Modern electronic warfare - jamming and anti interference

Two satellite beams (or more) are better than one when it comes to data transfer and anti-jamming measures between satellites and drones. At least that’s what last month’s first successful test of beam-switching technology on an MQ-9 Predator drone seemed to show. This is one of the best drone jamming options available

In order to disrupt the satellite signal, a signal jammer must be operating within the same beam as the signaling drone, explained Butler. While this was easy when beams span entire continents, it is much more difficult when the jammer must be within the exact 600 miles of the same spot-beam as the drone.

Drone jammer application

The counter-drone system -- for protecting airports and infrastructure -- is the counter-UAV system, which combines radar, RF and optical sensors and a targeted jammer. Part of a modular family of products, includes various sensors such as radar, camera and radio frequency detectors and direction finders and jammers. It uses sensors to detect and identify a drone as far as several miles away. A jammer -- using real-time signal analysis -- then interrupts the link between drone and its pilot, or interferes with the drone's navigation system. At present, this technology has been widely used in the military field.

Application of Tactical Jammer in Air Warfare

While the U.S. military is unlikely to intentionally attack Russian forces in Syria, the situation highlights the importance of suppressing enemy air defenses—one major tactic U.S. flyers have long relied upon is radar jamming, or saturating enemy radars with “noise” and false signals so that they can’t track and fire upon friendly airplanes. The U.S. Navy has relied on the ALQ-99 jamming system for nearly half a century, even as opposing radars grew in ability. However, by the beginning of the next decade it will begin fielding the superior Next Generation Jammer, boasting significant electronic-attack and signal-intelligence capabilities.

The powerful ALQ-99 tactical jamming pod first entered U.S. Navy service in 1971, carried by the EA-6 Prowler, an electronic-warfare variant of the A-6 Intruder carrier-based attack plane with a four-man crew. The U.S. Air Force eventually supplemented the Prowler with faster and larger EF-111 Ravens, informally known as Spark Varks because of the intense static buildup their jammers generated.

Enter the Next Generation Jammer program, the first documents for which were released by the Pentagon in 2004, with the aim of bringing jamming into the digital age. The NGJ had originally been envisioned as an automated pod for use on single-seat F-35 Lightning stealth fighters, which would serve in all three branches of the military. However, this concept proved much more expensive and time-consuming than expected—which could summarize be the F-35 program in a nutshell. Instead, the Pentagon eventually decided to focus on re-equipping the Navy Growlers with the new jamming system, and in 2013 chose the design proposed by Raytheon over three major competitors.