Enemy jamming: U.S. military challenge of waging electronic warfare (EW) in the electromagnetic spectrum

Jan. 6, 2020
Military needs an organization focused on electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO) to work with the highest levels of the U.S. Department of Defense.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Five years ago, Pentagon research and engineering chief Alan Shaffer warned that “we have lost the electromagnetic spectrum.” Today, after the Russians have jammed U.S. and allied radio, radar, and GPS from Syria to Ukraine to Norway, are we doing better? Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

6 Jan. 2020 -- “I’m going to characterize it this way….I want to be careful,” says Maj. Gen. Lance Landrum. “I can very firmly say we’re challenged in the electromagnetic spectrum.”

Landrum, an Air Force fighter pilot on the Joint Staff, leads the group Congress ordered the Pentagon to create, the Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Cross Functional Team.

The team is tiny – just 13 government personnel -- all borrowed from other organizations, plus some contractors -- but it represents 11 organizations across the Defense Department. That’s all four armed services, the joint staff, the Pentagon CIO, the undersecretariats for acquisition, research, and intelligence, Cyber Command, and Strategic Command, which historically had responsibility for electronic warfare (EW) but very little authority or funding to do anything about it.

Related: Raytheon pursues Army electronic warfare (EW) RF spectrum management with offensive cyber warfare

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Related: Growing Importance of Electronic Warfare

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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