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What Would it Take to Declare the EMS a Domain? Industry News AOC News & Events AOC Chapter News and Events

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THANK YOU for Making the AOC 53rd Annual International Symposium and Convention a Fantastic Success!
Thank you to all the attendees, volunteers, speakers and others who made our annual event one of the best ever. Please take a few moments to fill out the post-event survey, which you should have received this week. Also if you missed any issue of the show daily or any of the great press coverage, visit the links below. And visit our Convention Page for event photos, including award winners and photos from the annual STEM event.

And mark your calendar for next year's event now: November 28-30, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Show Daily - Day 1
Show Daily - Day 2
Show Daily - Day 3
Show Daily - Day 4
Show Daily - Day 5

Press Coverage
Convention Page

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REGISTER NOW: Don't Miss AOC Electronic Warfare Singapore, January 17-18
We live in a time of increasing uncertainty on many fronts. Threats, challenges and opportunities are rising. Technology is accelerating. The world is undoubtedly changing and in unforeseen ways. In terms of future warfare, national forces are being re-shaped and re-equipped to face an operational maneuver space that will be complex and connected, but constrained. It may well be chaotic unless the right, informed choices are made now. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most vital areas in the world and the focus of much change, but also of uncertainty. In terms of EW and electromagnetic operations, how can we make sense of all of these things?

AOC EW Singapore will consider the future of EW and EM Operations in the changing light of current and emerging threats, including Hybrid Warfare and Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) where potential opponents are out-performing the West. It will consider the possible responses, how thinking and attitudes must change, and examine the new capabilities that will be required across all lines of development, by all services, in all countries in the free world. The Conference will consist of plenary sessions focusing on operations, defence capability development, and industry inventiveness. AOC EW Singapore 2017 will bring together the communities of EW, SIGINT, C4ISR, Cyber EM Activities (CEMA) and more. Speakers will include leaders and operators from the military, government, academia, S&T and international R&D communities and, crucially industry. This is an unclassified English language Asia-Pacific focused EW networking, exhibition, workshop and conference and is not to be missed.

Speakers include:
Professor David Stupples, Professor of Electronic & Radio Systems, Director EW Systems Research, City University London, UK
Daniela Pistoia, Corporate Chief Scientist, Elettronica SpA, Italy
Colonel Stephen Miller USAF (Ret.), Senior Research Engineer, Strategic Program Development Lead, GTRI, US
Rear Admiral Simon Williams, Chairman, Clarion Events, UK
Dr Sue Robertson, AOC International Region 1 Director, UK
More Details...

View the Current Agenda
Register Now

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AOC AWARD WINNER: Remarks from 2016 Gold Medal Winner, U.S. Rep. Joseph R. Pitts
The Gold Medal Award is the AOC's highest and most prestigious honor. It is presented to a senior U.S. or International Government, Military or Industry Official in recognition of outstanding and dedicated service to promote and advance the discipline of Electronic Warfare.

This year's winner is Pennsylvania Congressman Joseph R. Pitts, who established the bipartisan Electronic Warfare Working Group as a member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in 1999. Pitts, a former US Air Force B-52 EW Officer, has worked tirelessly through his career, both as an officer and in government, to advocate for EW and the EMS Domain.

Read the Remarks from Congressman Pitts on Acceptance of the AOC Gold Medal at the 53rd Annual AOC International Symposium and Convention last week in Washington, D.C.

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CALL FOR PAPERS: 46th Annual Collaborative EW Symposium, April 25-27, Pt. Mugu, CA
"Collaborative Electronic Warfare: Enabling Collaborative EW Through Innovation and Invention"

As EW warfighting requirements continue to evolve in their complexity and interdependency, it is clear that future EW systems must work collaboratively with other Air, Ground, Surface Space and Cyberspace systems. The 46th Annual Point Mugu Electronic Warfare Symposium will facilitate the exchange of enabling concepts and provide a venue to disseminate current research in the fields of Collaborative Electronic Warfare. Prominent leaders, contributors and representatives from the United States and Australian military, government, academia, and industry will come together to address current Electronic Warfare gaps and emerging technologies in Collaborative Electronic Warfare required to address these gaps.

CALL FOR PAPERS
This call for presentations or demonstrations challenges presenters to explore the way forward in enabling collaborative EW through innovation and invention. Presentations or demonstrations from all United States and Australian Services, DoD, Industry, and Academia are requested that identify technical paths, options, and potential opportunities for EW collaboration. Submitted abstracts are specifically requested to address one or more of the symposium sessions: threat trends, collaborative EW science and technology perspectives, cognitive and adaptive EW technologies, coordinated/distributed networked enabled systems, and warfighter perspectives. Amplifying information on these supporting topics and draft agenda are referenced below. Abstracts for presentations are required in unclassified textual format. Please forward abstracts to Ms. Shelley Frost at frost@crows.org. The deadline is January 12, 2017. We request that abstracts be limited to one page of text or 400 words. All sessions will be classified SECRET releasable Australia.

More Details

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REGISTER NOW: AOC EW Europe - Advancing EW and Electromagnetic Operations Together, June 6-8

AOC EW Europe will be held in perhaps the world’s most iconic city – London. It will consider the future of EW and EM Operations in the changing light of current and emerging threats, including Hybrid Warfare and Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) where potential opponents are out-performing the West. It will consider the possible responses and how thinking and attitudes must change and examine the new capabilities that will be required across all lines of development, by all services, in all countries in the free world.  

The conference will include plenary sessions and twin-tracks focusing respectively on operations, capability and defence lines of development, and industry developments and inventiveness. AOC EW Europe 2017 will bring together the communities involved in EW, SIGINT, C4ISR, Cyber EM Activities (CEMA) and more. Speakers will include leaders and operators from the military, government, academia, S&T and R&D communities and, crucially industry. This is an unclassified truly-global EW networking, exhibition, workshop and conference and not to be missed.

Register Now

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DIXIE CROW SYMPOSIUM 42: Join us in Warner Robins March 19-23

Our Symposium Committee, Dixie Crow Chapter President, and Chapter Directors cordially invite you to join us for all the exciting events at the Dixie Crow 42nd EW/IO Technical Symposium, March 19-23 in Warner Robins, GA. The Dixie Crow EW/IO Technical Symposium is pending approval by SAF/AA. AFLCMC/WNY is co-hosting the Symposium’s AF Technical Program and Short Courses with the Dixie Crow Chapter of the AOC.

Stay tuned for more information.

Visit Our Conference Page

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2017 AOC Sponsorships
How do you reach more customers in the Electromagnetic Warfare community? The AOC! To maximize your impact in 2017, begin securing your sponsorship positions today. When you strategically plan out your year with the AOC, you can realize significant savings.
Check out our updated sponsorship catalog below. 

Sponsorship Catalog

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VISIT THE AOC JOB VACANCIES PAGE: Post Your Jobs
Employers can post on the Job Vacancies page for free. Follow the guide located HERE to provide information on posting a job listing. Submitted listings will remain live for 30 days. The AOC will not format or edit submitted postings, and will not respond to any questions from candidates concerning postings. We are hoping that members and sponsors will take advantage of this free AOC service. Complete the guide linked above and submit to Tim Hutchison at hutchison@crows.org.

