EW 101: A First Course in Electronic Warfare; David Adamy; 2001; ISBN 978-1580531696.
- EW 102: A Second Course in Electronic Warfare; David Adamy; 2004; ISBN 978-1580536868.
- Deception in War; Jon Latimer; 2001; ISBN 978-0719556050.
- FM 3-36: Electronic Warfare In Operations. Safeguarding Soldiers Through Technology. Fort Leavenworth, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine (CAC), 26 February 2009 – PDF, 114 p., 4,5 MB. See also: John Milburn: Army manual raises emphasis on electronic warfare[dead link]. The Washington Post, 26 February 2009.
- Jogiaas, Aadu. "Disturbing soviet transmissions in August 1991". Archived from the original on 14 November 2011.
- Bolton, Matt; Munro, Matt (2011). "The Tallinn Cables" (PDF). Lonely Planet Magazine (December): 48–55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-13.
- Winkler, Jonathan Reed (2017). "The Forgotten Menace of Electro-Magnetic Warfare in the Early Cold War". Diplomatic History. 42 (2): 254–280.