Military and Strategic Journal
Issued by the Directorate of Morale Guidance at the General Command of the Armed Forces
United Arab Emirates
Founded in August 1971

2018-11-07

Unveiling Future EW and Cyber Warfare Technologies

EW GCC 2018 saw the biennial electronic warfare conference morphing from a conference-led event to an EW technology exhibition. The event was held from October 8 to 10 in Abu Dhabi. Reflecting the changes emerging in the Middle East, the event focussed on insights into the essential EW technology required to operate effectively across the 21st century electronic battlefield. More emphasis was placed on future EW & cyber technologies and their capability in the electronic spectrum. Current, new and ground-breaking technologies and their component parts were on show with live demonstrations. 

By: Sakha Pramod
Photo: Mahmoud Al Shurafa,Ismael Alblooshi

The EW GCC created an effective stage where the very best international EW technology suppliers were able to build strong and sustainable business connections with leading local defence companies tasked with realising regional military and security objectives.

The event revolved around two core elements: EW Capability Exhibition and Advanced Learning Workshops. The EW Capability Exhibition showcased the latest technologies from an international line up of high-end technology solution providers. Advanced Learning Workshops, a new segment which drew particular interest from participants, were practical and interactive events of one-hour duration that allowed EW practitioners to fully understand emerging technologies and processes.

Market Insights, High Profile Participants
Companies looking to enter new markets need reliable market intelligence to create a sound market entry strategy. EW GCC 2018 provided market insights including a quality roadmap that highlighted the competition, past procurement trends, and organisational charts of seniority and responsibility. High profile delegations matched to the product or service showcased at the expo was another highlight. The expo facilitated one-on-one meetings for participants with their target audience. More than 600 military and industry officials from over 30 countries participated in the three-day expo.

Exhibitor Highlights
Nation Shield met participants at the event and discussed their latest offerings in the field of EW. Here we bring to our readers the highlights of EW GCC 2018. 

Saab Presents High Quality EW Products
Defence major Saab boasts an EW portfolio comprising Signal Intelligence systems, covering both COMINT and ESM/ELINT for government agencies, intelligence organisations and armed forces, for land, airborne and naval domains, as well as complete self-protection suites for land, sea, and airborne platforms.

“Product experts from most of our specialist areas within electronic warfare participated in EW GCC, for networking and a large number of valuable meetings with our customers and partners,” said Killian Swift, deputy Head of Saab’s Market Area Middle East and Africa.

“That way, you could actually say that we more or less brought our entire electronic warfare portfolio to the EW GCC.” 

“We had a large number of participants at our two advance learning workshops, which also generated many new contacts, “continued Killian Swift

Cobus Van Der Merwe, Head of Product Area Command and Control, Saab in South Africa, held a workshop on ‘Future Enabled Awareness - The Command and Control Perspective’, while Dr. Alban Fereizi, Sales Manager, Saab in Germany, held a workshop on ‘What is the Benefit of Big Data Applications in EW Scenarios?´ 

“EW GCC is an important event for Saab since we are a supplier of both self-protection and SIGINT systems to several countries in the region. The UAE is a key customer country for Saab where we are growing our presence by establishing development and production in Abu Dhabi,” concluded Swift.

Cutting-edge Technology
BAE Systems featured their EW solutions, focusing on the platform capability of the Typhoon and Hawk.

Andy Wardman, EW Advisor, BAE Systems said: “For Typhoon and Hawk in particular, when the company provides EW capabilities on the aircraft, it also tries to help customers develop EW Operational Support capability.

“So, either we will assist and make data on behalf of a customer to load to the aircraft, as a service to the military, or we can help teach and train, along with our partners, Leonardo and MASS Consultants, on how customers and/or their local industry can make data themselves. We are very flexible in that.”

Currently, BAE Systems is supporting all the nations that have Typhoon such as Italy, Germany, Spain, UK, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait.

He added that BAE Systems has a large footprint in the U.S. and also provides components for various aircraft and EW components that are used on fighters such as F35, F22 and F16.

