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Electronic Warfare: The Promise of Softkill

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By Gp Capt Joseph NoronhaIssue Vol 26.2 AprJun 2011 | Date : 20 Mar , 2015

EF111A Raven Electronic Warfare Variant

Electronic Warfare (EW) is reckoned as one of the most technologically advanced branches of warfaretoday. Is it really so? In a world where electronic devices have invaded practically every field of humanactivity, tremendous vulnerabilities have arisen that are just waiting to be exploited by conventional andirregular forces alike. Many of the capabilities of the leading exponents of airborne EW like the USA andIsrael, were fashioned decades ago. They were designed for a different threat, most importantly to jam highpowered ground radars. Nowadays, they suffer from a lack of flexibility and are expensive to deploy and thethreats they were intended to counter have moderated in some parts of the world. Meanwhile, new dangers aremultiplying.

The innovative tactics of insurgents and irregulars have sharply increased the variety and sources of lowtechasymmetric threats. Terrorists and jihadis have contributed to expanding the definition of hostile emitters toinclude lowpower and lowband devices; even a commercial mobile phone cannot be ignored.

Even the USA, the worlds foremost military power, seems to be struggling to get to grips with a future fraughtwith stagnant airborne EW capabilities, shrinking budgets and a proliferation of threats.

From simple commandandcontrol equipment to advanced electronic attack devices, everything is becomingincreasingly sophisticated yet easy to obtain offtheshelf. This makes it an expensive and timeconsumingproposition to locate, analyse and counter them.

Even the USA, the world’s foremost military power, seems to be struggling to get to grips with a futurefraught with stagnant airborne EW capabilities, shrinking budgets and a proliferation of threats. Othercountries that currently have far fewer EW assets are at still greater risk.

Global Threat

Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the vulnerability of the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPSsignals are feeble and easily interfered with. In March, strong jamming signals allegedly transmitted fromNorth Korea succeeded in temporarily disrupting GPS services in Seoul. The electronic attack, purportedly,aimed at harassing the joint military exercises between South Korea and the US. Instead, it caused mobilephones and other electronic equipment to malfunction in Seoul and the adjoining areas. Such attacks can alsointerfere with the navigation systems of civilian aircraft and affect commercial and banking transactions.

Northrop Next Generation Electronic Warfare

The US government should be worried. Last November, it was reported that deliberate GPS disruption wasbecoming more common and that the systems in place to detect and counter jammers were insufficient. GPSjammers are illegal, but they are popular with truck drivers and others who try to prevent minutetominutetracking of their whereabouts. A handheld GPS jammer can be bought through the Internet by truck drivers orjihadists—for as little as $30. A powerful enough jammer or a number of carefully coordinated smallerdevices could dislocate GPS services over a large area. The US National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA) warned that the alarming rise in the availability of GPS jammers could have adevastating impact on national security. Yet, America is one of the few countries that already possess amilitary system able to spot GPS interference. The GPS Jammer Detection and Location (JLOC) systemincludes a network of receivers capable of detecting regions of higherthannormal signal levels and lowsignaltonoise ratios, either of which can signify interference. The size and accuracy of the system has beenkept under wraps. But it may soon become necessary to deploy such methods on a large scale to protectagainst deliberate or accidental GPS interference.

EW is all about interference. According to Wikipedia, “Electronic warfare refers to any action involving theuse of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy orimpede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent theadvantage of, and ensure friendly unimpeded access to the EM spectrum. EW can be applied from air, sea,land and space by manned and unmanned systems and can target communication, radar, or other services. EWincludes three major subdivisions: Electronic Attack (EA), Electronic Protection (EP), and Electronic warfareSupport (ES).” Readers in this part of the world may be more familiar with the terms ElectronicCountermeasures (ECM) instead of EA; Electronic CounterCountermeasures (ECCM) rather than EP andElectronic Support Measures (ESM) in lieu of ES.

America is one of the few countries that already possess a military system able to spot GPS interference.

According to Forecast International, nearly $25 billion will be spent globally on development of EW systemsover the next decade. More than 37,000 ECM devices, radar warning receivers and other EW systems arelikely to be produced by 2020.

