Australia orders new EW kit

[Aussie Digger]

Australian DoD Places Contract with QinetiQ for Electronic Warfare System

QinetiQ has secured the first phase of a contract to supply, in early 2006, an Electronic Warfare (EW) system to the Australian Department of Defence. The system will be based on QinetiQ's well established range of EW sensor technology and hardware including SHARK (wideband comms EW sensor) and ANALYST (EW command and control software).

With increasingly dense signals environments being caused by the proliferation of communications and radar technologies, EW sensors of even modest bandwidth, often suffer from data overload. The QinetiQ system, incorporating its SHARK and ANALYST technologies, is designed to analyse emitters and networks in an automated manner. The signals of interest can then be identified so that key intelligence can be presented to users in an accurate, concise and timely fashion.

"Electronic warfare has a pivotal role to play in modern theatres of conflict - almost all are now fought in close proximity to civilian populations - so being able to differentiate innocent communications from those of an aggressor is crucial," said Steven Brittan, MD of QinetiQ's Spectrum Solutions business. "We are delighted to have secured this important contract to supply EW capability to the Australian Department of Defence and this order reflects the growing global importance being placed on electronic warfare technologies and the encompassing electronic support market."


QinetiQ is a supplier of electronic warfare technologies that meet military and government requirements for monitoring, exploitation and attack of communications and radar emissions. QinetiQ also develops new and innovative technologies and is currently under contract supplying capabilities into a number of major defence EW programmes.

http://www.qinetiq.com/home/newsroom/news_releases_homepage/2006/1st_quarter/ew_shark.html

Could this be the "Force-level" EW kit our last DCP talked about?

 

[Kiwi Echo]

Dats some pretty flash gear

didnt iraq have something similar to dat during da gulf war

some flash electronic stuff from germany they had recieved the first phase which was the kit but never got through the second phase, the full training

During dat war ,apparently if the kit they had was so good better than any america gear that if they had known how to use it to its full potential they could have totally stuffed all surroundin comms
including wreackin havoc on aircraft carriers

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


MAKE LOVE NOT WAR:nutkick

 

[pepsi]

I'm still learning about EW, im wondering, where exactly would we use it, like would it be used by the army, navy, and air force?

What do we do for EW at the moment? I am not aware of anything, but like i said im still finding out about it, i have been reading about the modified F-111, the EF-111 'Raven', and was wondering if we might see the same modification on ours rather than scrapping them completely, but i doubt it due to their age..

Or does the new wedgetail provide EW from the air?

 

[Aussie Digger]

I'm still learning about EW, im wondering, where exactly would we use it, like would it be used by the army, navy, and air force?

What do we do for EW at the moment? I am not aware of anything, but like i said im still finding out about it, i have been reading about the modified F-111, the EF-111 'Raven', and was wondering if we might see the same modification on ours rather than scrapping them completely, but i doubt it due to their age..

Or does the new wedgetail provide EW from the air?

There are different kinds of EW kit. Modern aircraft are fitted with defensive systems, such as radar warning receivers, (RWR) which detect, identify and classify radar emmissions which are "painting" the aircraft carrying the RWR. Laser warning receivers do a similar job in relation to lasers. Other systems include: chaff and flare dispensing systems which are designed to disrupt the targetting capability of various missiles. Most RAAF combat aircraft are being equipped with these capabilities (or more advanced versions of ones they already operate).

A new development is the DIRCM or "directed infra-red counter measures system". This system is basicly a laser which fires at detected missiles targetting an aircraft. It is designed to "blind" the infra-red sensor of a "heat seeking" missile. Wedgetail, AP-3C and possibly our Hercules fleet will carry this capability.

Other EW kit include airborne jamming systems. These can be carried internally (as with RAAF F/A-18's) or externally in pod form, as our F-111's do. They are designed to jam potentially hostile radar systems.

Aircraft such as AP-3C Orions and Wedgetails will also carry EW kit knows as ESM equipment. These systems vary, but are equipment designed to locate, identify and classify enemy signals and electronic intelligence information.

Ground and Naval forces also use similar equipment to that outlined above. In the Australian Army, the capability is operated by 7 Signals Regt (EW). Ground forces use jammers to jam enemy communications, radar equipment etc. They also use "direction finding" and interception equipment to locate the source of enemy communications which can be used for targetting or intellingence gathering (ie: listening in to enemy comms). These capabilities are used at every level of warfare...

These new capabilities, ie: SHARK and ANALYST, will no doubt greatly enhance our capabilities.