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Army Col. Jim Ekvall: Electronic Warfare Key in ‘Drone Wars’

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Col. Jim Ekvall
Col. Jim Ekvall

Col. Jim Ekvall, the U.S. Army‘s electronic warfare division chief, points to electronic warfare as key to gain an advantage over enemy forces amid the prevalence of unmanned aerial vehicles, Defense Systems reported Tuesday.

David Walsh writes that Ekvall is looking to bolster electromagnetic spectrum operations to counter enemy UAVs and data communications through the spectrum.

“All UAVs are dependent on the EMS, one way or another. And they all use an RF link either for terminal guidance or for navigation or targeting or for passing information,” Ekvall explains.

Walsh reports that Raytheon and General Atomics have been working with the Naval Surface Weapons Center to develop a drone equipped with electronic warfare capabilities, which has completed flight testing in July.

However, Ekvall notes that those are focused on jamming communications and command-and-control signals rather than “kinetic targeting” of enemy UAVs.

He says that the military is planning on systems interoperability and compatibility across the services as they aim to “field systems of any kind that are ahead of the threat.”

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