Stealth versus Jamming

Yet, the current state of many major air forces, especially the USAF, seems to indicate a decline in active EWcapability. For decades, the USAF’s main focus in the EA mission was defeating the networked radars andcommandandcontrol systems that guide sophisticated surfacetoair missiles. However since 1997, when theEF111 Raven fleet was retired without replacement, the force has lacked a dedicated platform for jammingradars. Perhaps it has no one to blame but itself. It poured billions of dollars into stealth technology in anattempt to make radar detection irrelevant.

But in 1999 Serbia shot down a stealthy Lockheed F117 fighter, highlighting the need for effective jammingdespite stealth technology. Stealth aircraft are becoming increasingly detectable by modern radars so airbornejammers are unlikely to disappear in a hurry. And what about the hundreds of nonstealthy aircraft whose verysurvival depends on jammers?

There are indications that the USAF is ready to remedy its neglect of EW and pursue advanced, longrange EAcapabilities essential to penetrate the latest air defences. Its next bomber (expected 202426) will protect itselfagainst enemy aircraft and air or groundlaunched missiles with an EA weapon. This will probably be basedon Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology which has the ability to detect small objects anddifferentiate among them. The same AESA radar or an additional one will also probably serve as a longrange,antielectronic weapon to disable or degrade air defence surveillance and communications systems. The USAFwill eventually operate about 150 of these “optionally manned” advanced bombers for about 50 years.

Stealth aircraft are becoming increasingly detectable by modern radars so airborne jammers are unlikely todisappear in a hurry. And what about the hundreds of nonstealthy aircraft whose very survival depends onjammers?

The US Navy seems more alive to the urgency of enhancing EW capabilities. The Next Generation Jammer(NGJ) is part of its current effort to refocus R&D on nonkinetic capabilities like information operations,network invasion and electronic attack. This will be its first allnew airborne jamming system since 1971,when the legendary AN/ALQ99 entered service at the end of the Vietnam War. The NGJ (initial operationalcapability is expected 2018) is intended to counter advanced, integrated air defences, communicationssystems, data links and nontraditional threats. With the EA6B Prowler due to retire by 2012, the modularNGJ will enter service on the Boeing EA18G Growler carrierbased EA aircraft, a specialised version of theF/A18F Super Hornet. The NGJ transmitter will work together with Northrop Grumman’s ALQ218 wideband Tactical Jamming Receiver which geolocates emitters to guide onboard jammers; and Raytheon’s ALQ227 Communications Countermeasures Set, for advanced communications jamming.

The NGJ, eventually planned for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter and possibly a future UAV, will also feature anetwork invasion capability similar to Suter. This system which was demonstrated a few years ago by theUSAF, creates a focused datastream that can be filled with invasive algorithms and fired into the antenna ofan integrated air defence system and its wirelessly linked missile launch vehicles. It has powerful sensors fordetecting all types of electronic emissions, coupled with high speed computers and a large database of knownthreats. The system rapidly identifies the emitters and potential weak links in enemy communicationsnetworks. Its transmitters then monitor the enemy emitters, introduce misleading information, or shut themdown.

Unmanned and Unparalleled

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have proved their worth in West Asia and Afghanistan and are high on theshopping list of militaries worldwide. According to a recent report by ASD Reports, over 450 different typesof UAVs are being fielded or developed by 49 countries. And if the Teal Group is right, the world UAVmarket will double over the next 10 years, totaling $94 billion. In its UAV Market Profile and Forecast 2011,the Group says UAVs have been the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry over the pastdecade. The UAV electronics market is also growing steadily, with especially fast growth and opportunities in

synthetic aperture radar and signals intelligence/electronic warfare technology. Tactical and mini/micro/nanoUAVs will offer some of the best EW opportunities over the next decade.

According to a recent report by ASD Reports, over 450 different types of UAVs are being fielded ordeveloped by 49 countries. And if the Teal Group is right, the world UAV market will double over the next 10years, totaling $94 billion.

