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Plan to Preserve Stealth Technology Dominance Industry News AOC News & Events AOC Chapter News and Events Spectrum Visualization Challenge

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DEADLINE IS MARCH 31: 2017 AOC Scholarships Available
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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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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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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AOC VIRTUAL SERIES: 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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2017 AWARD NOMINATIONS: Recognize Colleagues and Units
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.

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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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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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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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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SUPPORT THE AOC: 2017 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

Current Event Sponsorship and Exhibit Opportunities:

• 46th Annual Collaborative EW Symposium
• 9th Annual EW Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational & Technical Information Exchange
• International & Foreign Military Sales Electronic Warfare Symposium and Workshop
• EW Europe 2017
• 8th Annual Cyber/Electronic Warfare Convergence Conference

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The Association of Old Crows (AOC) is seeking candidates to fill a newly created Director of Advocacy and Outreach position. This is a full-time staff position reporting to the Executive Director in the Alexandria, Virginia headquarters office.

The AOC is a fifty-year old 501(c)(6) professional society for individuals who have common interests in Electronic Warfare, Electromagnetic Spectrum Management Operations, Cyber Electromagnetic Activities, Information Operations, and other information related capabilities. The association provides a means of connecting members and organizations nationally and internationally across government, defense, industry and academia to promote the exchange of ideas and information and provides a platform to recognize advances and contributions in these fields. See www.crows.org for more information.
Learn More...

 

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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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EW Singapore greeted 282 attendees on 17-18 January to the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. The two-day conference fulfilled the requirements of the EW community with a regional flavor and focused on the issues that particularly affect Southeast Asia. The conference addressed the theme "The Future of Electronic Warfare in the Asia Pacific Region". Day one of the conference featured sessions examining operational focus, EW developments and EW and EM technology. Day two of the conference featured presentations about new adaptive antennas, cyber and electromagnetic operations; spectrum dominance and bid data; and future vision. (Source Security)
Learn More...

 

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As Russia and China continue to improve their air defenses, stealth is increasingly becoming a perishable commodity. While stealth technology will not become obsolete per se, the U.S. Air Force and particularly U.S. Navy official have said that low observables will have to be supplemented with electronic warfare. Indeed, Air Combat Command believes that the next-generation Penetrating Counter Air (PCA) replacement for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor will likely make extensive use of electronic warfare [3]. But tomorrow’s electronic warfare systems will be far more advanced than anything currently flying. (Scout Warrior)
Learn More...

 

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The Pentagon should aim for interdependency, not just interoperability, in assessing its future warfighting requirements, three national security experts told the Senate Armed Services Air/Land subcommittee this week. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula said the services need to embrace new joint functions, be able to rapidly capitalize on information systems in every domain, and develop new concepts of operations. Information "is going ... to be the dominant factor" in future conflicts, he said in the March 15 hearing. Area denial is already the new normal, making old and slow aircraft in the Army and Marine Corps vulnerable. "Electronic and cyber warfare [will be] the military equalizer." (USNI News)
Learn More...

 

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The Navy is expanding the mission portfolio of its emerging submarine-hunting drone ship so that it can conduct surface warfare missions, fire weapons and launch electronic attacks, service developers said. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s "Sea Hunter" began in 2010 as an anti-submarine ship called "Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel," or ACTUV. (Scout Warrior)
Learn More...

 

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The Navy took a major step toward recruiting cyber technology talent from beyond its service members by hosting a Hack-Our-Ship event last month that challenged hacking experts from across the country to infiltrate a simulated Navy fleet software system. Hack-Our-Ship, also called "Hack-the-Machine," took place from February 17th to February 19th and was the result of the joint efforts of Booz Allen Hamilton, U.S. Navy’s Naval Post Graduate School (NPS), Defense Innovation Unit Experimental. (Defense Systems)
Learn More...

