Page 19 - Williams Foundation Future of Electronic Warfare Seminar
P. 19

A New Approach and Attitude to Electronic Warfare in Australia



















            FIGURE 8 GROUP CAPTAIN GLEN BRAZ, OC OF THE 82ND WING.

            We realized that there was an opportunity to acquire a bridging fighter, the Super Hornet. And by acquiring
            this aircraft we began to address the security challenges associated with a data rich aircraft and to change
            our security culture and engage in the new operational concepts that the Super Hornet enabled.

            It had capabilities that we'd never had to deal with before or think about before. While they're not F-35s,
            they do generate inputs into rethinking about how to deal with the coming of the F-35.

            The Super Hornet gave us that intellectual kick to think more broadly, and to adapt how we do things, and to
            not be wedded to historic approaches with regard to operating concepts.

            Question: How many Growlers are coming to Australia?

            Group Captain Braz: We've got four in Australia right now. By the end of the week, we should have seven,
            and we'll have all of them here by June. We will have 12 in all.

            Question: The Growler is coming when much is in flux with the RAAF with the significant impact of
            tanker and Wedgetail, and the coming of the F-35 as well P-8 to the force.

            How does the coming of the Growler intersect with the broader changes for the RAAF?

            Group Captain Braz: From an ADF force-wide point of view, there is a huge amount of change. That's both a
            threat and an opportunity.

            We've come to understand that we have to fight in the new information realm, and Growler allows you to do
            that more effectively.

            Further, it changes how we are thinking about how we employ the existing capabilities with the new
            capabilities.

            We're reshaping our technical and operational thinking to harness and to capture what Growler can offer in
            the operational space.

            It's an opportunity while there is so much change to think wholesale about what we're doing and how we do it,
            and to integrate it from that very ground floor level with those new capabilities that air force is bringing to
            enable the joint fight and to support the joint fight.

            Question: In effect, you are shaping a community of tron warriors who operate specific platforms, but
            who will shape a broader community of users beyond the platform specific uses.




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