In response to increasing threats in the electromagnetic spectrum, the US Air Force has formed two new squadrons to improve its electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.
The 563rd Electronic Warfare Squadron, activated on April 25, is tasked with delivering modern software applications that meet the service’s EW requirements.
“They’re the first folks that have focused specifically on software for EW, not a weapon system or some sort of EW waveform type of thing,” US Air Force official Col. Joshua Koslov told reporters.
The second squadron, the 388th Electronic Warfare Squadron, will be responsible for combing through “mountains of data” from adversaries to spot their strengths and weaknesses.
This is to ensure that combatant commands will have the confidence when dealing with enemies in the battlespace, according to squadron commander Lt. Col. Timothy West.
The 563rd EW squadron is based at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, while the second squadron will have Eglin Air Force Base in Florida as its headquarters. Both will be under the US Air Force’s 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing.
Growing Threats
Koslov said the creation of two EW squadrons is based on an assessment of increasing global threats in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Last month, Russia was reported to have been using a top secret EW weapon to disrupt the GPS systems of British flights across NATO’s eastern flank.
China has also been vocal about its development of artificial intelligence-enabled spy tech that allegedly gives enemy forces “nowhere to hide.”
Koslov explained that the new squadrons will exhaust ways to plan, integrate, and synchronize EW effects in response to the threats.
Additionally, the 563rd and 388th EWQ squadrons will collaborate with intelligence agencies to accurately detect threats, rapidly pass on threat information, and execute operations more quickly.
The US Air Force is expected to activate at least four more EW squadrons.
