Virtually all defense and security applications of GPS/GNSS require additional technology to protect assets and missions against signal interference, whether signal jammer or spoofing. The upcoming free webinar, Resilient PNT for Military Applications, gives a primer on several of these technology options. Mitigation in this context means that after isolating the unwanted signal, quickly rejecting and replacing it, causing minimal system degradation. In essence, this involves the use of augmentation technologies and diversification strategies to supplement GPS/GNSS, thus reducing the dependence on it.
For a radio jammer to work, it needs to be fairly close to the signal its crew wants to disrupt. The Avtobaza, for one, can detect targets up to 93 miles away, according to Air Power Australia, an independent think tank specializing in military electronic systems. Jamming requires more power than detecting does, so the range at which the Avtobaza can disrupt a drone is certainly shorter than 90 miles.
The contract is in line with the US Government’s foreign military sales programme and includes production and delivery of ALQ-214(V)4/5 integrated defensive electronic countermeasures (IDECM) drone jammer for the F/A-18C/D/E/F variants.
Under the contract, Harris will manufacture and deliver ALQ-214(V)4/5 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) jammers for the F/A-18C/D/E/F variants. The ALQ-214(V)4/5 is the key onboard electronic warfare signal jammer system for the IDECM programme and protects the aircraft from sophisticated electronic threats, including modern integrated air defense systems.
The AN/ALQ-214 IDECM Onboard Jammer (OBJ) is a next-generation RF integrated countermeasure system. The legacy (V)3 version is currently deployed on USN’s F/A-18E/F aircraft to provide self-protection.
Until that point, though an attacker within wireless range can – at worst – cause denial of service problems, they cannot interfere with, decrypt, or impersonate, valid imp traffic. It should be noted that any attacker within wireless range can also simply use a jammer to prevent network operation, which is a problem no amount of software can fix.