START THE NEW YEAR OFF WITH EDUCATION: Don't Miss the Next AOC Virtula Series Webinar – GPS Interference: Origins, Effects and Mitigations, January 15
January 15, 2015 | 1400-1500 EST (1900-2000 GMT)

GPS has been described as the stealth utility. Diverse elements of our military capability and national infrastructure are critically reliant on precise location and time, usually derived from GPS. Yet, GPS signal reception is potentially vulnerable to interference and spoofing. This webinar provides a high-level perspective on the effects of jamming and spoofing on GPS receivers and describes some interference mitigation approaches.

After a quick review of GPS signals and how receivers determine position, the focus is on the effects of select interference types on specific GPS signals, both military and civil. Jamming effectiveness as a function of range is examined and the effect of ground mobile propagation in limiting effective jammer range is described. Military mitigations, such as adaptive arrays and inertial measurement unit (IMU) aiding, are discussed, as well as their limitations. The prospects for integrating rapidly evolving civil "smartphone" approaches into a military context are then explored.

Finally, because GPS is a dual use civil/military system, training military users for operation in a challenged RF environment is highly problematic since actually jamming GPS is often not an option. Discussion will include some approaches to realistically simulate jamming effects under field conditions.

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NEW WEBINAR: Fundamental Tradeoffs in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), January 30
January 30, 2015 | 1400-1500 EST (1900-2000 GMT)

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a remote sensing technology capable of providing detailed two- and three-dimensional images of terrain and man-made structures and objects around the clock and under virtually all weather conditions. SARs are hosted on platforms ranging from small unmanned air vehicles, to commercial and military manned aircraft, to earth orbiting satellites, and have a host of scientific, commercial, and defense applications.

An ideal SAR would provide fine resolution, high sensitivity imagery of large areas in a short time. In practice, the achievable resolution, sensitivity, and area rates are determined by basic system parameters such as power, bandwidth, standoff range, antenna design, processing capability, and more. In this webinar, Dr. Mark Richards summarizes representative performance goals for a few broad classes of SAR applications and how they depend on basic radar parameters. In this context, he then shows how these goals sometimes interact and conflict, requiring the SAR engineer to tradeoff key system characteristics such as antenna size and PRF, or resolution and area coverage. Because data processing, requirements can also become a critical bottleneck, the increasingly important issue of onboard processing power efficiency vs. data link capabilities, especially in small platforms such as UAVs, will be described.

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PRESENTATIONS DUE FEBRUARY 2: 44th Annual Collaborative EW Symposium, March 31-April 3, 2015, Pt. Mugu, CA
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 44th 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 PRESENTATIONS
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 February 2, 2015. We request that abstracts be limited to one page of text or 400 words.

To facilitate the selection processes please ensure your submitted abstract file is labeled with your last name, session number and short title. For example: "Herrera_session1_Welcome and Intro.doc." Symposium presentations may be unclassified or classified; however, abstracts should be unclassified. Notification of acceptance and presentation submission instructions will be by February 6, 2015. Presentations will be required in Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 or earlier format. In order to meet required foreign disclosure procedures, final presentations are required to be submitted with appropriate foreign disclosure paperwork by February 23, 2015 to ensure adequate processing. Foreign disclosure processes will be listed on the conference web site www.crows.org when finalized.
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AOC BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Nominate a Colleague for the 2015 Elections 

Nominations for the 2015 AOC Board of Directors election are now being accepted.

The election will begin on July 1, 2015 and will end on July 31, 2015.

The 2015 election slate will include the annually elected position of President-Elect, which as defined in the Bylaws, will result in that successful person serving consecutive terms beginning at Convention in 2015 – first as Vice President, followed by the Presidential term a year later beginning in 2016. The AOC President appoints the association’s Secretary and Treasurer, presides over the Board of Directors and Executive Committee and appoints committee chairs. The President is also the AOC’s primary spokesperson, visiting AOC chapters around the world and meeting with leaders in the Electronic Warfare, Cyber, Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) and Information Operations (IO) communities. This is a significant but rewarding commitment.

The 2015 election slate also will include two (2) At Large Director positions. At Large Directors serve a three (3)-year term.  In addition, three (3) Regional Directors will be elected for three (3)-year terms from the Mid-Atlantic, Central and Pacific Regions.

A 2015 AOC Nomination Form is attached. Nomination packets must be received at AOC headquarters by close-of-business on Monday, March 2, 2015. If you wish to nominate more than one person, please duplicate the form. Nomination forms are also available on the AOC website at www.crows.org or by contacting the AOC’s Director of Membership, Ms. Glorianne O’Neilin, at oneilin@crows.org.

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PLAN NOW TO ATTEND! 15th Annual AOC Electronic Warfare Europe, "Future EW – Innovation, Information & Interoperability"
May 26-28, 2015 | Stockholm, Sweden
As nations re-focus on contingency operations after over a decade of counter-insurgency, there are many challenges and opportunities for governments, the military, academia, science and technology, and industry. Events in 2014 have reminded us of the deadly nature of RF-guided weaponry and that the counter-insurgency threat has not gone away, but intensified. Air attacks on IS terrorists in Syria and Iraq are inevitably enabled by the usual panoply of Electromagnetic (EM) operations: SIGINT, C4ISR, precise navigation and timing, targeting, communications, spectrum management and the whole gamut of EW. EM-enabled cyber operations are part of defeating terrorists, as well as state actors across the spectrum of warfare, starting with influence and counter-propaganda and most likely going much further.

