Electronic Warfare

With ongoing domestic procurement of naval weapon systems for Magen corvettes and Dolphin submarines, and growing export opportunities, naval programs become an important growth opportunity for Israel’s defense industries.

Dozens of unmanned underwater, surface and air vehicles from NATO countries have gathered in Portugal for two weeks in September, testing new technological advances in unmanned maritime systems networks. To beef up its Port defense capability the Portuguese Navy invited IAI to bring its Drone-Guard C-UAS system that provided unprecedented situational awareness and drone defeat capability during the exercise.

The US Air Force is invests $16 million in further field assessment of Raytheon's Phaser High Power Microwave System outside the continental U.S. The testing phase will span over 12 months in which the Phaser will engage simulated and real unmanned aerial systems threats. The Phaser system developed by Raytheon is designed to combat drone swarms, particularly on attacks such as the recent loitering missiles that struck the Abqaiq oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia.

BAE Systems unveiled today a new countermeasures suite designed to protect helicopters and aircraft from current and future anti-aircraft threats. By better managing the deployment of traditional countermeasures such as flares, decoys, and hard-kill projectiles, ‘Smart D2’ acts as a layered defensive system protecting aircraft and aircrews from existing and emerging threats.

Following a successful flight testing of Collaborative Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD-X) air-launched decoys last week, the US Navy plans to complete the development, transforming the decoy into a navalized, networked one.

REX-1 from the Russian Kalashnikov Corp. Zala Aero group acts as a man-portable UAV and communications inhibitor.

With the expected delivery of the first of Magen Class corvette next year the IMOD awards orders for the combat systems to be integrated with those vessels as they arrive in Israel. Elbit Systems announced today the receipt of an order worth US$85 for electronic warfare systems destined for those ships.

The failed assassination attempt in Caracas, Venezuela highlight the potential of drones as a weapon and a tool of terror, and the vulnerability of critical assets, even where drone countermeasures are active.

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will soon equip their vehicles with a newly developed Australian made counter-IED device called ‘SilverShield’. According to a contract awarded by the Australian defense ministry to L-3 Micreo, the company will deliver 13,000 communications jammer units to the Afghan forces, bringing the total sales of Australian C-IED jammers to Afghanistan to A$85 million.

Elbit Systems J-Music Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) and PAWS-IR missile approach warning systems, comprising anti-missile self-protection systems were selected to be fitted to the new Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aerial tankers scheduled to join the fleet beginning 2020.

Britain's electronics expert QinetiQ has developed a variant of its AS3 communications intelligence (COMINT) system designed specifically for unmanned aerial vehicles. Following an integration, with Thales’s Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) the AS3 is now ready for initial test flights. Fitted to Watchkeeper, AS3 is designed to increase the UAV’s sensor footprint and enable it to work with ground-based systems,...

At the Army-2017 exhibition near Moscow, the Russian arms industries are promotiong the latest weapons and systems tested in combat in Syria. Unlike similar events in the west, the Russian weapons are demonstrated in daily live firing demonstrations throughout the week long event.

The Airborne Electronic Attack Systems and EA-6B program office (PMA-234) of the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) completed a critical design review (CDR) for the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) Increment (Inc) 1 Mid-band program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, in late April. The system is now in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase with Raytheon Space...

An MQ-9 'Reaper' Block 5 Unmanned aircraft demonstrated the use of Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), as part of an airborne demonstration of the drone's capability to operate on the edge of 'contested airspace'.