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For
immediate release What
is electronic warfare? By
Congressman Joseph R. Pitts The following is taken from a speech Congressman Pitts gave to the Lexington Institute on October 22, 2003. During
the Vietnam War, I had the honor of serving with some of the finest our
country has to offer. As an
electronic warfare officer aboard a B-52, I learned how important it is
for an army to control the electromagnetic spectrum – the arena in which
information travels. Over
the past several years, a renewed emphasis has been placed on the value
and necessity of electronic warfare (EW).
Yet, recent conflicts in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq have
highlighted U.S. deficiencies in EW capabilities that continue to go
unaddressed. This
begs the question: if EW is so important, why doesn’t it receive the
necessary attention from Capitol Hill and the Department of Defense when
it comes time to prioritize and fund military programs? There
are a number of reasons, but foremost among them is the lack of
understanding as to the comprehensive makeup of EW.
Too often, EW is narrowly defined to make it synonymous with
electronic attack – blinding the enemy, including the use of radar or
communications jamming. This
lends itself to a platform-centric definition of EW centered on aircraft,
such as the EA-6B Prowler. The
Prowler is our military’s only dedicated radar jamming aircraft.
Its mission is essential. It
tells our commanders when, where, and how to strike the enemy. However,
EW is much more than electronic attack.
There are two other elements of EW: electronic protection and EW
support. Electronic protection is the use of systems, countermeasures,
decoys and stealth to defeat an enemy’s attack. Electronic support, however, is the foundation of and the
starting point for all EW If
electronic warfare is the control and manipulation of the electromagnetic
spectrum, and the spectrum is the environment in which information, data,
and energy lives, then the collection, interpretation and communication of
this information enables the other elements of EW.
Central to the EW support mission are the military’s electronic
and signals intelligence capabilities. While
there is still much to learn as to how well our military completed the
first phase of its mission, we do know that sending and receiving signals
and communications continues to take major leaps forward.
We are only beginning to realize the implications of the advances
made in these areas. These
advances include the ability to: (1)
send and receive signals and communication real time; (2)
listen and jam enemy communications; and (3)
process and manipulate data through the use of sophisticated
algorithms. Advances in
electronic and signals intelligence have raised the profile of vital
assets, such as the RC 135 Rivet Joint, EP-3, RC-12 (Guardrail Common
Senor), U-2, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and has positioned DoD
to be a leader in ELINT/SIGINT operations.
Further
electronic and signals intelligence capabilities are enhanced by advances
made in the networking our services.
This allows the military to leverage the strengths of each branch
of the service to accomplish a mission while shielding the weaknesses from
the enemy. Unfortunately,
electronic and signals intelligence is generally overlooked when
discussing the merits of EW. Discussions
of EW typically focus on the other two elements: electronic protection and
electronic attack. Without
the value and necessity of EW support being articulated as the foundation
of EW, it is difficult to effectively promote the other elements and
understand the enormous value they have in accomplishing supremacy of a
battle space. While
electronic and signals intelligence is not solely EW, it must be seen,
understood and communicated as part of the foundation of EW.
Until the services and Congress understand the comprehensive makeup
of EW, it will always be subject to being overlooked, under funded, and
underprovided. As
Congress begins a new year in Washington, these issues will play a big
role in addressing both the challenges facing our military and the issue
of keeping our homeland secure. Congressman Pitts is Founder and Chairman of the Electronic Warfare Working Group in Congress. #
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