COMINT Shelter and Communication Jamming Shelters 
Hensoldt subsidiary GEW Technologies from South Africa presented models of COMINT Shelter and Communication Jamming shelters as delivered to armed forces in the region.

Gerhard Schwebius, Sales Director Electronic Warfare and Avionics, Middle East, Hensoldt, said: “The Compact Multirole Direction Finding and Monitoring System MRD7 was presented and the modern user interface available was shown to the end users. 

“The GEW MRD7 is a compact all-in-one signals intelligence solution designed specifically for applications where durability, size, weight and rugged construction are of vital importance, without compromising performance.” 

“With simultaneous direction finding and wideband monitoring functionality integrated in a military ruggedised solution, the MRD7 is an ideal solution for use in a variety of challenging environments. With the man-pack antenna configuration, the MRD7 is operated on the move by dismounted EW teams to support intelligence gathering and clandestine reconnaissance missions. “

He said the MRD7’s full band compact mobile antenna is ideal for vehicle installations ranging from small commercial vehicles to armoured personnel carriers. The mobile antenna is also used in the transportable role, when mounted with the MRD7 on a lightweight and durable quad-pod and typically deployed at field deployed command posts to provide tactical awareness and early warning information to battlefield commanders. 

Qinetiq’s High Power Communication Intelligence Systems
Qinetiq, a British multinational defence technology company headquartered in Hampshire, exhibited a range of different products at the show, the first and foremost of which was ASX, a communications intelligence system. Its range gives a high probability of intercept in dense signals environments and enables the rapid extraction of intelligence from data with advanced filtering techniques.

Tim Allen, Regional Director - MENA, QinetiQ said: “The ASX product range has been devised to be fitted onto aircraft, both manned and unmanned, of different sizes. It combines detect, intercept and locate functions across a broad frequency range.  There was a considerable amount of interest at the show in this highly relevant capability.”

QinetiQ has worked with a range of customers to develop airborne Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) systems that deliver the intelligence they need in critical operational scenarios. 

The second product demonstrated was the BRACER satellite Command and Control radio system. It’s a low size and weight (450g) capability that has been designed for rapid deployment, operational flexibility and movement in all domains, ease of use, and is focused on enhancing the speed of the decision making cycle.

“Enabled by the Iridium satellite network, this compact Push-to-Talk communication system has military grade encryption.  It was recently launched at SOFEX and has been designed with Special Forces, aircrews, and the like in mind - those who have a need to carry a handset with them that has global coverage with the highest possible levels of security,” Allen said.

Other solutions displayed included the OBSIDIAN radar that has been designed specifically for counter-drone operations, providing a 180° azimuth by 85° elevation staring array radar solution, capable of detecting and identifying the micro-doppler signature of smaller drones.  Also TOTEM, which detects those electromagnetic attacks against fixed infrastructure that are designed to deny or disrupt service - threats that typically don’t have fingerprints or easy traceability. 

Allen concluded:   “A number of the systems on display are already in service with customers in UK, Europe and Africa. This was a very productive exhibition for QinetiQ, and we were particularly pleased with the number and quality of the delegates from the Middle East, with a good number of constructive meetings and new leads.”

ESM Intelligent Solutions from Harris 
A leading technology innovator, solving customers' toughest mission-critical challenges, Harris Corporation has been providing solutions that connect, inform, and protect, for over 120 years. Its Electronic Support Measure (ESM) systems help commanders create a comprehensive operational picture of allied and adversary disposition alike allowing informed tactical decision making, while its Electronic intelligence (ELINT) solution helps military strategists develop insights into how to manage operations in contested areas and other militarily important locations.

Justin Ghalayini, International Business Development, Surveillance Solutions and Electronic Warfare, Harris said: “Our ESM and ELINT solutions are for land, sea and air platforms. They provide passive radar detection solutions to give an overall situation awareness picture of all the radar activity going on at that moment. The systems intercept, analyse, locate, evaluate and report radar signals as well as capture the information in a library database for further analysis and situational awareness.”