National forces are being re-shaped and re-equipped to face the future, which will be contested, congested, complex, connected, constrained and potentially chaotic unless the right informed choices are made now. AOC EW Stockholm 2015 will look at future EW from three connected perspectives – innovation by industry, government agencies and academia, the importance of information (including cyber) and interoperability both of capabilities like EW, SIGINT and ISR and between services and partners in joint, combined and coalition operations.

Mark your calendars now for this premier AOC Global event!
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SAVE THE DATE: 6th Annual Electronic Warfare/Cyber Convergence Conference
June 2-4, 2015 | SPAWAR, Charleston, SC

Plan now to attend this annual event. More details to follow in  the new year.

Conference Page

Also, Save the Date for the 7th Annual EW Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational & Technical Information Exchange, August 11-13 in Crane, IN. Look for updates in the coming months on the Conference Page.

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SUPPORT THE AOC, BUILD YOUR BUSINESS: Secure Your 2015 Sponsorship Today
There are many exciting business development opportunities that exist within the AOC Calendar for 2015. The sponsorship catalog presents opportunities for you to gain maximum exposure within the Electromagnetic Warfare community. Sponsorship at AOC webinars, conferences and the Annual Symposium allows your company to be seen as a support for the warfighter and increases your visibility in this highly targeted marketplace. Sponsorship of the AOC also helps bring valuable advocacy messages to the U.S. Capitol Hill, and it supports delivering those same efforts through the local chapters to EW centers of gravity around the world.

Please take a moment to look through the updated AOC sponsorship catalog, and let us know which opportunities you would like to take advantage of for 2015. If you have any questions or need a sponsorship package customized for you, please don’t hesitate to contact the AOC staff at www.crows.org.

View the 2015 Sponsorship Catalog

Thank you in advance for your critical support of the AOC Community!

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SEEKING CANDIDATES: New AOC Outreach Consultant
The Association of Old Crows (AOC) is seeking candidates to fill a newly created outreach consultant position. This is a 1099 position reporting to the Executive Director and planned for approximately 80 hours per month. See the full position description here: http://www.crows.org/images/AOC_Outreach_Consultant.pdf

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REGISTER NOW: Third National EW Workshop India, February 11-13, 2015 in Bangalore
The AOC India Chapter has announced its third National EW Workshop India (EWWI 2015) next February at the National Science Seminar Complex (NSSC) at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. EWWI 2015 is the third event in the EWWI series of National-Level Workshops, the only national-level event in India in the field of Electronic Warfare, the niche and crucial part of Modern Warfare. The Workshop is being organized by the organizers of the prestigious EWCI series of International EW Conferences in India, the Association of Old Crows (AOC) India Chapter, Bangalore, India. The three-day workshop is designed to impart in-depth professional knowledge covering highly advanced and emerging topics in the field of EW.
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The Army Signal Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, GA, is being augmented by the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and designation as the center for all Army cyber activities. C4ISR & Networks recently spoke with Col. Jennifer Buckner, commandant of the Cyber School at the Army Cyber Center of Excellence, for her view of the transition. (C4ISR & Networks)
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Fortune contacted a host of government agencies to inquire whether anything equivalent to a cyber "SEAL Team Six" exists. (Yes, we realize that if it really did exist, they probably wouldn’t tell us.) The Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Cyber Command all acknowledged that they have or are building professional teams to conduct cyber activities, but they aren’t a secret and most are defensive in nature. (Fortune)
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They get so big, so fast. Once a child-sized helicopter that could just collect reconnaissance imagery, the Navy’s MQ-8 Fire Scout has graduated to a bigger airframe that will also carry a maritime search radar and laser-guided rockets. The tentative plan is to kick off the competition for the new radar with a formal Request for Proposals in the first quarter of (calendar year) 2015. (Breaking Defense)
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A unique mix of training technologies sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is preparing front-line warfighters to conduct cyber and combat operations simultaneously, as Marines demonstrated during a recent amphibious exercise off the coast of Virginia. (Armed With Science)
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Less than 48 hours after Russia's brand-new Angara-A5 rocket blasted off from Plesetsk, military personnel at the near-polar circle launch site are preparing to put a hush-hush satellite into orbit from a neighboring launch pad. (Sen)
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Before he was promoted to oversee Army strategy and soldier equipment needs, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster threw a wrench into long-standing plans to buy thousands of new radios. Following a spring 2014 field evaluation of prototype handheld and backpack-size radios that the Army had been developing and buying for several years, McMaster wrote a memo in which he called for a review of radio procurements, especially the manpack device that he considered too bulky and heavy for soldiers to carry and use in combat. (National Defense)
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The sight of diggers tearing apart a multibillion-pound fleet of maritime patrol aircraft at an airfield near Manchester in early 2011 epitomized the severity of the cuts on Britain’s armed forces, imposed as part of the government’s austerity drive. More importantly, the diggers also ripped a large hole in Britain’s military capabilities, including its ability to ensure the safety of the country’s nuclear deterrent carried by its Vanguard-class submarines. (FT)
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This holiday season has stood out a bit from others, being the first time, at least as far as I can recall, that cyber warfare and the fictional assassination of North Korea's Supreme Leader have featured so very prominently in news and personal discussions. The Sony Pictures release of The Interview – a comedy about a pair of gonzo news/entertainment upstarts, played by James Franco and Seth Rogen, who interview North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and attempt to assassinate him – has actually generated some interesting ideas about cybersecurity, information warfare and a host of other issues. (Vice News)
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