TABLE OF CONTENTS The jargon of electronic warfare
The effectiveness of electronic warfare
Measures and countermeasures
Stealth
The jamming of radar systems has been going on since radar was invented, and is now very sophisticated.
A modern war is won by the side that best exploits the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. During the Gulf War in 1991, Iraqi radars were blinded by electronic countermeasures and the opposing Allied forces were able to gain control of the air. Once air superiority has been achieved, victory is often just a matter of time. One of the key elements in a modern battle is how well the attacking and defending radars of each side stand up to the electromagnetic onslaught from the other.
The objectives of electronic warfare (EW) systems are simple:
To deny the enemy the effective use of the EM spectrum.
To protect friendly EM systems against EW attack.
There are three basic divisions of electronic surveillance:
Electronic support measures (ESM). This cryptic name describes the whole field of passive electronic eavesdropping using special-purpose intercept receivers. Within ESM, there are two subclasses, COMINT (gathering communications intelligence) and ELINT (gathering electronic intelligence), with which we are concerned. ESM has quite a long history, and during World War I, the interception of army field telephone and naval radio traffic was exploited successfully by both sides.
Electronic countermeasures (ECM). This is the active disruption of enemy EM communications and surveillance, and is often known as jamming.
