The Future Of E3 And Spectrum Engineering

By Tim McDonald, EMA Chief Scientist

The roadmap for future military systems considers the fact that the amount of spectrum is finite and advanced militaries define their spectrum use and develop their systems using a very long procurement cycle. Potential adversaries may choose to exploit this lack of flexibility to field electronic warfare systems and perform their own use of spectrum management that is more agile and adaptable.

As a result, advanced militaries are moving to adopt a system of dynamic spectrum allocation. This involves the use of software defined radio combined with fielding agile systems and spectrum management practices. The result of having the ability to change the use of spectrum in the middle of a battle would change the dynamic spectrum threat into a strength by allowing for more situational awareness, less chance of degraded command and control, and the ability to more effectively take advantage of passive detection.

However, an impediment to this approach is the fact that the current military procurement and system development effort takes many years. In the current procurement approach, the spectrum and electromagnetic environmental effects (E3) considerations are afterthoughts that are applied in a one-size-fits-all manner. To enable the next generation of military systems and fleet upgrades to operate effectively in the future of dynamic spectrum allocation, we must consider dynamic E3 and spectrum requirement during system development and procurement phases. Download the article below for more information.