Page 22 - Williams Foundation Future of Electronic Warfare Seminar

A New Approach and Attitude to Electronic Warfare in Australia

HAVOC Works the Electronic Warfare Payload in the Digital Battlespace
(With Ed Timperlake)

During a July 2017 visit to the Naval Aviation Warfighting Center (NAWDC), we had a chance to talk with
the leadership of N-10 or HAVOC as it is known at NAWDC.

N10: The US Navy's Airborne Electronic Attack Weapons School, call sign "HAVOC", stood up in 2011 to
execute the NAWDC mission as it pertains to Electronic Warfare and the EA-18G Growler. HAVOC is comprised
of highly qualified Growler Tactics Instructors, or GTIs, that form the "tactical engine" of the EA-18G community,
developing the tactics that get the most out of EA-18G sensors and weapons. HAVOC's mission is also to train
Growler Aircrew and Intelligence Officers on those tactics during the Growler Tactics Instructor Course.
The Growler Tactics Instructor Course is a rigorous 12 week syllabus of academic, simulator, and live fly events
that earn graduates the Growler Tactics Instructor designation - the highest level of EA-18G tactical qualification
that is recognized across Naval Aviation. The Growler brings the most advanced tactical Electronic Warfare
capabilities to operational commanders creating a tactical advantage for friendly air, land, and maritime forces
by delaying, degrading, denying, or deceiving enemy kill chains.

It is clear that the HAVOC leadership looks at their work as providing key tools for the current fight, including
embedding Naval aircrews with ground maneuver elements in our current wars.

However they are also significantly laying the foundation for the con-ops evolution of many the tactics and
training for combat employment of high intensity non-kinetic payloads in the digital battlespace.

Significantly in building to the future, they are working their “tron magic” across the joint and coalition force.

During our visit we interviewed LT Scot “Chu-Hi” Chuda, LCDR Stephen “Choda” Skoda, LT Steven Sanchetta
and LCDR “Sharkey” McCormick.

The team has significant electronic warfare experience starting with Prowler and has worked with Growler for
some time as well.

The first point made by the team was that the Growler is mission dependent.

They emphasized that their role varied by mission but they were seeing an expanded role for the non-kinetic
capability.

They are expanding beyond a classic Suppression of Enemy Air Defense or SEAD role to look at other ways
to contribute to a broader mission set.

One should look at Growler as providing a non-kinetic payload within the evolving digital battlefield because
the non-kinetic payload business is itself expanding as threat change and technology evolves.

“How we integrate will always depend on the different assets available and the different missions.”

The second point is that demand signal is going up with regard to the electronic magnetic spectrum threat.

“The electromagnetic spectrum is pervasive and everybody uses it and everybody tries to take advantage of
it and we are the sole asset in the DOD that has that as our primary mission to affect the electromagnetic
spectrum.”

The third is that they work a lot with the joint force.
Second Line of Defense

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