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As Compass Call Fights the Islamic State, a New Plane is on the Way Industry News AOC News & Events AOC Chapter News and Events

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NEXT WEEK: 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 Frugé-Cirilli
AOC President



Maj Gen Michael Rothstein,USAF
Deputy Asst Secretary Plans, Programs,
& Operations, Bureau of Political-Military
Affairs, US State Department

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

MG Volodymr Havrylov
Defense Attaché, Embassy Ukraine


 
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
PMA-272, NAS Patuxent River, MD



Colonel Jong Lee, USA
PMO-ASE, Redstone Arsenal, AL

Ms. Holly Haverstick
Principal Director (Acting) of the Directorate of Strategy, DSCA

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: Compact Hybrid RF Architecture for SIGINT Applications, May 18
Thursday, May 18, 2017, 14:00-15:00 EDT | 18:00-19:00 UTC

SIGINT is the Greatest ... if You can get any useful information!
If You cannot it becomes a real pain.

Of course a lot in SIGINT is about software but a lot is also about receivers. And if You want to do SIGINT 'on-the-march' it is also about Size, Weight and Power.

To approach the issue above from a reasonable standpoint, this webinar is first giving an introduction into recent and current receiver architectures considering limitations in size, weight and power. After receiving a radio signal and before exploiting it, it is normally about digitizing it. As a consequence, in the second step, this webinar gives some explanations on the digitizing process, on FFT windowing and also on FFT overlapping.

In fact, sophisticated FFT (i.e., windowing and overlapping) can be a very nice benefit: If Your equipment has no decoding capability, ultimately it can be sophisticated FFT providing you with at least an idea of a radio signal's identity. So in the third step this webinar gives several practical examples on sophisticated FFT's benefits in case of limited resources.

Register Now

Gold Sponsor

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EARLY BIRD RATE ENDS FRIDAY: AOC EW Europe - Advancing EW and Electromagnetic Operations Together, June 6-8

Save £200 – Early Bird ends Friday 12 May
Exhibition Space Sold Out!

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.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Air Marshal Philip Sturley CB MBE BSc FRAeS CCMI, Conference Chairman, RAF (Retd), UK
Lisa Frugé-Cirilli, AOC President, US
Air Commodore John Philliban RAF, Head Joint User C4ISR & Cyber, Joint Forces Command, UK
Professor David Stupples, Professor of Electronic & Radio Systems, Director of EW Research, City, University of London, UK
Professor Amit Mehta, College of Engineering, Swansea University, UK
Lt Col Mark Stoter, Commanding Officer 14 Signal Regiment (EW), UK
Dr David Stoudt, Engineering Fellow for Directed Energy, Booz Allen Hamilton, US
Dr Robert Pearson, Director Land Systems, Technical Director, Chemring, UK
Wg Cdr Garry Crosby RAF (Retd), Head of Studies & Research, Airborne & Space Systems, Leonardo, UK

Register Now

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JUNE WEBINAR: Active Receiving Antennas: Fundamentals and Applications, June 1
Thursday, June 01, 2017 | 14:00-15:00 EST

The usage of active receiving antennas for radio monitoring and spectrum surveillance purposes is nowadays well established. Reasons for this are obvious, when it comes to broadband capabilities and when small size is crucial, there is usually no better solution than an active antenna.

The webinar starts with an explanation of the fundamental working principles of active antennas, and describes the differences compared to passive antennas. The important technical parameters relating to active antennas are asserted and typical system applications are discussed. A detailed system comparison between a passive solution and an active antenna approach finalizes the presentation.

Register Now

Platinum 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    

Vice Admiral Jan Tighe
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare/Director of Naval Intelligence

Major General James Livingston, USMC (Ret.)
Medal of Honor Recipient



MG Christopher Weggeman
Commander, Twenty-four Air Force and Commander Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER) Joint Base San Antonio- Lockland, TX

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

BG Maria Barrett (invited)
Deputy Commanding General for Joint Force Headquarters - Cyber (JFHQ-C) United States Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER)



Margie Palmieri (Invited)
Director, Digital Warfare Office, Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare

Register Now

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CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: 3rd Annual Cyber Electromagnetic Activity (CEMA) Conference, October 16-19
October 16-19, 2017 | Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
"The Multi-Domain Battle: A Combined Arms Approach to Enabling Maneuver through CEMA Operations"

This year's focus will be on the emerging Joint Army/USMC Multi-Domain Battle concept and the implications with respect to CEMA. The MDB entails a combined arms approach for ground combat operations against a sophisticated peer enemy threat in the 2025-2040 timeframe. Building on current service and joint doctrine, the MDB requires flexible and resilient ground formations that project combat power into the land, air, maritime, space, and cyberspace domains. It is a continued evolution of the combined arms methodology to include not only those capabilities of the physical domains, but places even greater emphasis on space, cyberspace, and other contested areas such as the EMS, the information environment, and the cognitive dimension of warfare. As for the role of CEMA in the MDB, it's about creating and exploiting exploit temporary windows of advantage in and presenting adversaries with multiple dilemmas in the spectrum across time/space with an intensity and duration of our choosing. Acknowledging that the world is very different now with more capable near-peer adversaries who are able to contest all physical domains as well as cyberspace, we need to recognize that and challenge the CEMA community of interest for novel, adaptive and innovative capability solutions in EW, Cyber, SIGINT and other related technology areas. This is just the nature of the current environment.

