Context:
Recently, Electronic Warfare Conference “Spectrum” 2024 was conducted by Base Repair Depot Najafgarh, Delhi.
Theme: “EW: Trends, Technologies & Maintenance Challenges”
About Electronic Warfare
- It is the ability to use the electromagnetic spectrum signals – such as radio, infrared, or radar – to sense, protect, and communicate.
Electronic Warfare is most commonly subdivided into three categories:
- Electronic Support Measures (ESM): It involves actions taken to search for, intercept, locate, record and analyse radiated electromagnetic energy, for the purpose of exploiting such radiations to support military operations.
- It involves gathering of EW information through Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Communications Intelligence (COMINT) and ESM receivers.
- Electronic Countermeasures (ECM): The actions taken to prevent or reduce the enemy’s effective use of the electromagnetic spectrum. Two major actions of ECM are jamming and deception.
- The deliberate radiation, reradiation, or reflection of electromagnetic energy to impair the use of electronic devices is called Jamming.
- The deliberate radiation, re-radiation, alteration, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic energy in a manner intended to mislead the enemy is called as deception.
- Electronic Counter- Countermeasures (ECCM): The actions taken to ensure friendly, effective, use of the electromagnetic spectrum despite the enemy’s use of EW are known as ECCM.
India’s Initiative for the Electronic Warfare
- Advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) System ‘Shakti’ has been designed for Capital Warships of the Indian Navy for the interception, detection, classification, identification and jamming of conventional and modern Radars.
- It has been integrated with the wideband Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) for the defence of Indian Navy Ships against missile attacks.
- Programme Sangraha – a joint DRDO-Navy Programme which envisaged design and development of five different types of indigenous EW systems.
- Programme Samyukta – It is a joint Army-DRDO integrated Electronic Warfare Programme.