 

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When I interviewed then PACAF Commander, General "Hawk" Carlisle during a visit to Hawaii on my way to Australia, we discussed how the coming of the F-35 would affect US and allied capabilities and approaches. He hammered home the point that it would open a new phase of shaping US and allied approaches to collective defense. "The roll out of the sensor-shooter C2 approach for an integrated air and missile defense system also lays down a capability that a decade from now when the fleet of allied and American F-35s is operational will be able to leverage as well. "By having shaped an approach towards integrated sensor-shooter relationships within which C2 was being worked, the F-35 as a sensor and shooter laid on top of that grid would be an immediate force multiplier. (Second Line of Defense)
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The first version of the U.S. Army’s newest spy plane is in action in Africa and Latin America. At the same time, the service is finishing tests of three additional sub-variants in Arizona. On March 12, 2017, Scout Warrior first reported these overseas deployments. The War Zone subsequently learned only some of the four signals intelligence-focused versions of the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS-S) were snooping abroad. (The Drive)
Learn More...

 

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The Army’s Rapid Capabilities Office is borrowing ideas from Special Operations Command’s acquisition branch as it seeks to usher new technologies into the force. The organization was set up in August with the aim of expediting the delivery of new, high-priority capabilities to soldiers. It is allowed to take on more risk than the traditional acquisition process would typically allow. "Our focus is the delivery of capability in one to five years," said Douglas Wiltsie, the director of the office. SOCOM is well regarded within the defense community for its agility in acquiring new equipment for its commandos. "We are partnering with them in a lot of ways," Wiltsie told National Defense March 13 at the Association of the United States Army’s Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. "They really have a great ability to work with industry." (National Defense)
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The Trump Administration’s "skinny budget" doesn’t tell defense watchers much they didn’t already know. Among the outstanding questions: what of the Obama Administration’s much-touted defense innovation initiative and Third Offset strategy? If past is prologue, the new administration is unlikely to adopt the terminology of its predecessor, and that’s okay. Savvy defense modernization by any other name would smell just as sweet. In late October, CSIS hosted a conference to assess the Third Offset strategy. In many ways, we found it to simply be the latest in a long line of frameworks used by administrations of both parties that seek to use defense innovation to overcome key operational challenges. (Defense One)
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The Army’s now annual exercise that examines experimental and prototyping efforts to address complex environments in the future is heading to Europe in 2018. The Army Warfighting Assessment is a relatively new construct, and has replaced one of the two Network Integration Evaluations held at Fort Bliss, Texas, each year. The NIE is roughly six years old. The first official AWA was held in October. (Defense News)
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After six years of fighting, the chances that Israel may wade into the maelstrom that is the Syrian civil war is increasing after two more Israeli airstrikes rocked Syria over the weekend. One of the strikes was delivered Sunday via drone against a truck traveling between the Golan Heights and Damascus. One of the two people killed supposedly had close military ties to the Assad regime. The other strike came overnight and was rumored to have been aimed at another Hezbollah weapons convoy. (The Drive)
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ware of the growing threat of bomb-laden mini drones that recently emerged in Iraq and Syria, the US Army is rushing to field countermeasures and kinetic effects designed specifically to defeat drones. counter-drone capabilities seeking For the ‘Defeat’ part of the engagement, the Army considers "hard kill" and "soft kill" options. Hard kill capabilities employ kinetic munitions to defeat enemy UAS, and soft kill capabilities employ electronic warfare to defeat them. To integrate soft kill capabilities DRS is employing jammers provided by SRC on combat platforms which will soon deploy in support of an urgent operational need. (Defense Update)
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Nonstate groups have been employing commercially available unmanned aerial systems for some time, but as many have feared, these small devices have now been weaponized. With previous reports of "flying improvised explosive devices," which effectively turn these aircraft into onetime use kamikaze devices, the Islamic State group has begun dropping explosives on security forces. Their capability has evolved over time, Col. Brett Sylvia, commander of Task Force Strike, within Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the global anti-ISIS coalition, told reporters in early January. (C4ISRNet)
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Upgrades to the EA-18G aircraft’s airborne electronic attack (AEA) system will take the Navy’s implementation of electronic warfare to the next level with improved radar jamming, target location and destruction, and air defense suppression capabilities. The planned upgrades will be carried out through a contract modification of $91,034,997 awarded to Northrop Grumman for the design and installation of improved AEA software configurations and the corresponding hardware for the Boeing’s EA-18G aircraft electronic warfare platform. (Defense Systems)
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