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: Due JUNE 30
The CEMA 2017 conference committee is soliciting original papers from the United States and Five Eyes Nations, Government, Academia, Industry, Operators, and Subject Matter Experts to discuss current and emerging trends in Electronic Warfare, Cyber, Signals Intelligence, and Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations. Conference presentations may be classified TS/SCI US Only, Secret Releasable FVEYS or Unclassified//FOUO (please indicate which classification you are submitting for as we will have multiple sessions at various classification levels); however, abstracts must be unclassified.

All who attend will gain a better understanding with respect to current and future threats, emerging requirements, technological advances, policy, and potential opportunities for collaboration. You are invited to submit an abstract of presentation that align with the following topics:

1. Cyberspace Effects Cell – User Perspectives (17/29 series, and 25E only)
2. Emerging Threats, Capability Gaps, and Requirements
3. CEMA Contribution to the Multi-Domain Battle Concept
4. CEMA Programs and Acquisition Initiatives
5. Rapid Capabilities in Support of Urgent Needs
6. Warfighting Perspective
7. CEMA Science & Technology Trends
8. Experimentation, Exercises and Training
9. Joint, International and Industry Perspectives and Opportunities
10. Advanced Technology & Special Interest (TS/SCI)

Please forward abstracts Ms. Christine Armstrong at armstrong@crows.org by 30 June 2017. Abstracts are limited to one page of text or 400 words.

Conference Details

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This two day workshop will cover the basics of emitter geolocation plus recent advances in the field. Emitter geolocation is the identification or estimation of the real-world geographic location of an object that emits some type of signal, such as a radar, mobile radio, RFID or even an acoustic source. In its simplest form geolocation involves the generation of a set of geographic coordinates and is closely related to the use of positioning systems. The techniques of emitter geolocation apply regardless of the spectral range of the emissions and typically involve estimation of the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and/or Frequency Difference of Arrival (FDOA) among multiple spatially diverse detectors. Applications of emitter geolocation are also numerous ranging from asset tracking to traffic monitoring to defense uses such as battlespace management.

Presenter: Professor Mark Fowler from SUNY Binghamton
Learn More...

 

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The traditional methods of non-real-time input analysis and response are insufficient for modern applications. This statement applies across multiple industries – speech recognition, image recognition, cyber threats, intelligent assistants (e.g. Siri, Cortana), and autonomous vehicles. It also applies to the defense manoeuver space of Electronic Warfare. Rather than generating EW specific methods and technologies in search of Cognitive EW capabilities, it is proposed to leverage COTS hardware and software and the massive investments made by commercial companies in deep learning.
Learn More...

 

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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 Association 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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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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It's one of the lesser-known — but also one of the most important — weapons in the fight against the Islamic State: The EC-130H Compass Call, a suite of complex communication-jamming systems, stuffed into aging cargo planes that date back to the Vietnam War. But over the next dozen years, the Compass Call will get a new lease on life. By the end of 2029, the Air Force is planning to transplant the guts of its EC-130Hs into 10 new airframes, dubbed the EC-X. (Defense News)
Learn More...

 

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The Air Force is exploring commercial aircraft models for its next generation electronic warfare (EW) aircraft to replace the EC-130H Compass Call with a smaller, self-defending, and more powerful jet. With plans to field the first EX-C Compass Call in 2020, the Air Force hopes to have 10 operational EX-Cs by 2029. According to a spokesperson for the Air Force, the EX-C will be developed using commercial off-the-shelf hardware technology for the EX-C airframe. L3 Communications, the developer responsible for integrating EW software with the C-130H airframe to create the EC-130H, will lead the decision on which commercial airframe will be used. (Defense Systems)
Learn More...

 

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Silence on the battlefield is beautiful if it means an end or lull in direct combat. It’s also disaster if it means an inability to contact or communicate with friendly forces. The U.S. Air Force has used the EC-130H Compass Call to wield that power of silence to assist in the demise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. "If we can shut down or deny their communication, then we are causing chaos that doesn’t allow them to organize or coordinate on the battlefield," 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron commander Lt. Col. Chris Weaton said. (Stars and Stripes)
Learn More...

 

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Russia no longer owns the airwaves in Eastern Europe. Two decades after the US Army unilaterally disarmed its electronic warfare branch, two years after Russian jamming crippled Ukrainian units, the Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment is field-testing new EW gear. "We have kit in Europe today," said Doug Wiltsie, director of the Army’s recently created Rapid Capabilities Office. Successive upgrades based on 2nd Cav soldiers’ feedback will enter testing in July and October, and fielding will follow later this year — despite budget turmoil that has slowed RCO’s other projects. (Breaking Defense)
Learn More...

 

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To win the fast-paced and brutal battles of the future, Army generals must let their subordinates off the leash, the Chief of Staff said here yesterday. "What we do, in practice, is we micromanage and overly specify everything the subordinate has to do, all the time,"Gen. Mark Milley told an Atlantic Council forum here. "It might be an effective way to do certain things. It is not an effective way to fight.... You will lose battles and wars if you approach warfare like that." (Breaking Defense)
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When Estonia became the first nation on the receiving end of an overwhelming cyber attack 10 years ago last week, government and other critical websites and systems such as banking collapsed in one of the most internet-connected countries of the time. Widely blamed on Russia, the assault prompted Western nations – including the United States – to plow billions into improving their own cyber defenses. (Forward)
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