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160 2009 NRL REVIEW

ELECTRONICS AND ELECTROMAGNETICS

Transportable Electronic Warfare Module(TEWM)

D.E. Tremper, R.S. Cortesi, J. Heyer, J. Geib, and

D. Bay

Tactical Electronic Warfare Division

Introduction: Traditionally, the incorporation oadvanced electronic warare (EW) capabilities, eitheras existing payload upgrades or as new system installa-tions, has required extensive timelines and platorm-

specic integration planning. Research eorts haveoten targeted specic EW applications and operational

environments to acilitate the transition o the technol-ogy, rather than develop cross-domain unctionality.

Oten these separate EW systems address the samethreats or requency bands but are each platorm-centric.

Under an Oce o Naval Research (ONR) undedFuture Naval Capability (FNC) program, research was

perormed by the Tactical Electronic Warare Division(TEWD) at NRL to develop an advanced EW capability

or use on unmanned platorms. The primary thrustswere in the areas o antiship missile deense (ASMD)and countersurveillance. The ASMD and counter-

surveillance missions are not platorm-specic, norare they limited to unmanned vehicles. Scientists at

NRL continued to evolve the initial unmanned vehicleEW concept1 into a platorm-independent payload

applicable to both manned and unmanned assets. Thisevolution resulted in the Transportable EW Module

(TEWM), a platorm-agnostic EW payload, shown in

Fig. 5, which is capable o being rapidly transerredrom vessel to vessel, aircrat, vehicle, or xed site, or

vice versa.Development o a common EW core or applica-

tion across a variety o military operations not onlyavoids the platorm-centric payload approach, it also

allows or distributed EW payloads that can easily benetworked. The TEWM system was designed rom thestart to support TEWM-to-TEWM communication

and data sharing. Future network interaces will allowTEWM to connect to available communication links

in order to either passively or actively tie into availablesituational awareness data streams, as well as coordi-

nate distributed EW operations.

TEWM System Overview: Like its unmanned

vehicle predecessor, the TEWM design incorpo-rated an electronic support (ES) receiver integrated

with a wideband digital radio requency memory(DRFM) based electronic attack (EA) capability.

DRFM-based payloads have the capability to applystandard noise jamming techniques, as well as generatehigh-resolution alse targets with realistic amplitude

and Doppler modulation, engage multiple threats

simultaneously, and generate multicomponent waveorms that combine alse targets with obscuration

jamming. DRFM fexibility allowed TEWM to bedesigned rom the start as an EW hardware core thatsupports a variety o potential operations. High-power

transmission is achieved through high-gain antennasand high-power modules developed or tactical aircrat

and equally applicable to surace use. Electronic com-ponents are air-cooled, unlike the original unmanned

vehicle payload, which relied on orced convectioncooling.

Although not demonstrated during at-sea proto-

type testing, TEWM and networks o TEWM systemsare designed to be controlled by as ew as one Jammer

Control Station (JCS). JCS is a graphical user interacedeveloped using the NRL SIMDIS visualization tool,

which provides users with a real-time 3D situationalawareness picture, including platorm positions andmotions, and payloads status and activities, as well as

RF detections and bearings with threat, neutral, andriendly assignment. As shown in Fig. 6, JCS opera-

tors can speciy search and threat parameters, operatepayloads manually, and point and click RF beams or

interrogation or to activate jamming across any net-worked and available TEWM. Single or multipayloadnetworked control and coordination can be managed

by a single JCS operator.

RIMPAC 2008 Experimentation: During FY08,the TEWM system was demonstrated as part o a

large-scale EW experiment during the internationalRim o the Pacic (RIMPAC) 2008 exercises in July.RIMPAC is a biannual, international maritime exercise

that takes place in the Pacic Ocean near Honolulu,Hawaii, under the direction o the United States Pacic

Command (PACOM). NRL scientists installed theTEWM hardware onboard the DDG 93 Chung Hoon, as

FIGURE 5

TEWM being operated by NRL scientists.

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2009 NRL REVIEW 1

ELECTRONICS AND ELECTROMAGNETICS

shown in Fig. 7, or RIMPAC 2008 in order to demon-

strate the systems capabilities in ASMD and counter-surveillance applications. Hardware was installed onthe deck o the Chung Hoon in 30 minutes. Bringing

TEWM up to ull operation took less than 2 hours.Directional transmit and receive antennas limited the

intererence between TEWM and onboard emitters.The RIMPAC at-sea experiment demonstrated

TEWMs capability to generate advanced EA waveormconcepts or area deense and sel-protection againstmaritime patrol aircrat, multirole ghters, and cap-

tive-carry ASM simulators. Additional experiments areplanned or 2009 aimed at controlling TEWM across

an existing military network, as well as coordinatingthe operation o two networked TEWM systems.

FIGURE 6

Distributed EW control demonstrated by JCS.

Summary: Traditional EW development has ol-

lowed a platorm-centric approach leading to costlyand lengthy planning and integration. The TEWD atNRL is actively pursuing a compact, low-cost, capabil-

ity-centric EW payload in order to support the rapidtranser o sophisticated capabilities between platorms

and domains. This platorm-agnostic approach willacilitate the integration o distributed and coordinated

EW concepts into military operations currently notound in the Fleet.

[Sponsored by ONR]

Reference1 D. Tremper and J. Heyer, Unmanned Sea Surace Vehicle

Electronic Warare,2007 NRL Review, p. 159161.

FIGURE 7

TEWM installed on theDDG 93 Chung Hoon.