Page 27 - Williams Foundation Future of Electronic Warfare Seminar

A New Approach and Attitude to Electronic Warfare in Australia

And if it’s not immediately obvious, let me emphasise this point: we need a compatible frame of reference to be
interoperable with our primary security partners as well.

To add to this complexity, the frame of reference is not static. We must be capable of resolving ambiguous
signals in the environment, and we must be capable of interpreting new observations that have not been
previously associated with a specific threat system.

That requires two feedback loops:
One that operates at the tactical and operational level to cue Electronic Attack resources and rapidly disseminate
new information to the joint force.

This is the domain of Electronic Warfare Support.

The second feedback loop operates at the strategic level – signals intelligence - which ensures our intelligence
mission data is constantly updated.
This is why EW is part of the broader information network and warfare domain.

For it is about enhancing information available to the warfighter at the key point of attack or defense and
augmenting you ability to attack the critical choke points affect force performance of an adversary.

This requires a more sophisticated understanding of how information should be managed across the joint force.
Recognition of this requirement led in part to the establishment of the Chief of Joint Capabilities, with a dedicated
Information Warfare Division responsible for joint intelligence and electronic warfare.

The goal is to have a more lethal and survivable force and one able to operate and prevail in the
electromagnetic spectrum.

We must create a test and training environment that stimulates the exacting demands of electronic warfare, both
at the individual and collective training level. Historically, this has only been possible through the use of actual
adversary systems – threat emulators provide reasonable training, but they can not provide the high fidelity test
and training environment required to develop and validate electronic warfare strategies and tactics.

The rapid development of adversary capabilities and the difficulty associated with acquiring actual threat systems
will drive the need for more effective threat emulation. And it will reinforce the need for a coherent Live, Virtual
and Constructive test and training environment.

We must prepare forces to operate in future contested environments where the cycle of counter and counter-
counter technology is far more rapid than we've experienced historically. Mastering this volatile, uncertain,
complex and ambiguous environment will require a new way of thinking for those of us accustomed to air
superiority and a dominance of the electromagnetic spectrum. We must now come to terms with competing for
both.

Our workforce challenges are pervasive: creating the workforce establishment, recruiting appropriately skilled
personnel to fill those positions and then developing professional mastery all take time. I am constantly reminded
by DGPERS that from the time a new workforce need is identified, it takes on average seven years to establish,
recruit and train an individual to competently perform that role. It’s difficult to think that far forward, and it is
difficult to be that patient.

Page 26