Electronic Warfare - The Invisible Battlefield

Electronic warfare is not as new as you might first think. These days, with all the modern electronic gadgets in everything from tanks to missiles, it's easy to imagine what a devastating effect could be wreaked by an enemy with the right technology. In fact, sometimes there doesn't need to even be any enemy involvement to start mucking things up. In Desert Storm, there was so much new military hardware in place, all generating an electronic signal, it was rumoured to have set off missiles by mistake. Now you can't rely on rumours for the truth, but there is no smoke without fire, and it's quite conceivable that such an event could occur, with potentially devastating results.

Back in World War Two, after the allies had withdrawn right across Europe and back to England, and the Luftwaffe started their UK campaign, Electronic Warfare started to be used in ernest. On the coast of France, the German Air Force erected large transmitters, which used a set of synchronised dots and dashes (like morse code) to help guide the German pilots along a precise line. After a while, British Intelligence came up with the idea to re-transmit the 'dots' part of the signal to confuse the enemy pilots, and make them think they were off course.

It was also during the Second World War that Radar was first extensively used, first in ground installations, then later in aircraft. The best countermeasure to this was found to be chaff (originally called Window when it was first developed in Britain). The theory ran thus:

If lengths of a radar-reflecting material made up of strips half the wavelength used by the radar station, then a few hundred of these such strips would reflect enough energy equal to that of a Lancaster bomber (the British WW2 heavy bomber).

As the German radar of that age was using the 50 centimeter band, then strips of 25 centimeters long were packed into bundles of about 1lb each, to be thrown out of the leading aircraft, producing a 'smokescreen' effect on the screens of the enemy radar operators.

Surprisingly, it's use was held off for quite a time in case the German scientists hadn't thought of the idea, but then copied it when the allies used it, and used it themselves. (Strangely enough, the German scientists had also developed the idea, but didn't use it for exactly the same reason!) When it was finally used, it was found to very effective, not only in camouflaging a large bomber force, but also directing German fighters to locations where just a few aircraft had dumped their load of Window, and then headed home, so a second force could then attack their target relatively free from fighter interference.

Such was the beginning of what is now considered to be a vital part of any military operation - disruption of the enemy's electronic surveillance equipment.

Modern electronics are heavily relied on in the modern battlefield, so it is vital to have the ability to confuse what the enemy can see, or, even better, control what the enemy can see.

Consider the situation. An airborne strike force on the way to attack a target in enemy territory. The force would probably be detected long before it arrived in enemy airspace, giving intended recipients plenty of time to put fighters in the air, move air defences into place, and, if possible, move the intended target(s) under cover or to another location. So, imagine if the attacker could interfere with the target's early warning system. Three choices present themselves:

1. Evade detection completely. This means the enemy will have no warning before the aircraft enter hostile airspace, and even then they could remain undetected until close to the destination with careful planning of the route to the target, or use of stealthy aircraft.

2. Jam detection equipment. This is usually easier than the first option, but it does indicate that something is happening, and it will also involve specialist non-combat aircraft, which may well be expensive, rare or both. This also has a disadvantage due to the fact that the jamming aircraft has to actually radiate a jamming signal which can then be homed in on by aircraft or missiles equipped with suitable receivers. As these are usually a lot cheaper and more widespread than the jammers themselves, careful planning has to go into this type of operation.

3. Spoofing. This is the art of making something appear on detection screens that isn't really there, and can be done electronically, or with cheap drone aircraft. This has the advantage of making the enemy 'jump at shadows', as no threat can be ignored completely, so there is strain on everyone involved in dealing with all the suspected threats. It could effect not only pilots sent up after a false radar return, but the ground crews that have to service the aircraft, the radar operators, and a whole group of people who become involved due to the knock-on effect. And, of course, it also effects the equipment itself.

So what is the best method? Well, it would depend heavily on the situation in which the attack was being made. Factors such as technological advantage, air superiority, terrain and even weather can all effect decisions, but the best method would probably be a mix of all three. Such a scenario could run like this.

Two raids are detected on enemy screens, so a response is made in the form of fighters. Meanwhile, while enemy fighters are chasing fake bombers, fighter-bombers sweep in under radar coverage, possibly using terrain masking (hiding behind hills and other landscape features), sneak in undetected and attempt to destroy the specified targets. Meanwhile the enemy fighters have found no bomber fleets, so they turn their attention to the retreating flights, only to have all radars in the area jammed, thus preventing them making a successful interception on the retreating aircraft.

This is only one example of electronic warfare, but it can also include things such as RDF or Radio Direction Finding, to locate HQ's. Or electronic 'eavesdropping', not only of radio traffic, but of enemy radar signals to learn more about them and so develop methods of jamming or spoofing them. Or even generating false electronic information to enemy systems, causing them to malfunction. Even today's tanks have a sophisticated electronics suite in them, allowing them to immediately call for fire support, with grid-references transmitted electronically directly to the computer-controlled artillery station behind the front lines. Just think what you could do if you could transmit false grid references, or cause them to fire smoke rounds rather than high-explosive, therefore covering your position, rather than destroying it.

Electronic warfare should be as much a part of your mission planning as any second line of attack or defence. And as technology advances, who is to say that control of all the one's and zero's isn't going to be just as important as having ammunition for your guns? Ok, so you can't attack anyone with a microchip, but if it can cause your enemy problems, then it's another vital weapon you can use to your advantage.

Tim Still for Game Over!