Electronic warfare (EW)

About

• Electronic war (EW) involves the usage of the electromagnetic spectrum to disrupt, intercept, or control enemy communications and systems whilst protecting quality operations.
• It generally includes 3 components:
  • Electronic Attack (EA): This entails jamming or disrupting enemy radars, communications, or steering structures.
    • Techniques encompass electromagnetic jamming (interfering with radio alerts), electronic deception (feeding fake information), and physical attacks on electronic infrastructure (e.g., EMPs).
  • Electronic security (EP): Countermeasures aimed at protecting against EA, ensuring that communication and control structures remain useful regardless of enemy attempts to disrupt them. Techniques include frequency hopping, signal encryption, and spread-spectrum technologies.
  • Electronic Support (ES): The use of sensors to detect, intercept, perceive, and find assets of electromagnetic emissions. This may be used for danger detection, electronic intelligence (ELINT), and indicators intelligence (SIGINT).

Recent Conflicts Involving Electronic Warfare

• Russia and Ukraine: Russia has hired significant EW skills in Ukraine, disrupting GPS, radio, and drone communications to impede Ukrainian forces’ operations.
• US Military: The US has heavily invested in EW, integrating it into air, sea, and surface forces to disable adversaries’ communications, concentrated on systems, and different electronic infrastructure.
• Israel and Hezbollah: On September 17,2024, a wave of pager explosions led to at least 12 deaths and almost 3,000 injuries across Lebanon and parts of Syria. This became observed through more blasts the next day, including 14 more deaths and 450 injuries.
  • These systems, likely pagers, might also have been compromised in the supply chain, possibly with the inclusion of explosive substances.
  • This incident has raised tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, with fears of similar escalation within the ongoing war.

India’s Vulnerability to Electronic Warfare

• Space and Satellite Vulnerabilities: India closely is based on satellite systems for communication, surveillance, and navigation. 
  • These assets are at risk of EW assaults such as signal jamming or cyber-attacks, especially from advanced actors like China, which has proven AntiSatellite (ASAT) capabilities.
• Cybersecurity Risks: India’s military and critical infrastructure face great cybersecurity challenges. 
  • EW systems are more and more interconnected with cyber networks, making them vulnerable to cyber-attacks. 
  • Any disruption in electronic communications or data integrity should result in compromised operations, in particular during conflicts.
• Vulnerability of Civilian Infrastructure: India’s growing dependence on civilian telecommunications networks and GPS for both civilian and military functions create a vulnerability to EW assaults. 
  • Civilian infrastructure, which may also no longer have the same level of security as army networks, could be focused in an electronic war campaign.
• Rapid Advancements in Adversary Capabilities: Both China and Pakistan are unexpectedly advancing their EW and cyber talents. 
  • China’s funding in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology could allow more sophisticated electronic attacks, doubtlessly outpacing India’s modern EW security systems.

India’s Preparedness

• Development of Indigenous EW Systems: India has been specializing in building indigenous EW talents just like the Samyukta (a mobile electronic warfare system) and D-29 (EW suite for fighter jets just like the MiG-29). 
  • India has also been equipping its naval and air forces with systems just like the Kavach and Ajanta, which are electronic war decoys to protect warships from anti-ship missiles.
• Collaboration with Allies: India is strengthening partnerships with countries just like the U.S. , France, and Israel to gather advanced EW technologies and improve its security infrastructure.
• Cybersecurity Initiatives: The Indian government has launched more than one initiative to counter the cyber defense skills of the military, which include creating specialized units to counter cyber-assaults on defense infrastructure.
• Space-Based EW Capabilities: India’s heavy reliance on satellite communications and navigation structures for both civilian and military use has made space an crucial frontier for EW.

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