Electronic warfare

Thanks for joining us.

In this update, we're taking a look at some of the latest developments across the RF and microwave industry, along with a closer look at the technical content featured in our September EW Radar and MilCom supplement.

We've got some interesting news to cover, several upcoming events to highlight, and of course, a look at some of the technical articles and topics we think are worth your attention.

So let's get started.

The second technical feature takes us directly into that changing threat environment.

It is a market report on the growth and direction of the RF defense industry from our friends at Yole Group.

The article describes the market as split between legacy radar and EW programs that follow long procurement cycles and the drone segment that operates on timelines measured in months.

This newer segment demands millions of units and is pulling RF technology straight from the Wi-Fi and telecom playbook.

Welcome to this Armada podcast sponsored by Patria.

I'm Tom Withington, editor of Armada's Electronic Warfare and Military Communications newsletters.

Joining me today is Keijo Mattila, Patria's Senior Product Manager for signals intelligence and electronic warfare.

Over the next few minutes, we'll be talking about Finland's strategic situation and how it influences the company's product portfolio, the impact of European geopolitics in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions, technology trends, and Patria's ongoing research and development efforts.

Keijo, welcome to the podcast.

So this positions us very close to the Finnish Defense Forces.

I think this is one of the main things.

And then if we talk about the electronic warfare, we know that our opponent is, is very capable on these topics.

to allow the drone to fly to a target, use navigation satellites, et cetera, to find that target, and to evade defenses such as anti-aircraft artillery or other missiles and so forth.

The way in which you defend against a drone attack is to use that same technology in the form of electronic warfare against the drones.

The main problem for a drone is that it is dependent on those computers in the drone and the navigation signals that it is receiving from outer space or from terrestrial navigation signals.

If you are able to jam the drone with a very, very strong electromagnetic signal, you can prevent the drone's receiver from getting those navigation signals.

You can also use what's known as electronic warfare, and this is where you actually hack into the drone's computer.

or this network that is sending the drone, and by using the same sorts of computer warfare that is hacking, and that makes a chaos of some computer systems, is that you can do the same thing for drones, against drones, by using these forms of electronic hacking to ruin the software in the drone and thereby disable it.

Or, Larry, can't you just use another drone? Can't both sides have drones to use against each other?

Well, yes.

They form a really important part of situational awareness and the overall targeting network.

There's EW systems that are used for target location and for suppressing of enemy drones and that kind of thing.

And then there's obviously the drone crews as well.

And across those three, you have a whole bunch of different attack services, right? And this is what you can kind of see Rubicon beginning to systematize or, you know, kind of bring into the fore is you will see them in certain axes.

You've seen a very focused effort against Ukrainian EW, which pushes the EW further back in the front line.

And that creates the problem of degrading Ukrainian situational awareness, but reducing their ability to jam Russian drones.

So it not only reduces their understanding of what's going on, but increases the Russian opportunities to act with different types of drones.

So that's the ship, and then there's debris.

But you know what I'm-- what we mean by debris at this point, right? Okay, happy day of the radio electronic warfare troops, that there's specialized day for everything, for the infantry, for the doctors, for the firemen, for you name it.

Uh, but these guys...

Yeah, happy day of the radio electronic warfare troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The work of electronic warfare is sometimes hard to show.

Its, its result is what didn't happen.

That's an interesting way of thinking about it.

Um, Matt Milas is President of Defense and Space at Honeywell Aerospace.

He leads their global business that generates over $7 billion annually across electronic solutions, navigation sensor systems, software and connected systems with electronic warfare capabilities and satellite systems.

And over the course of his remarkable career, he's led not just roles at Honeywell, L3Harris, Raytheon, Collins Aerospace, Spirit, and Lockheed Martin, contributing to some of the more sophisticated aerospace and defense ecosystems, including the F-35 joint strike fighter.

Uh, and at a time where, you know, AI and autonomy and cyber resilience and, uh, you know, the, the growing importance of, of space are reshaping both national security and modern civilization itself, Matt really finds himself at a center of one of the most consequential technological transitions in history, and we're gonna be exploring, you know, the future of aerospace and defense with him, as well as the evolution of a lot of these really cool technologies, uh, and what the next couple decades may hold.

Um, and then, uh, the aftermarket services that we provide, so all the spares and repairs that keep aircraft flying, both commercial, business, and general aviation.

And then for defense and space, what we do is we cover components that go into everything from missile system and aircraft into aircraft carriers, submarines, satellite systems.

So some of our components would be avionics systems, things like radar altimeters, uh, things that do from, uh, uh, you know, detect and avoid, um, some of the, uh, radar componentry or electronic warfare on military aircraft.

Uh, control systems, things like actuators, environmental controls, so power and thermal management types of systems.

This is ATIS on Radio Hangar, and today we are talking about the retirement of one of the most effective and least publicly understood aircraft to ever carry American markings.

44 years of electronic warfare, 44 years of making enemy communications fail at exactly the wrong moment for the adversary.

And almost none of it ever made the news, because when this aircraft did its job right, nothing dramatic happened.

That is a harder story to tell than a combat victory, but it is worth telling.

The WC-130 flies hurricane reconnaissance for the Air Force Reserve, threading the needle into the eye walls of storms that nothing with any sense would approach.

The C-130 touches nearly every mission the American military performs, and it has done so across more than six decades of continuous operational use.

and then there was the EC-130H, the electronic warfare variant.

The one that almost nobody ever photographed clearly because its mission systems were classified and its value was measured in outcomes that never appeared on any public scorecard.

The threat environment? That changes fast.

Let me explain what electronic warfare actually means for a tactical aircraft, because the term gets thrown around without much explanation.

At its most basic level, electronic warfare is the use of the electromagnetic spectrum to gain an advantage over an adversary, or to deny that adversary the ability to use the spectrum against you.

For a single-seat fighter, that breaks into three functions.

The first is detection.

Not all radar is a threat.

Civilian air traffic control radar isn't going to get you killed.

An enemy fire control radar, well, a capable electronic warfare suite can tell the difference.

MWJ is involved in organizing the Defense Forum, which takes place Wednesday, October 7th.

The forum brings together industry leaders to discuss the technologies and challenges shaping defense and security, including radar, EW, and communications.

We'll also be hosting industry sessions featuring experts from Corvo, Spinner, and Keysight.

Also, Jen and I just spoke with Stefan Harmon, this year's Chairman of European Microwave Week, so look for that video to be released soon.

Visit MWJournal.com to sign up and explore the latest articles, videos, and industry updates.

That concludes this episode of Frequency Matters.

Thank you for watching, and we'll see you next time when we highlight the September supplement featuring EW, Radar, and Milcom.

So I, I should have put this in blue because this is from what happened a couple of days ago, and I, I try to do that later.

But today, a BK-16 landing craft, electronic warfare system, an enemy UAV command post, and ammunition and UAV storage facilities have also been hit beyond what I just showed you.

Uh, also in blue because it's a couple days ago, uh, Ukraine's defense forces struck Novatek's Ust-Luga facility on September 1st.

The report damage, uh, reported damage includes fires at two hydrocracking columns, that's important, C200 section of the primary gas condensate processing unit, and pipelines near the pumping station.

Everything else was in single digits.

Other stories.

Ukraine's Strix drone unit says it destroyed Russian Sfera electronic warfare complex and four communications antennas in the south Slobozhansky sector.

Like, destroying the communications, uh, radars or s- uh, the, uh, electronic, well, let's say communications antennas, that's important.