- For warfare on the Internet, see Cyberwarfare.
Electronic warfare (
EW) refers to
any action involving the use of the
electromagnetic spectrum or
directed energy to control the spectrum or to attack the enemy. The
purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage
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. EW includes three major subdivisions: Electronic Attack
(EA), Electronic Protection (EP), and Electronic warfare Support
(ES).
Divisions
Electronic support
Electronic Warfare Support (ES), is the subdivision of EW involving
actions tasked by, or under direct control of, an operational
commander to search for, intercept, identify, and locate or
localize sources of intentional and unintentional radiated
Electromagnetic (EM) energy for the purpose of immediate threat
recognition, targeting, planning, and conduct of future
operations.
An overlapping discipline,
Signals
Intelligence (SIGINT) is the related process of analyzing and
identifying the intercepted frequencies (e.g. as a cell phone or
RADAR). SIGINT is broken into three
categories:
ELINT,
COMINT, and
FISINT.
Where these activities are under the control of an operational
commander and being applied for the purpose of situational
awareness, threat recognition, or EM targeting, they also serve the
purpose of Electronic Warfare Support (ES).
Electronic attack
Electronic attack (EA) or electronic countermeasures (ECM) involves
the use of the
electromagnetic
energy, or anti-radiation weapons to attack personnel,
facilities, or equipment with the intent of degrading,
neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capability and is
considered a form of fires (see Joint Publication [JP] 3-09, Joint
Fire Support).
EA operations can be detected by an adversary due to their active
transmissions. Many modern EA techniques are considered to be
highly
classified. Examples
of EA include communcations jamming, IADS suppression, DE/LASER
attack, expendable decoys (e.g.,
flares and
chaff), and counter radio
controlled improvised explosive device (C-RCIED) systems.
Electronic protection
Electronic Protection (EP) (also known as electronic protective
measures (EPM) or electronic counter countermeasures (ECCM))
involves actions taken to protect personnel, facilities, and
equipment from any effects of friendly or enemy use of the
electromagnetic spectrum that degrade, neutralize, or destroy
friendly combat capability. EP should not be confused with
self-protection (jamming).
The use of flare rejection logic on an IR missile to counter an
adversary’s use of flares is EP. While defensive EA actions and EP
both protect personnel, facilities, capabilities, and equipment, EP
protects from the EFFECTS of EA (friendly and/oradversary). Other
examples of EP include spread-spectrum technologies, use of Joint
Restricted Frequency List (JRFL), emissions control (EMCON), and
low observability or "stealth".
See also
References
Further reading
- FM 3-36: Electronic Warfare In Operations. Safeguarding Soldiers Through Technology. Fort
Leavenworth, U.S. Army
Combined Arms Center (CAC), February 26, 2009 – PDF, 114 p.,
4,5 MB. – See also: John Milburn: Army manual raises emphasis on
electronic warfare. Washington
Post, February 26, 2009.
- Jon Latimer, Deception in War, London: John Murray,
2001
- David Adamy EW 101: A First Course in Electronic Warfare
- David Adamy EW 102: A Second Course in Electronic Warfare
- Joint Publication 3-13.1: Electronic Warfare [12440]