{"id":20426,"date":"2018-03-21T18:44:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T18:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/21\/visualization-tools-could-be-the-future-of-electronic-warfare\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:08:50","slug":"visualization-tools-could-be-the-future-of-electronic-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/electronic-warfare\/2018\/03\/21\/visualization-tools-could-be-the-future-of-electronic-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualization tools could be the future of electronic warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The electromagnetic spectrum environment has become increasingly complex in recent years. Electronic warfare and the jamming of radio signals was a large concern reaching back to the Cold War, and a proliferation of emitters, jammers and overall devices in the past few decades has made understanding and planning effects an even more difficult task for operators and commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, some believe the future of electronic warfare will require the development of visualization tools that conceptualize the non-physical effects in the electromagnetic spectrum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing and hearing about cases where some folks are turning back and turning away prematurely because they just don\u2019t have confidence in the systems on their jet, for instance,\u201d Travis Slocumb, vice president, electronic warfare systems at Raytheon, told C4ISRNET in an interview. \u201cThey don\u2019t understand them adequately and the world of EW is not kinetic. You can\u2019t see what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These complications have led some to pursue depicting the electromagnetic spectrum as a maneuver space akin to the physical domain. However, given the variety of frequencies being used by systems and emitters, the fight to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum and enable operations in the physical world is no longer platform versus platform, solution versus solution, or a situation where a one-size-fits-all tool that can be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no single platform capability that can go create the effect we need and the kind of threat laydown environments that we anticipate seeing,\u201d Slocumb said. \u201cThe only way you\u2019re going to be able to get the effects we want is to have some level of collaboration between all the assets in theater, not just a couple of [EA-18G] Growlers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the Navy is modernizing its legacy jammer, the ALQ\/99, to what is being termed the Next-Gen Jammer (to be mounted on EA-18G Growlers), but the final product will result in not one but three jamming pods covering low, mid and high frequencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rick Diamond, senior manager of electronic warfare business development at Lockheed Martin, told reporters in November<\/a> that while Growlers could fly with all three pods, typically what will happen is there will be several aircraft flying with different configurations addressing different missions, so as not to load down the aircraft too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\t