Military Avionics Systems

6Electronic Warfare

6.1 Introduction

Warfare has always been conducted by adversaries who have been at great pains to understand their enemy’s strengths and weaknesses in order to minimise the risk to their own forces and territory. The detection and interception of messages and the efforts to deceive the enemy have long been the task of the ‘secret service’. The military aircraft in its infancy in World War I was used to detect troop movements and observe enemy movements, while on the ground the use of radio interception confirmed the aerial observations. As methods of communication developed, so too did methods of interception become more effective. Radar has developed from a mere detection mechanism to a means of surveillance and guidance.

Modern warfare is conducted in a rich electromagnetic environment with radio communications and radar signals from many sources. Figure 6.1 shows an example military situation with combined land, sea and air forces operating against an enemy territory which is, in turn, being defended by similar forces. The key players in this example include the following:

1. Military planning maintains communications with all forces either from the battlefield or from staff headquarters. Communications needs to be swift and secure at all times to include information from tactical units, from cooperating forces and from analysis databases. This communications network is vital to build an understanding of the tactical situation and to ensure that orders ...