WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has activated two detachments at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia dedicated to electronic warfare and its future applications.
The green light, given Oct. 25 at a ceremony inside an aviation museum, marks a step toward the belief of the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group, tasked with assessing the effectiveness of electronic warfare across dozens of aircraft while improving jamming and spoofing capabilities in large military exercises.
RELATED
![Visitors look at the J-16D electronic warfare variant of the Chinese military's J-16 airplane during 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China 2021 in Zhuhai, southern China, on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.](https://www.defensenews.com/resizer/dh1ibsD0djMODPtnnfDS0GyT4vo=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/JLEE2JBARVEIDG6Y7AW3ZS327Y.jpg)
The nascent group is an outgrowth of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. That wing is staffed by engineers and other specialists that tinker with software and code to counter electronic threats in the sector.
“Our enemies at once are taking a look at developing countermeasures as they shore up their capabilities against us,” Col. Josh Koslov, the wing’s commander, said on the ceremony. “Our team here at Robins will discover what our weak points are, and give you the chance to point us within the direction we’d like to go.”
The Air Force, just like the Army and the Navy, is reinvesting in electronic warfare and the related domination of the electromagnetic spectrum after years of atrophy. Modern militaries depend on the spectrum to speak, navigate and guide weapons to their targets; the fight over it could possibly make or break wartime success.
Each Russia and China recognize the worth of the spectrum and are attempting to beef up their associated arsenals. The latter may struggle in fights where spectrum access is fiercely contested, based on a Pentagon assessment released earlier this month.
“I would like to emphasise the words of the commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mark Kelly, who said if we don’t achieve superiority within the spectrum, then our forces are going to lose, and we’re going to lose fast,” Koslov said.
The 950th Spectrum Warfare Group is anticipated to be fully established by 2027. But Koslov has nearer-term goals.
The detachments activated at Robins Air Force Base, where a big avionics footprint already exists, are feeding the hassle.
“Standing up these units today gives me the organizational capability to place mission on the table for warfighters,” Koslov said. “We’re depressurizing the administrivia of standing up a company and allowing them to give attention to mission earlier.”
Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a day by day newspaper in South Carolina. Colin can also be an award-winning photographer.