Air Force adds two EW squadrons
The new squadrons will focus on software capabilities and defending against spoofed signals.
LAUREN C. WILLIAMS | MAY 2, 2024
AIR FORCE RUSSIA
The Air Force is standing up new squadrons to improve the service’s electronic warfare capabilities—especially when it comes to spoofing.
Spoofing—or fake location or GPS data sent to navigation devices—has become a regular occurrence in Russia’s war on Ukraine. As incidents increase, the Air Force is adding two new squadrons to the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing, which is responsible for verifying information received from adversaries based on their activities, what is known about the electromagnetic spectrum, and comparing that with data from the intelligence community, said the wing’s commander, Col. Josh Koslov. One of those two squadrons, the 388th Electronic Warfare Squadron, was activated Thursday and will home in on spoofing threats.
“Based on an adversary that's completely agile in the spectrum, how do we know when they're spoofing us? …That's a real capability that we now need to develop a target for and go forward from there. And I think that will go to the 388’s weapons and tactics function,” Koslov said.
The squadron will start small, with plans to grow to more than 100 people—which will mean a “larger intel footprint,” said Lt. Col. Timothy West, commander of the 388th EW Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base. One of many intelligence teams standing up within the 388th will focus on prioritizing threats.
https://www.defenseone.com/defense-systems/2024/05/air-force-levels-ew-capabilities-new-squadrons/396266/
