According to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland – More than a month after revelations that a flaw in the U.S. military's electronic warfare toolkit caused him to lose sleep, Undersecretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said the service provides powerful military signal jammer.This week, the Army demonstrated its multifunctional electronic warfare aerial large pod in Aberdeen, Maryland. After decades of focusing on counterterrorism, the service is rebuilding its electronic warfare arsenal to counter less technologically savvy troops. U.S. officials say attacks on communications and other networks are seen daily in the war in Ukraine, adding to the sense of urgency.
Electronic warfare is a fight for control of the electromagnetic spectrum, which the military uses for situational awareness, communications and weapons guidance. The race becomes increasingly important as more advanced technologies are deployed on the battlefield and troops try to minimize signatures to avoid detection.
“My constant concern is that over time we have to keep up with the threat,” Camarillo told reporters on Aug. 23 after a morning briefing. “I'm very impressed with the MFEW program the Army has, the different configurations and the direction it's going.”
Officials said Tuesday that MFEW-AL is an option as long as power and Ethernet ports are available.
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“We want to be platform-agnostic. For other platforms, we can offer a smaller form factor if needed,” said William Utroska, head of the Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors Program Executive Office. “We're working with the Future Vertical Lift cross-functional team because they have electronic warfare requirements and they know we've got a lot of work ahead of schedule.”
Camarillo said he saw one of the prototypes on site, courtesy of PEO IEW&S, and liked its open approach.
“I think this is an area where the Army is heading in the right direction,” Camarillo said. “It allows us to not only see sensor payloads and EW payloads, but also how they fit into certain components, how we can plug and play over time, giving us the opportunity to do technology plug-ins and stay ahead of the curve. Threats may be, and also have the latest generation capabilities.”
The Army is also pushing electronic warfare in other areas.
The service signed a $58.8 million contract with Lockheed in July to provide prototypes for the Ground Layer Systems Brigade Combat Team program. In August, it submitted deals to Lockheed and General Dynamics Mission Systems, respectively, for the ground-level system – the brigade upper echelon concept and demonstration.
Once implemented, these two systems will provide soldiers with electronic warfare, cyber and signals intelligence capabilities.
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