The Army has ‘owned the night’; now it must own the electromagnetic spectrum
Breaking Defense · · 5 min read
The Army's push to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum mirrors its historic night-vision advantage, but the stakes are higher: adversaries can contest the spectrum cheaply and continuously. This shift demands integrated EW, spectrum sensing, and resilient comms across every echelon. For industry, it signals sustained demand for modular EW payloads, AI-driven spectrum management, and protected SATCOM. Procurement will favor open architectures and rapid software updates over monolithic systems. The real test is whether the Army can field these capabilities at scale before peer competitors normalize spectrum denial as a default condition.
The Army's hard-won expertise in night operations—once a decisive edge—now faces a new domain where visibility is not about photons but about electrons. The electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) has become the modern battlefield's contested terrain, and the service's recent emphasis on spectrum awareness, resilient connectivity, and electronic warfare (EW) defenses marks a strategic pivot. This is not merely about adding new radios; it is about rethinking how the Army fights, communicates, and survives when the airwaves are jammed, spoofed, or surveilled. The excerpt's framing—that these capabilities are "becoming central to decision advantage"—understates the urgency. In Ukraine, Russia's aggressive EW tactics have degraded Ukrainian drone operations and communications, exposing vulnerabilities that Western forces have largely avoided since the Cold War. The Army's recognition that it must "own" the spectrum is a tacit admission that its previous overmatch in command-and-control is eroding.
Background and mechanics: The electromagnetic spectrum encompasses radio, microwave, infrared, and visible light bands used for communication, navigation, sensing, and targeting. Modern military operations depend on it for everything from Blue Force Tracking to precision munitions. However, peer adversaries like Russia and China have invested heavily in EW systems that can jam GPS, disrupt tactical radio networks, and spoof radar returns. The Army's response involves three pillars: spectrum awareness (real-time sensing of the EMS environment), resilient connectivity (anti-jam, low-probability-of-intercept communications), and EW defenses (jamming enemy signals while protecting friendly ones). Technologically, this requires advanced software-defined radios, AI-enabled spectrum management, and modular EW payloads that can be rapidly reconfigured. The Army's Integrated Tactical Network and Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool are early steps, but they must evolve into a seamless, distributed sensing and effects grid. Crucially, the service is moving away from stovepiped systems toward open architectures that allow continuous software upgrades—a departure from traditional acquisition that could accelerate capability insertion.
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[Sponsored] Spectrum awareness, resilient connectivity and electronic warfare defenses are becoming central to decision advantage on the modern battlefield.