The USAF, based on the experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, is going slow on big aircraft with big budgetsand focusing on UAVs in the irregular warfare role first. It is looking to induct a “lowcost, rapidlydeployable, countercommunications” system, an EW pod that can be integrated on UAVs as well as onmanned fighters. The US Army earlier expressed interest in a similar capability for its General Atomics MQ1C Gray Eagle UAV. The USAF is also acquiring a new miniature air launched decoy (MALD) which isdesigned to mimic the signatures of actual combat aircraft.

The goal for these decoys is to fool or confuse enemy air defences into going after the MALDs or to presentthem with many potential targets, sparing the actual combat aircraft. The Raytheonbuilt expendable systemand a later variant known as MALDJ to jam air defence radar, is expected to be crucial in enabling strikeaircraft to penetrate sophisticated enemy air defences in future battles. Overall, the Air Force intends toprocure MALDs and MALDJs in large numbers, possibly 3,000.

The Israeli Air Force too favours UAVs in the EW role. Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is a world leader inUAV technology. The Heron, its bestknown product, is useful for strategic as well as tactical EW missions.An enhanced version, called Heron TP or Eitan, has also been developed. Now it is introducing a fresh line oftiltrotor UAVs called Panther and Ghost. According to IAI sources, UAVbased EW and cyber warfare are amajor emerging opportunity. Design goals will focus on how lowcost UAV systems can take on manydifferent tasks and provide support to each other.

Libya is a third world country with relatively outdated assets. Think about China, which is rapidly upgradingits military including its cyber warfare and airborne EW potential and vigorously pursuing stealth and UAVbased EA capability.

These UAVs will have inbuilt EW capability, AESA technology and stealth. Quantity will be the mainconsideration in order to overwhelm enemy defences, the more UAVs fielded for a given investment thebetter. Israel’s Elbit Systems is another leading light of the global UAV market offering longrange drones likethe Hermes 450 and the Hermes 900 that can carry a variety of EW and other payloads.

Consistency & Coordination Equals Capability

Basic EW equipment can now do things that earlier required very specialised electronic support equipment.Receivers are becoming more sensitive while transmitters add flexibility, power and broader frequency range.Digital RF Memory (DRFM) technology means that bruteforce EA techniques are giving way to moresophisticated, preciselytargeted techniques. Broadband phased arrays are already indispensable becausejamming systems have to cover a much broader frequency range than radars. The new generation of jammingand exploitation techniques will be driven by updated universal exciter modules. Further into the future there’sthe prospect of integrating directed energy (DE) weapons like highpower microwave (HPM) and highenergylasers (HEL) with jammers. This might make for notsosoft kill.

And UAVs are destined to assume a far greater responsibility

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for EW. Investments in UAV technology over the last three decades or so are now reaching fruition. Withfurther advancements in this field, new EW missions will constantly emerge. UAVs are also a costeffectiveway of keeping pace with evolving EW threats so the mounting pressure to save money on defence is likely tospur development and deployment of UAVs all over the world.

For some decades now, airborne EW has been afflicted by the “feast or famine” effect, either assigned highpriority or practically ignored. But its promise can be fulfilled only if there’s consistent investment and acoordinated strategy so that EA capability can keep pace with the changing threat.

The enforcement of an air exclusion zone over Libya in March 2011 began with the deployment of EA aircraftagainst the Libyan air defences. The attacking US, British and French air forces succeeded in neutralising thethreat in quick time. However, Libya is a third world country with relatively outdated assets. Think aboutChina, which is rapidly upgrading its military including its cyber warfare and airborne EW potential andvigorously pursuing stealth and UAVbased EA capability.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the IndianDefence Review.

About the Author

Gp Capt Joseph Noronha

Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha was a MiG21 Pilot and experienced IAF instructor before he turned towriting articles on aviation

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One thought on “Electronic Warfare: The Promise of Softkill”

1. Sankar on January 6, 2013 at 7:03 pm said:

I wonder for whom this article is meant. I found it full of jargon and typical of the military personnel’sperception of the state of the art technology in their respective expertise area, that is to say they go byreading glossy magazines and brochures on military hardware published by the western powers. It hasbeen reported that a number of UAVs in the recent Afghan war were simply downed by antiaircraftguns (supplied by Iran) and ground fire by the Islamic Jehadis there, and the US halted their UAV dronemissions abruptly. Incidentally, tracker technology does not belong to the domain of EW.

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