He said these systems can be installed on small and large ships as fixed locations on land.  Systems used for coastal surveillance are networked stations which can be operated remotely. Some other systems under their portfolio include mobile air-traffic control radars that are used to precision guide aircrafts to land at established airports as well as remote areas. 

Currently, these solutions have been deployed by some Middle Eastern, Asian and NATO countries, and Australia.

Sensors to Detect, Disable, Defeat
Chemring Technology Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chemring Group PLC, whose products are relied upon by the best equipped armed forces in the world, including some NATO members, showcased its  high quality sensors designed to detect, disable and defeat. 

 Simon Bugge, Regional Director, Chemring Technology Solutions Ltd said, “The centrepiece of the EW GCC event was our Resolve system. The Resolve system has been designed to satisfy a range of EW mission profiles in hostile environments. Rapid end-user reconfiguration allows the same equipment to be redeployed to meet needs as they arise. A Resolve system consists of one or more intercept and direction finding nodes that can operate both as standalone and as a networked baseline.” 

State-of-the-art Solutions to Protect Aircraft
Indra is one of the world's top technology and consulting companies and a technology partner for the key operations of its customers' businesses worldwide. Indra presented cutting-edge value-added solutions for security and defence apart from other sectors and operates in more than 128 countries. 

Alex Moya, General Manager, Indra said: “Indra provides solutions to detect, analyse, classify and identify radar and communication signals, and also countermeasure them, in the most critical platforms; Fighters, Transport aircrafts, Submarines, Attack helicopters. 

“At EW GCC 2018, Indra showed its full wide band digital receivers, and its InShield DIRCM system, which is a state-of-the-art solution developed by Indra to protect aircraft from infrared guided surface-to-land and surface-to-air missiles. InShield has passed in-flight tests during the NATO Trial EMBOW XVI exercise, one of the most demanding and prestigious in the world. InShield uses a modern Open-Architecture based on Jamming Laser Turrets, one Central Processor, and a High Power Multispectral Laser, which allows it to protect the platform against multiple simultaneous threats.”

Full-Spectrum Battle-Simulation Training Systems
At the show, Battlespace Simulations Inc. displayed Modern Air Combat Environment (MACE), its full spectrum combat simulation. The technology can be used to provide computer generated/semi-automated forces (CGF/SAF) and threat generation for distributed simulation environments, Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training capability, Electronic Warfare (EW) simulation capability, mission rehearsal, and man-in-the-loop combat aircraft simulation.

Gary DeYoung, President & CEO, Battlespace Simulations Inc. said: “We have customers that use MACE for air-to-air, close-air-support, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare, and joint fires training where soldiers are taught how to conduct a wide range of military operations. We have simulators all around the world, including a large simulator complex in the UAE. We also have extensive market share in the U.S., and with our NATO allies as well, in the joint fires market. Plus, all electronic warfare officers in the US train using our software. We also have two EW houses in the UK, and one in Australia.”

Latest EW Sensor System from Teledyne
Teledyne’s Phobos Threat Warner/RESM is a compact, affordable, end-to-end integrated EW sensor system comprising: antennas, RF processing, digital processing, and operator interface.

Peter Forrest, Head of Business Development, Teledyne Defence & Space told Nation Shield said: “We have named the system Phobos after the second moon of Mars. The system is designed for use primarily in the land and naval environment, with several different configurations available, from M1 to M10. It can handle known and unknown emitters that will give you rapid threat alert of the signal that you are intercepting. It comes with full 2-18GHz frequency coverage and 360-azimuth coverage in a very small and lightweight unit. It comes with a simple to use handheld PDA MMI display and full ESM MMI running on a ruggedised laptop.”

A key feature of Phobos-R is that there are no external RF cables and no positional alignment requirements during set-up, making it easy to deploy and operate on a wide variety of small platforms of all types, including those not thought previously feasible for such protection on the grounds of size, weight, power or cost. Teledyne is planning to promote the product in the Middle East soon.EW GCC will return to the region in 2020. 

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