A new U.S. Air Force operational doctrine publication released by the service branch last month covering electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) operations is setting forth goals for the Air Force and U.S. military joint forces to create competitive advantages in the EMS arena.
The publication features detailed explanations of the service branch’s thinking on EMS operations, warfare, and spectrum control, among other topics.
The document also sets forth the increasing importance of EMS to military operations and talks about some top-level goals.
“The movement, maneuver, and employment of joint forces, and the achievement of strategic and operational objectives, is highly dependent on the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS),” the document states. “As adversaries increasingly challenge forces in this area, a degree of EMS superiority is required to gain and maintain control in all domains. Accordingly, a comprehensive understanding of the EMS is critical to gaining and maintaining the desired degree of EMS control.”
“Global dependence on the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) offers increasing opportunities to exploit new attack vectors during operations, but also creates vulnerabilities and limited access for EMS-dependent systems,” the publication says.
“The joint force requires an overmatching, offensive approach to electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO) to enhance competitive advantage and create multiple dilemmas for adversaries in all domains,” it says.
Moving forward, the document says, “Airmen should develop EMS awareness, engagement, and maneuver capabilities that span and connect all domains and enable successful friendly operations.”
“Dominant EMS expertise and capabilities can render adversary sensors, situational awareness, command and control, networks, and decision processes ineffective, preventing adversaries from attaining their objectives,” it says.
On the threat front, the document says current EMS threats include “systems that can detect, exploit, degrade, disrupt, and deceive operational capabilities, including navigation, communications, and sensors. Enemies seek access to secure communications, navigational, and sensing systems.”
“The use of commercial systems without regard to legal constraints creates an operational challenge,” the document says, adding, “This challenge can reduce US freedom of action in the EMS while being concealed by civilian EMS use. This concealment complicates the identification, mitigation, and targeting of these systems.”
As an overarching objective, “the joint force should place a high priority on achieving the degree of EMS control required to ensure the freedom of action necessary to compete and win,” the document says.
“The required degree of EMS control should be determined by the level required to enable successful execution of” EMS operations “and may range from parity, superiority, or supremacy, depending on the situation and the JFC’s [Joint Force commander] concept of operations (CONOPS),” the document says. “The JFC’s objectives and desired effects determine when, where, and how these operations are conducted.”
