Free Web Site - Free Web Space and Site Hosting - Web Hosting - Internet Store and Ecommerce Solution Provider - High Speed Internet
Search the Web

Electro-Warfare Aviation

Home

Electronic Countermeasure Planes

Is a type of plane that is designed to evade radar, sonar and other detection devices. It is also designed to be both an attacker and a defender. The system may make many separate targets appear to the enemy, or make the real target appear to disappear or move about randomly. It is used effectively to protect aircraft from guided missiles. Most air forces use ECM to protect their aircraft from attack. That is also true for military ships and recently on some advanced tanks to fool laser/IR guided missiles. Frequently is coupled with stealth advances so that the ECM system has an easier job. On aircraft ECM can take the form of an attachable underwing pod or could be embedded in the airframe. Active arrays radars like those mounted on the F-22, Eurofighter, MiG-35 (Fulcrum-F) or the F-35 can also act as an ECM device to track, locate and eventually jam enemy radar. Previous radar types were not capable to perform those activities because of:
  • the inability of the antenna to use suboptimal frequencies
  • the processing power needed
  • the impossibility to practically intermix or segment antenna usages

Offensive ECM often takes the form of jamming. Defensive ECM includes using blip enhancement and jamming of missile terminal homers.

ECM is practiced by nearly all military units—land, sea or air. Aircraft, however, are the primary weapons in the ECM battle because they can "see" a larger patch of earth than a sea or land-based unit. When employed effectively, ECM can keep aircraft from being tracked by search radars, surface-to-air missiles or air-to-air missiles.

Electronic Support (ES)

Electronic support (ES) is the passive use of the electromagnetic spectrum to gain intelligence about other parties on the battlefield in order to find, identify, locate and intercept potential threats or targets. This intelligence, known as ELINT, might be used directly by fire-control systems for artillery or air strike orders, for mobilization of friendly forces to a specific location or objective on the battlefield, or as the basis of electronic attack or electronic protection actions.

Because ES is conducted passively, it can be performed without the target observing any electronic activities. ES's strategic counterpart, SIGINT, is continuously performed by most of the world's countries in order to gain intelligence derived from other parties' electronic equipment and tactics.

An older term for ES is electronic support measures (ESM).

Electronic defense

Electronic defense or Electronic protection (EP) is any measure that is aimed at defending friendly personnel/equipment. EP can also be implemented to prevent friendly forces from being affected by their own EA.

  • Passive EP includes such activities as the education of operators (enforcing strict discipline) and modified battlefield tactics or operations.

Older terms for EP include electronic protective measures (EPM) and electronic counter countermeasures (ECCM).

External Links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia