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Breaking Down China’s Electronic Warfare Tactics Industry News AOC News & Events AOC Chapter News and Events Spectrum Visualization Challenge

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REGISTER NOW: 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.

View the Conference Page for the Draft Agenda

FREE COURSE

New Threats Require New EW Approaches - No cost 4-hour course
Instructor: Mr. Dave Adamy
Monday, April 24 | 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay
Sponsored by Rohde & Schwarz

We are facing an array of new threats that have been developed specifically to overcome the EW approaches we have been using with great success since Viet  Nam. This short-course deals with the features of these new threats and the way they impact EW operations. The new threats have significantly more lethal range, increasing levels of Electronic Protection, and increasingly sophisticated RADAR processing power.  Click here to download the flyer about course and instructor.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS



LtGen Jon M. Davis
Deputy Commandant for Aviation,
Headquarters Marine Corps

Rear Admiral Christian "Boris" Becker
Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Intelligence and Program Executive Officer for Space Systems

RDML Bret C. Batchelder
Commander, Navy Warfare Development Command

RDML Brian K. Corey
Commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division
Assistant Commander for Test and Evaluation,
Naval Air Systems Command

Mr. William Flynn, SES (invited)
Director for Innovation and Integration and Senior Advisor for Space for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare (OPNAV N2N6)

Register Now!

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DON'T MISS NEXT WEEK'S WEBINAR: Cognitive EW - Latest Buzzword or Way of the Future?
Thursday, April 6, 2017 |14:00-15:00 EST

The concept of cognitive EW has recently emerged as a possible means to ensure the future success of EW systems in increasingly complex and dynamic environments. But as with any new concept - especially in the military domain where secrecy is paramount - details about what cognitive EW really is and what it actually does are extremely limited. Under the circumstances, the appropriate response seems to be: Is cognitive EW really something useful or is it just the latest buzzword?

This webinar will attempt to provide a clearer overview of what cognitive EW is and is not. Possible goals for cognitive EW will be highlighted along with the potential benefits which may be accrued. Perhaps more importantly, some of the challenges to and potential limitations of cognitive EW will also be covered in an attempt to provide a balanced view of the concept. The relevant issues will be illustrated using an EW mission-planning tool currently under development as an example.

Register Now


Gold Sponsors







Bronze Sponsor

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REGISTER NOW: 9th Annual EW Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational & Technical Information Exchange, May 9-11, Crane, IN
EW warfighting requirements continue to evolve in their complexity and capability to meet Air, Ground, Surface, Space, and Cyberspace requirements. The 9th Annual Electronic Warfare Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational & Technical Information Exchange will provide a forum for EW professionals from the military, government, industry and academic fields, to discuss issues related to the requirements of EW programs, platforms and operations. This capstone event will focus on the identified gaps and technologies the services require to ensure EW maintains freedom of maneuver through the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) in support of achieving commanders’ objectives. Speakers and presenters will look back at the previous few years and identify progress made to ensure the success of the warfighter in tomorrow’s battlespace.

Register Now

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APPLICATION DEADLINE THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 31: 2017 AOC Scholarships
Thanks to the generosity of the Raytheon Corporation, the National AOC Education Foundation received some generous resources in the past year. Two college students (junior or senior) shall receive a $12,500 scholarship each. There are several criteria these students must meet to be eligible for a scholarship. Please consult the following link for an application, which contains the eligibility criteria:  http://www.crows.org/aef/scholarship-a-grants.html.

We need to get the word out about these two scholarships. Please spread the word at chapter meetings, chapter social gatherings, or chapter emails. As a member of AOC, you yourself can hand out copies of the application, email it to your colleagues, or encourage fellow members to do the same. If your chapter has an association with local colleges through a current scholarship program, please work with your scholarship committee to see that the proper representative at those schools is contacted, and provided with an electronic copy of the application.  

Something to keep in mind is these students should be majoring in a technical field. Ultimately, AOC wishes to see more people serving in government/industry supporting National Defense, so we need these professionals to possess strong degrees in engineering and science.  Specific categories include: in Electronic Warfare (EW), Information Operations (IO), Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) and Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA). When passing along the particulars of this great opportunity, please be sure to emphasize this eligibility requirement

All applications are due by March 31, 2017, and are to be sent directly from the applying student to scholarship@crows.org.

Please act quickly to get the word out to as many people as you can. AOC is counting on you to help find the right students to meet its future goals in sustaining electronic warfare. 

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2017 AWARD NOMINATIONS: Recognize Colleagues and Units by May 1
Honor those who have furthered the discipline of Electronic Warfare (EW), Information Operations (IO), Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) and the AOC! Both individually and collectively, you have the knowledge and experience in the Electromagnetic Spectrum community, so you are among the best qualified judges of those accomplishments that deserve international recognition. Whether it be for a single outstanding contribution or unit achievement, an act of courage or heroism or long and valued service that has pushed the frontiers of EMS technology and its applications, we want to receive your nomination!

Recognize your colleagues by nominating someone for one or more of the AOC’s 2017 individual or unit awards.
Head to crows.org to view all the awards and full descriptions. You can nominate a person/unit for more than one award, if you so choose. Download the nomination form from crows.org and fill one out for each recipient you would like to nominate.

Nomination forms are due by May 1st, 2017. Don’t wait, nominate someone today.

Nomination Form

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SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY: AOC Spectrum Visualization Challenge
The AOC and Raytheon are partnering to sponsor a Spectrum Visualization Challenge (SVC) -- a pilot scholarship opportunity for undergraduate students pursuing STEM-related fields of study. The SVC challenge is to visually represent and explain electronic warfare (EW), which takes place within the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). If you are interested in entering or would like to learn more about the competition, please click here.

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AOC VIRTUAL SERIES: Smart Antennas, April 20
Thursday, April 20, 2017 | 18:00-19:00 UTC / 14:00-15:00 EST

Smart Antennas are the new generation of antennas that can adapt to a wide range of conditions, environments, and threats.  These antennas are called smart because of their capacity for self-healing when damaged, nulling jamming signals when threatened, beamsteering towards signals of interest, adaptively tracking, and a variety of other "adaptive" capabilities.  Smart Antennas have application in all frequency ranges and can range in complexity from very simple to very complex.

Register Now


Gold Sponsor

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

Exhibition Space Sold Out!
The Call for Papers has ended and resulted in a great program covering the entire AOC Mission Area – more details next week.

View the Current Conference Programme

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 defense 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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KEY SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED: International & Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Electronic Warfare Symposium and Workshop, May 15-19 in Atlanta
U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) of sensitive military technologies, like Electronic Warfare, can be difficult to understand and navigate for International Partners and U.S. Defense Industry. U.S. Export laws, such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), requirements for Export Licenses, and in some cases Congressional approval, can be confusing and complicate the sale of EW systems and associated technical support. This conference provides an educational opportunity and forum for U.S. Government, U.S. Defense Industry, Academia and International partners to share information and provide updates on FMS and DCS program policy, processes and improvements.

HIGH RANKING SPEAKERS



Lt Gen Bob Elder (Ret.)
Symposium Chair

Mr. John A. Weida, SES
Director Policy, Programs & Strategy, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs (SAF/IA)

Ms. Lisa Fruge-Cirilli
AOC President



Air Brigade General Leopoldo Porras
Chilean AF
Head of the Division of Engineering and
Support Systems of Weapons    

Brig Gen Gregory J. Touhill, USAF (Ret.)
Former Chief, Office of Military
Cooperation-Kuwait, U.S. Embassy
Kuwait 2009-2011



Col Michael (Torch) Schnabel
Chief, Disclosure, Weapons, and Tech Transfer Division
(SAF/IAPT)

CAPT Laura Schuessler (invited)
PMA-272, NAS Patuxent River, MD

Colonel Jong Lee, USA (invited)
PMO-ASE, Redstone Arsenal, AL



Mr. Scott Boyd
Chief of the EW & Avionics Div, Agile Combat Support Directorate,
Air Force Life Cycle Management, Robins AFB

Register Now

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AOC VIRTUAL SERIES: EW vs Cyber, May 4
Thursday, May 04, 2017 | 14:00-15:00 EST

Throughout its history, EW has repeatedly been "superseded" by newer concepts and all but forgotten - at least until the shooting starts, at which point the cost of catching up is always high. As the new concept on the block, cyber is currently attracting significant attention and funding, potentially to the detriment of EW. More worryingly, cyber practitioners sometimes argue that the EMS is part of the newly-defined cyber domain, thereby effectively claiming that EW is subordinate to cyber. Is this the end of the EW world as we know it?

This webinar will investigate the relationship between EW and cyber from a technical perspective rather than from a policy perspective. The notion that EW is subordinate to cyber or vice versa will be considered and possible answers provided. Some differences between the two domains will be highlighted, and the suggestion that these domains are equivalent will be explored. Finally, a possible mechanism to facilitate understanding the relationship between EW and cyber will be developed.

Register Now


Gold Sponsor

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED: 8th Annual Cyber/Electronic Warfare Convergence Conference, June 6-8
June 6-8, 2017 | SPAWAR, Charleston, SC

Electronic Warfare and Cyberspace technical capabilities are becoming more technically similar. However, the communities which practice these disciplines remain largely separated and vary widely across the military Services in terms of their equipment, unit organization and operating methodologies. This conference provides the EW and Cyberspace communities an opportunity to collaborate and discuss capabilities, TTPs and research in EW and Cyberspace operations to enable more rapid deployment of new and improved capabilities. The EW/Cyberspace Convergence Conference identifies ways to develop advanced technologies and systems to address the changing battlefield dynamics of the digital age and bring EW and Cyberspace together for the Warfighter!

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS



Lieutenant General Jon M. Davis
Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Headquarters Marine Corps    

Major General Burke "Ed" Wilson
Deputy Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of Defense and Senior Military Advisor for Cyber and Office of the the Under  Secretary of Defense for Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense

Register Now

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CALL FOR PAPERS: Pikes Peak Roost EW Olympics and Symposium, July 13-14
The Association of Old Crows (AOC) - Pikes Peak Roost Chapter will host the 2017 Electronic Warfare Olympics & Symposium on July 13th & 14th, 2017 in Colorado Springs, CO.

The 2017 Electronic Warfare Olympics & Symposium will improve the capability, and marketability, of spectrum warriors by building the local EW/IO community. and bringing awareness to the capabilities in the region. The event will consist of speakers, government and industry exhibits, and Electronic Warfare Olympics. The Olympics will be a series of team-based technical challenges of varying distance and difficulty with respect to modern digital warfare. Topics will be focused on Electronic Warfare, but will also involve Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Space.

CALL FOR PAPERS
We are now accepting speaking proposals for this event. Abstracts will be evaluated by The Associaton of Old Crows Pikes Peak Roost Chapter. Proposals should be relevant to the requested topic. You may submit more than one abstract. Papers are due May 26.

Call for Papers Details
Register Now

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As the 115th Congress gets underway, there are many uncertainties about the FY 2017 and FY 2018 defense budgets, legislative priorities and regulatory pathways. What we can expect is that electromagnetic spectrum (EMS)-related issues will garner a great deal of attention in Congress, from investment in Third Offset Technologies to defense acquisition reform to Spectrum management and telecommunications. AOC will again have an opportunity to inform and influence policy on a wide range from fronts.

To help prepare Congress for these considerations, the AOC worked in cooperation with Electronic Warfare Working Group (EWWG) and the Directed Energy (DE) Caucus to convene a series of educational briefings throughout February to provide congressional staff the fundamentals of EW, DE, and EMSO under the broader context of the Third Offset Strategy. The goal of the briefing series, which will be an annual offering, was to provide Members of Congress and staff a shared starting point to dive deeper into the range of EMS-related issues throughout the year.
Learn More...

 

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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 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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In the wake of Russia's demonstrations of advanced electromagnetic spectrum and communications jamming capabilities, most recently displayed in their incursion into Ukraine, China also is upping its game in this space, demonstrating similar capabilities in the Pacific. The U.S. Department of Defense, in an annual report to Congress on China’s military and security developments, assessed that the country is placing greater importance upon EW, on par with traditional domains of warfare such as air, ground and maritime. (C4ISRNet)
Learn More...

 

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Military readiness must be bolstered, Defense Department leaders told the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee today. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the senators that sequestration gutted military readiness and asked the committee to approve a $30 billion amendment to the fiscal year 2017 defense budget request to help the department recover. Dunford was quick to point out that service members are sacrificing and that because of those sacrifices, "the joint forces can defend the homeland and our way of life, we can meet our alliance commitments and we maintain an overall competitive advantage over any potential adversary." (U.S. Department of Defense)
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The U.S. Air Force is preparing to extend the service life of the U-2S Dragon Lady for several more years. Under previous budget plans, the evergreen spyplane was due to be retired in 2019-20, leaving only the unmanned RQ-4B Global Hawk to perform the high-altitude reconnaissance mission. Managers at the Lockheed Martin (LM) Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, are preparing upgrade proposals for the U-2’s sensors and communications fit. (AIN Online)
Learn More...

 

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Marines at Camp Pendleton will get to field-test more than 50 different new technologies next month ranging from palmtop mini-drones to self-driving amtracs, from wireless networks to precision-guided mortar shells. Plus there will be plenty of classified systems the Marines can’t talk about, including cyber and electronic warfare gear. Technologies that do well may graduate to a more formal Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) or to further testing in the Marines’ big Bold Alligator wargame on the East Coast this fall, Col. Dan Sullivan, chief of staff at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory here, told reporters today. (Breaking Defense)
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Adversaries currently have the ability to wage electronic warfare against U.S. forces, and Army leaders say they need to develop systems and training to more effectively fight in a contested or degraded electronic domain. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Army modernization, generals stated that one of the side effects of years of budget cuts and sequestration is that the service has forgone investments in modernization to focus on readiness. (FCW)
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The Air Force needs a sharp increase in funding this budget cycle — an extra $147 million, to be exact — to be able to keep technology development for its next fighter jet on schedule, its top uniformed acquisition official said. President Donald Trump’s supplemental budget request for fiscal 2017 calls for a funding hike for the Air Force’s next fighter jet from $20.6 million to $167.8 million, boosting its initial request about eight times over. (Defense News)
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The Rapid Capabilities Office is doing what it was designed to do and has already kicked off major efforts with goals to field some initial capability to soldiers by the end of the year. But in order to move forward with some very near-term and readily available capability, the organization is looking for more funding, Doug Wiltsie, the RCO’s director, told Defense News in an interview at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Ala. last week. (Defense News)
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The Army’s ability to counter emerging threats across the electromagnetic environment continues to adapt as the Electronic Warfare battlespace evolves. For the first time, outside of a deployed operational environment, Electronic Warfare systems will be inserted at the tactical level here in Europe. During new equipment fielding and training, nearly 20 Soldiers with the 2d Cavalry Regiment, along with elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, the 7th Army Training Command and Joint Multinational Readiness Center, trained on the VMAX and VROD Dismounted Electronic Support/ Attack system at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, March 13-17, 2017. (DVIDs)
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The Air Force and Pentagon are pursuing a strategy aimed at countering the fast-emerging weaponization of space and preparing to defend against space-war anti-satellite attacks, service officials said. The service mapped out a multi-dimensional space weapons defense plan, resulting from several years of space-focused analysis and research. In 2014, the service conducted a Space Strategic Portfolio Review in which the entire space architecture was assessed. By 2015, the Air Force had completed a "space situational awareness" review highlighting the range of key space security issues as a foundation for the changing strategy. (Scout Warrior)
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