Electronic Warfare Lessons From Ukraine Informing Air Force Special Operations Future
Observations from Ukraine about rapidly adapting platforms and systems to changing battlefield realities is also driving major change in AFSOC.
Howard Altman
Updated May 5, 2025 7:11 PM EDT
The TWZ Newsletter
As it looks to remain relevant in a future that could see conflict with a great power like China, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is seeking to apply key lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, a high-ranking U.S. Air Force official told The War Zone. The ability to operate in a dense electronic warfare environment and to adapt very quickly to new tactical challenges, in particular, are great areas of interest, spurring a review of how the command views training and new acquisitions, the official said.
For the past two decades, AFSOC’s arsenal of aircraft operated in largely benign electromagnetic combat environments, often guided by special tactics airmen on radios, in virtually uncontested airspace against insurgent groups possessing no electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.
In Ukraine, both sides possess such robust EW abilities that each has resorted to fiber optic cables, impervious to jamming, for a significant portion of their FPV drone operations. Communications there are often highly degraded, and offensive and defensive measures are constantly being updated by the combatants in an endless game of whack-a-mole. Jammers exist on many individual vehicles, and GPS is also under constant electronic attack. Even U.S.-donated munitions like the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) have seen their effectiveness thwarted, at least in part, by EW.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/electronic-warfare-lessons-from-war-in-ukraine-informing-air-force-special-operations-commands-future
