Weapon System Evaluation and Electronic Countermeasures - Key Military Enablers
22 Mar 21
Technical and Strategic Services OBUTraining Academy
BY Rich Dalby
22 Mar 21
Technical and Strategic Services OBUTraining Academy
BY Rich Dalby
Weapon system evaluation is a key enabler in helping to answer such difficult questions as:
A modern weapon system is often a system of systems. Think of an integrated air defence system, be it ground-based or ship-borne, with its suite of long range early warning radars, target acquisition radars and target tracking systems (RF and EO). Such sensors produce data that is turned into evidence-based knowledge that is then used to make a classification (hostile, neutral, and friendly) or make a probability based prediction about future events e.g. weapon miss distance. Operators can then leverage decision science - which be studied on Inzpire's advanced mathematics decision science course - including the use of Artificial Intelligence, to take the predictions and their confidence values and use them to recommend the best cause of action; whether or not, where and how, to engage the target or how best to use countermeasures to defend own platforms/troops and assets. This entire process may now be completely automated; the evaluation of such systems requires a synergistic blend of disparate skill-sets to deal with such complexity which are taught on Inzpire's weapon systems evaluation course.
The world-wide technological explosion in digital techniques has enabled militaries to leverage advances made by the Telecommunications and Multi Media Industries whose classification and regression algorithms are of immediate application in weapon systems. New capabilities can be added, in many cases, solely through reprogramming that could maintain the platform’s capability almost exclusively by software upgrades. Digital upgrades have enabled a step increase in lethality of older SAM systems; in turn making them considerably more resilient.
This is because with the most minimum of software changes; enemy waveforms, ECM vulnerability, emissions and even Training, Tactics & Procedures (TTPs) can change and ultimately render a well-known countermeasure effectively useless. The Mission Data Set (MDS) reprogramming turnaround times should now fall within days rather than months.
Leveraging the advantage of technology transfer to automate processes and procedures is only half of the story. It should done in concert with an equipment agnostic programme of workforce education.
This is particularly true for personnel employed in warfare and EW centres or in capability development areas where the workforce are engaged in the production of techniques and tactics including: threat vulnerability analysis counter-measure development, weapon system analysis, missile reverse engineering, database design and management, mathematical modelling (the likes of which you can study on our advanced mathematics: mathematical modelling for defence system analysis course), simulation, deep analysis of ELINT & COMINT product or the test & evaluation of TTPs and new/modified equipment.
The ultimate aim of electronic countermeasures is to provide a military advantage, from enhancing the survivability of individual systems and personnel, to allowing a commander freedom of manoeuvre in the physical and electromagnetic environments. These can only be realised with the support of experts in the technical and operational depths of the military, government and commercial organisations that support this capability. Inzpire can help develop these capabilities at the operating and operational levels.
28.03.24
GECO
Find out what it’s like to be part of our award-winning Mission Systems team.
Our team are here to help. If you have any questions, no matter how big or small, please get in touch.