After more than 15 years being bogged down in the Middle East battling unconventional electronic warfare (EW) threats, there is an increasing risk that Western EW operators might lose the skills and technology needed to tackle the rising threats against high spectrum EW capabilities from the East. In the past decade, Russia and China have increased investments and complexities in their EW capabilities in enormous proportions.

This message was brought across by Air Marshal Philip Sturley, RAF (Retired) and Air Adviser and Mentor, at the Asian Defence Exhibition and Conference Series (ADECS), organized by Clarion Events in Singapore last week.

“Few people now know about EW outside the context of Afghanistan,” he said. “We need to make the practice of EW at the level of command staff, and increase its awareness and education. We have underestimated its value in peacetime, only to play catch-up in conflict.”

Sturley also called for greater EW collaboration by various air arms in the region, slowly but surely, to promote interoperability and trust. Indeed, exercises like Cope Tiger and Pitch Black have begun integrating EW tactics into the exercise scenarios.

His points were echoed by Dr. Robert Andrews, managing director of EW Test and Evaluation (EWTE) Consultants Ltd. He observed that the West iss catching up on developing counter-IED and infrared multi-spectral flares during the conflict in the Middle East, where the adversaries were using commercial of the shelf (COTS) systems and MANPADs, which at that time were relatively new to NATO commanders.

However, at the same time Russian anti-aircraft systems were digitally upgraded, incorporating new technologies such as active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, which are harder to detect and jam. The S300/S400 surface-to-air missile system is one example of such a capable system where true radar data is still sketchy. Now, with both Moscow and Beijing building and deploying more new missiles and EW assets, there is a chance that the West might not be fully ready in terms of hardware and soft skills.

Andrews suggests using COTS, military of the shelf and open architecture to keep EW development ahead of the curve and adaptive to changes. He also highlighted new trends in EW such as the use of drones, new radar materials like gallium nitride as well as cognitive EW, which learns and adapts to the ever-changing EW environment.