Electronic warfare system creates fleets of phantom aircraft

Leonardo UK has publicly rolled out its BriteStorm electronic warfare system that allows air forces to penetrate hostile airspace by creating phantom squadrons of fighter planes and missiles to jam and spoof radar defenses.

Imagine a military command and control center in the near future. It could be during an exercise or an actual crisis. The operators of the Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) detect an incoming group of hostile aircraft. As the countermeasures go to full alert, the sensors of the IADS try to learn more about the intruders, their numbers, and possible threats.

Suddenly, the readouts go crazy. Some sectors go blank. Others are blinded by jamming signals. Worse, through the confusing blur of radar signals comes solid information. The invading force is made up of several large squadrons of fighters and bombers flying behind a wall of cruise missiles zeroing in on their targets, launching weapons as they approach.

Anti-aircraft missiles launch to meet the threat while others remain unfired due to confusion. As they intercept the approaching force, some missiles go off course while others fly right through their targets as if they were never there. As the defenders look at emptied or disabled launchers, the attackers press home with minimal casualties.

That scenario is essentially what Leonardo is aiming for with BriteStorm, which is a platform-agnostic digital jamming and deception system that has already been flight tested by the Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office (RAF RCO).

Unveiled at the Association of the US Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., it’s the next move in the arms race between air defenses and counter-defenses that has been ongoing ever since the first caveman figured out how to parry a club blow with a crude shield.

The idea behind BriteStorm is that it can be installed in a variety of aircraft, preferably drones or missiles, that can fly ahead of an attacking force at long range, sending out powerful digital signals to jam and spoof enemy defenses to protect friendly forces and allow them to pass through the defenses to complete their mission.

Using Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, it’s claimed BriteStorm, paired with Leonardo’s cutting-edge Miniature Techniques Generator (MTG) and a wide array of Transmit Receive Modules (TRMs) and antennas, can detect and evaluate the electronic warfare environment to detect potential threats and select the appropriate response.

This can include jamming radar by sending out high-power white noise signals, transmitting false signals to confuse defense computers, or, the party piece, generate dozens of ghost fighter and missile signatures to make the defense system think it’s confronting a larger, more powerful force that doesn’t exist that the real force can hide within like needles in a stack of phantom needles.

In addition to its capabilities, BriteStorm weighs only 2.5 kg (5.5 lb). It can be swapped in to fit a wide variety of platforms and can be programmed for individual mission requirements.

“Platforms installed with a BriteStorm payload can deploy ahead to create confusion, so that enemy IADS are unable to detect, track and attempt to engage friendly assets,” said Mark Randall, Campaign Manager, EW. “Due to the evolution of near-peer IADS capabilities, it is critical that friendly forces use BriteStorm to ensure friendly forces remain protected.”

Source: Leonardo UK