Electronic warfare
(1) (p) “Electronic warfare” means any military action involving the use of electromagnetic and directed energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum or to attack the enemy.
[Commentary]
- Electronic warfare (EW) is currently used extensively as a method of warfare. Yet, it is not specifically regulated or even mentioned in treaty law.
- The use of “electromagnetic, directed energy, or anti-radiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities, or equipment with the intent of degrading, neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capabilities” or to “preven[t] or reduc[e] an enemy’s use of the electromagnetic spectrum”[64] constitutes electronic attack, the form of EW most relevant to this Manual.
- Electromagnetic jamming and Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) are common forms of electronic attack. In the former, electromagnetic energy is radiated, reradiated, or reflected in order to impede the enemy’s use of the electromagnetic spectrum. Typical targets include radar controlled weapons, intelligence networks, and command and control systems. SEAD comprises aerial operations that neutralize, destroy, or temporarily degrade elements of the enemy’s ground-based integrated air defence system. These include early warning, ground-control intercept, and target acquisition radars; surface to air missiles; and anti-aircraft artillery. Many SEAD missions are performed using anti-radiation missiles that home in on energy emitted by the target.[65]
- Although not deployed in the general inventory of any State’s armed forces, a number of States have, or have had, research programs on electromagnetic bombs. Reports exist of limited use on the battlefield. An electromagnetic bomb disrupts and disables electronics by creating an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) upon detonation that causes current and voltage surges. Integrated circuits, transistors, inductors, and electronic motors are especially vulnerable to the effects of EMP.
- As used in this Manual, EW encompasses all actions conducted against the enemy in the context of an international armed conflict, whether by the armed forces or even by non-military forces such as intelligence agencies. By contrast, EW unrelated to the armed conflict, such as that employed for strictly law-enforcement purposes, is not covered by this Manual.
- United States Air Force, Electronic Warfare, Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 2-5.1, 5 November 5, 2002, at page 7. Directed energy refers to technologies involving the creation of beams of electromagnetic energy or atomic or subatomic parts.
- Ibid., at page 8.
Categories: Section A: Definitions
