Electromagnetic warfare on the current and future battlefield

The ability to apply electromagnetic warfare (EW) technologies and techniques to monitor, control, and employ electromagnetic energy against one’s adversaries remains an important aspect of the modern battlefield. For military forces in all domains, electromagnetic emissions from sensors and communications transmissions can reveal a unit’s position and expose it to attack. NATO’s multi-domain operations (MDO) doctrine, emphasizing coordination and synchronization of effects across warfighting domains, will increase the need for data sharing and robust communication links amid intensifying competition within the electromagnetic spectrum. Emerging and potentially disruptive technologies (EDTs) will also influence competition in the spectrum. New technologies and tactics will improve the ability to detect emissions and disrupt communications, requiring novel ways for forces to manage their electromagnetic signatures. Technologies such as directed energy weapons will become more relevant tools for disrupting or destroying adversarial systems.
This report first explains the fundamental principles of sensing and communication, followed by a description of electromagnetic warfare principles that describe how sensing and communications activities can be disrupted. Four vignettes illustrate today’s EW concepts: a dismounted foot patrol, a mechanized unit, a surface vessel, and a multirole fighter aircraft. Additionally, a brief case study of EW in the Ukraine conflict further illustrates the most current and relevant EW dynamics. The report then evaluates some relevant EDTs such as advances in artificial intelligence applications, autonomous systems, quantum sensing, materials science, and new production methods. These possible innovations are then incorporated into a potential future Arctic battlespace by re-visiting the same four vignettes.
The analysis finds that military forces will need to integrate EW even more deeply into their operational concepts. Crucial aspects of military operations such as signature management, secure data-sharing, reliable communications, and force protection will require electromagnetic operations. EW will constitute an important means of creating conditions conducive to safely moving ground forces or massing sufficient effects on the battlefield. Although the exact character of future EW capabilities remains unknown, creating a risk-acceptant culture of concept development and experimentation will prepare our armed forces for the inevitable electromagnetic competition to come.