Editor's Perspective
Written by Harrison Donnelly
MIT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 4 (May)
Even as the U.S. military moves to organize strengthen its offensive and defensive capabilities in cyberspace, it may be neglecting the critical battleground of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), according to a new report from the organization that represents the nation’s electronic warriors. The report, entitled “21st Century Electronic Warfare,” was written by Air Force Lieutenant General Robert J. Elder Jr. (Ret.) and released by the Association of Old Crows (AOC).
The report looks at the related but distinct areas of electronic warfare (EW), cyber-operations and information operations (IO). Simply put, EW includes EMS actions such as radio jamming; cyber concerns networks and the information environment; and IO seeks to influence others through tactics ranging from public relations to military deception.
The thrust of the report, it seems to me, is that the U.S. military has allowed its EW capabilities, the roots of which go back for decades, to stagnate while attention and resources have focused on cyber. Yet EW remains critically important to national security and continues to play a valuable role in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Today, the U.S. is no longer a generation ahead of its peer competitors in technology and EW is now at a crossroads,” the AOC stated, adding that “the U.S. lacks EW capacity today due to years of under-resourcing people and systems.”
While the report identifies shortfalls in EW doctrine, leadership and standards, Elder also pointed to positive signs of renewed attention—for example, the Army has made intensive use of EMS technologies in countering the IED threat.
The report highlights a number of steps to ensure that future warfighters are prepared for operations in a contested EMS environment, including expanding EW capabilities, improving personnel standards and developing new leadership, setting standards applicable across domains and updating doctrine to reflect recent operations.
Harrison Donnelly, Editor
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