Here’s how new space tech is helping electronic warfare forces on the ground

WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency is providing valuable and rapid electronic warfare capabilities in the tactical sphere, a top Pentagon official said.

Previously, most of the tactical electronic warfare support from the space sensing layer resulted from collaboration between the military and the intelligence community, which created barriers to timely information sharing for war fighters on the ground. Now with organic, so-called Title 10 space sensors deployed by the Space Development Agency, data can be shared more quickly.

The sensors deployed in orbit by the agency create organic military capabilities with real-time access and that provide greater force protection, according to David Tremper, director of electronic warfare within the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, who spoke during an April 13 virtual conference hosted by the Association of Old Crows.

The speed becomes especially important as adversaries’ abilities to sense and target friendly systems is becoming more expansive, Tremper said.

Forces also have a much wider area to defend.

“High-altitude sensors become really important. Space Development Agency providing Title 10 sensors in space with tactical data links becomes really important,” Tremper said. “Now SDA capability with proliferated [low Earth orbit] LEO in space allows us then to, on demand, get sensing information 1,000 kilometers above us. That is critically important to wide-field-of-view types of sensing and targeting.”

More In Electronic Warfare

Opinion

Here are 4 ways to defend against unmanned ground vehicles

Like unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, UGV systems range broadly in size and mission.

Drone-killing costs must come down, says Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer

Defense companies have built and pitched everything from powerful lasers and microwaves to drones that ram their targets midair.

Opinion

How the government came to embrace good-faith hacking of its networks

Federal agencies are inoculating public IT infrastructure by not only listening to the Internet’s Immune System, but proactively inviting healthy input.

French missile double punch adds new naval capability for Europe

Two cruise missiles, timed to hit the same target at the same time from different angles, could help overwhelm enemy air defenses, according to analysts.

Saab unveils technology incubator using Enforcer 3 as test bed

“We are trying to get capability to the fleet in months,” said Erik Smith, the chief executive of Saab's U.S. branch.