Job Vacancies Page

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Thanks to a data-gathering surveillance platform originally developed for cities, an emerging battlefield technology will allow soldiers to take control of enemy drones by intercepting and manipulating radio frequencies. Called the Hitachi Visualization Suite (HVS), the platform collects, consolidates and analyzes technological information in a single, centralized program designed to significantly improve electronic warfare capabilities. Gathering relevant data and metadata is crucial to U.S. military supremacy and fits with the technological advances and advantages outlined in the "Third Offset" strategy announced earlier this year. (Defense Systems)
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Cyber was recently declared a domain of warfare five years ago, making it the fifth operational domain with land, sea, air and space. There is now also discussion of donning the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) its own operational domain of warfare. As reported by Breaking Defense last year, Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen said the Pentagon will be investigating requirements and ramifications of declaring EMS a domain. (C4ISRNet)
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There is no shortage of innovative ways to shoot down drones. Some companies are pitching lasers, others prefer radio-frequency disruption or, if you prefer explosions, the U.S. Army has tested Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and fired course-corrected projectiles with forward-blast fragmentation warheads from a 50-mm Bushmaster cannon. But could a whole swarm be destroyed electronically with a 1-millisec. zap? (Subscription) (Aviation Week)
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With Russian jammers blasting Ukrainian radios off the air, the U.S. Defense Department’s racing to regain its edge in electronic warfare. But there’s been no comprehensive strategy to guide all the armed services’ efforts – until now. The first Defense Department-wide electronic warfare strategy is "basically finished" and headed to Secretary Ashton Carter’s desk for his signature, along with major plus-ups to EW spending for 2018, Pentagon official Bill Conley said Thursday afternoon. (Breaking Defense)
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China has developed and built several new EW (Electronic Warfare) aircraft. While some of these use twin-engine civilian aircraft, most use the Chinese equivalent of the American C-130. The latest version of this is the Y-9, which will supplement and replace earlier Y-8 models. As electronic warfare aircraft these are referred to as Y-8G and Y-9G. The first three of the new ones went to the navy as Y-9G ELINT (electronic intelligence). There are over 20 Y-8G EW aircraft in service and the Y-9G will supplement the Y-8Gs and eventually replace them. (Strategy Page)
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This afternoon, Army generals gathered to begin designing a new kind of unit, a tactical cyber/electronic warfare detachment, whose first experimental exercise overseas could be as early as next year. For the first time since the Cold War, at least a small part of the Army could have radio and radar jamming capabilities to match the Russians, who’ve used EW to devastating effect in Ukraine. For the first time ever, it could have hackers on the battlefield. (Breaking Defense)
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Earlier this year, Sen. John McCain unveiled a series of sweeping changes to the Pentagon. The thought among analysts was that the Arizona Republican — facing down a potentially dicey primary election, challenge by a well-funded opposition in the general election and with no guarantee his party would remain in control of the Senate — had put all his cards on the table. Every change he wanted to make to the Pentagon would be on considered, a potential legacy-building effort from the longtime defense hawk. (Defense News)
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The US Army isn’t counting on airpower in the next war. Without that cover, there won’t be supply drops, recon drones or medevac helicopters picking up your casualties – and you will have casualties. "Land-based forces now are going to have to penetrate denied areas to facilitate air and naval forces. This is the exact opposite of what we have done for the last 70 years, where air and naval forces have enabled ground forces," Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, said last month. (Breaking Defense)
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The establishment of an Army Cyber Directorate, the Rapid Capabilities Office and a nearly completed strategy are ushering in a more productive era in electronic warfare capability development, according to Col. Jeffrey Church, the chief of strategy and policy in the cyber directorate. The Army relies on the electromagnetic spectrum for everything from the individual soldier’s communications to precise weapons targeting and situational awareness, but the Army’s development and acquisition efforts for electronic warfare capability has been stagnant while other countries like Russia have mastered the use of the electromagnetic spectrum in conflict. (Defense News)
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Controversy over the relationship between BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence company, and one of its main customers, Saudi Arabia, was raging when Ian King, its chief executive, started his job in 2008. BAE’s link to Saudi Arabia was forged 30 years ago with the first "al-Yamamah" arms deal. It saved the firm amid a difficult business environment, but embroiled it in a long-running corruption scandal that even led to Mr King’s immediate predecessor, Mike Turner, being briefly detained by America’s Department of Justice just before he stepped down. (The Economist)
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Less than a day after the House voted overwhelmingly on a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that eliminates his job, Frank Kendall — now potentially the last undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L) — is relatively calm about the change. "Oh, that part. Everybody fixates on that. I’m less worried about that than I am other things," Kendall said Saturday after an appearance at the Reagan National Defense Forum, held outside of Los Angeles, California. (Defense News)
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Advocates and defenders of the federal bid protest process received some welcome news last week as part of the House-Senate agreement on this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. The final deal stripped two key Senate provisions that were seen as hostile to the protest process. In a major reversal from the Senate’s earlier position, NDAA conferees agreed to give the Government Accountability Office permanent jurisdiction to hear and decide bid protests of any task order worth more than $10 million. GAO’s earlier authority to hear challenges to individual orders on major multiple-award contract vehicles like Alliant, EAGLE 2 and OASIS was only temporary, and lapsed entirely at the end of September. (Federal News Radio)
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The Pentagon is facing a set of capability gaps in its aim to ensure dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum, according to officials overseeing the efforts. Speaking at an Association of Old Crows event Tuesday in Washington, Brig. Gen. Edward Sauley, the deputy director of operations for Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations, said the Pentagon is facing three operational capability gaps: electromagnetic battle management, modeling and simulation and training. (Subscription) (Inside Defense)
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NATO’s electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, which atrophied after the Cold War due to defense budget cuts, are starting to rebound but will take years to fully recover, an alliance official said Nov. 30. NATO members have begun buying new EW system. (Registration Required) (Defense Industry Daily)
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With an intense focus on technologically inferior adversaries in non-permissive environments for the last 15 years, the U.S. is coming to grips with the nature of advanced warfare and the capabilities of near-peer competitors. One of these capabilities, which some have described as on par or even superior to that of the U.S., is electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO) and electronic warfare (EW). (C4ISRNet)
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The Association of Old Crows has inducted Northrop Grumman engineers Michael Panopoulos and James Van Kirk into the Electronic Warfare Technology Hall of Fame. Panopoulos and Van Kirk were recognized for their contributions in the field of electronic warfare during a Nov. 29 ceremony at the three-day 53rd Annual AOC International Symposium and Convention in Washington, Northrop said Friday. (GovConExecutive)
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Textron Systems has introduced the newest member of its Aircraft Survivability Equipment product line. The Integrated Tester for Aircraft Survivability Systems, or ITASS, is a flight line tester designed to provide a variety of sensors for pilots. Features include radar warning receivers, two-color infrared warning systems, laser warning systems and UV warning systems. (UPI)
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