The US Marine Corps has announced its plans to invest about $1 billion in electromagnetic warfare development over the next five years.
According to Lt. Col. Brian Ackerson, branch head for Marine Air Ground Task Force electronic warfare, the Corps wants to develop future systems in four categories:
- platform agnostic systems – having the ability to work with multiple airborne or ground systems;
- widely distributed and scalable systems – providing a mix of options that are portable by person, vehicle mounted, or handheld. They should also include a variety of high- and low-power systems that can be used together across a variety of units and systems;
- on-demand capabilities – which are of special importance when operating inside an enemy’s sphere of influence; and,
- systems that can network and are mutually supporting – the systems must be able to be controlled remotely, particularly when functioning within the enormous distances of the Pacific region. Networked systems are also able to share data to provide a better situational awareness picture of the spectrum.
“If the operational or the tactical situation calls for electronic attack, there’s a full understanding of the entire spectrum and the decision can be made to do that. If a targeting solution is required based on the spectrum data, then that sensing solution can be provided to a targeting solution and maybe a kinetic strike will occur,” Ackerson said. “We can see the spectrum as another part of the information environment that is crucial for future operations and understanding the spectrum and being able to maneuver in the spectrum either for electronic attack, electronic protect, to deny the adversary the use of spectrum is just another aspect of warfare.”