United States Army now has its own Electronic Warfare Tactical Vehicles (EWTV).
As per reports, the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team "Greywolf," 1st Cavalry Division fielded
the Army's new EWTV recently and is testing it.
The U.S Army’s Rapid Equipping Force is driving this program.
The Rapid Equipping Force provides out of box solution to U.S Army’s pressing requirements
that are time taking to acquire through the traditional procurement process.
The EWTV is part of an effort to enhance the US Army’s capabilities in the area of electronic
warfare (EW).
It is developed to meet the US Army’s need to detect & jam enemy communications and network.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes Electronic Warfare Tactical Vehicle of U.S Army.
Let's get started.
Potential rivals of U.S especially Russia has been investing in land-based EW systems.
In Syria, many such systems like Leer-3, Krasuha are deployed.
There were many reports that some U.S drones were affected by these EW systems and their
operation had to be cut short.
Jamming through EW can be done through many ways, the basic includes blocking the target
from receiving GPS signals and communication from the base.
US has been behind in terms of deploying land-based mobile EW systems and had no operational system
till now.
U.S Army relies on Air Force & Navy, which have many EW systems including dedicated EW
warplane like the EA-18G Growler.
A land mobile EW system will provide much-needed flexibility and operation freedom to the U.S Army.
This is where the US Army's new Electronic Warfare Tactical Vehicle comes in.
Lt. Col. Scott Schumacher, chief of the Rapid Equipping Force solutions team, said in a release,
"This effort will allow the ability for EW Soldiers to influence future vehicle improvements
and grow their knowledge.
This is an advanced EW technology that can provide the Army new offensive and defensive capabilities.”
The system basically has two parts: Platform & Jammer.
The platform chosen is the MaxxPro MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle.
It is designed by American company Navistar International's subsidiary Navistar Defense
along with the Israeli Plasan Sasa, who designed and manufactures the vehicle's armor.
The vehicle was initially designed to compete in the US Military's Mine Resistant Ambush
Protected vehicle program, led by the US Marine Corps as well as in Medium Mine Protected
Vehicle program, led by U.S Army.
The jammer deployed is the CREW Duke electronic warfare system developed by SRC.
As per the manufacturer, the CREW Duke system uses an advanced software-defined architecture
that supports rapid reconfiguration to adapt to the constantly evolving threat environment.
The system is easy to program and allows the operator to target the particular frequencies.
The system's compact size and low power consumption make it ideal for mounting in vehicles.
Viewers may note that the Duke system was selected as one of the U.S. Army’s Top 10
Greatest Inventions in 2005 and 2009.
SRC has stated that its engineers have continuously enhanced the system with many upgrades.
Though in an initial stage, it can be very well said that with the deployment of Electronic
Warfare Tactical Vehicles, US Army is taking steps in the right direction.