AURORA, Colo.—Defense industry executives who specialize in electromagnetic warfare, or EW, said March 4 that the widespread adoption of a set of universal standards has positioned the United States to advance quickly in the discipline.
Space Force Col. Nicole M. Petrucci, commander of Mission Delta 3, led a conversation with industry representatives at the AFA Warfare Symposium.
In light of “a renewed emphasis on competition and speed,” Petrucci asked the reps how the government or industry could “accelerate capabilities” for EW, an often-misunderstood area.
The practices that make up electromagnetic warfare involve the electromagnetic spectrum in one way or another, such as by interfering with communication signals, a.k.a. “jamming,” or sending fake communications, a.k.a. “spoofing.” Petrucci’s command includes the 4th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron, whose transportable Counter Communications System, or CCS, “reversibly denies adversary satellite communications,” according to an official description.
Panel members had no shortage of suggestions for how to go faster: sticking to a set of universal standards; collaboration on contract requirements, incorporating more commercial products into weapon systems.
Amanda Whites, senior director of strategic captures at systems integration firm Parry Labs, credited the work of the Open Architecture Collaborative Working Group for creating the Universal Command and Control Interface, or UCI, a common set of standards. Interfaces are the situations in which components of a system meet, such as the jamming hardware built by one maker and software by another.
“I would say on both sides”—industry and government—“adhering to the standards, understanding the standards, and enforcing those is really what’s going to help you” speed up advancements, Whites said. “I think we’re at a point where we’ve stopped creating standards and started kind of just adhering to them. We’re noticing that our kill web is slowly starting to come together.”
The need for speed, Petrucci said, is being driven by findings like those in the 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. The one-year threat assessment published in March 2024 foresaw “accelerating strategic competition among major powers, more intense and unpredictable transnational challenges, and multiple regional conflicts with far-reaching implications.”
Against that backdrop, Petrucci said, the Space Force wants to “get those [EW] systems … as quick as we can.”
Patrick Creighton, electronic warfare vice president and general manager at Harris Technologies, recommended getting away from “very unique bespoke requirements” when developing systems and instead enabling “more use of commercial off-the-shelf technologies,” while designing more systems to accommodate upgrades.
“We can’t be constantly relying on brand-new systems every five years,” Creighton said.
As one of the newly formed Mission Deltas, Petrucci’s command unites aspects of acquisitions, operations, intelligence, and cyber under one unit. Officials say they think the new organizational structure will speed up upgrades and strengthen outcomes.
James Conroy, Northrop Grumman’s navigation, targeting, and survivability vice president, said in his view, speed is “all about collaboration,” especially between the government and industry. “Collaboration results in efficiency, and efficiency is what results in speed.”