C4ISR Forum MT 2/2022 · 47 The image shows the concept of CESMO in action. (All images via Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions) protocol and exchange collected data within seconds, allowing a real-time position fix of these signal sources. While its potential remains greatly underutilized, CESMO has begun to play an increasingly important role in NATO EW and EMO. The protocol is continuously enhanced through use by a growing community of NATO member countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, the Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, and the Netherlands, that are actively exchanging CESMO information today. In fact, the protocol was successfully used in more than 20 trials and campaigns in 2020 and 2021. CESMO As a Force Multiplier To date, no US airborne or naval platform currently deploys this powerful technology, yet CESMO can significantly enhance TDL capabilities for EW by providing much better information on US Air Force and Navy platforms. What’s more, the power of CESMO increases dramatically as the number of participants increases, which means that both US and coalition partners will benefit from implementing the protocol on as many platforms as possible. CESMO is based on the principle that multi-sensor geolocation increases accuracy of detection, positioning, and identification, compared to current triangulation practices, while at the same time reducing the time and manual effort required to do so. Sharing CESMO information gives warfighters a consistent and cohesive view of threats and friendly forces, resulting in a more complete and accurate common operating picture (COP). This knowledge increases cooperative opportunities among joint forces to make time-sensitive targeting decisions, and helps to avoid accidental targeting of friendly forces. Without a cohesive COP, each participant has a different, and far smaller, window into the overall battlefield situation, increasing risks for all. Low Barrier to Entry to Communication Because CESMO is much less costly to implement compared to Link 16, Link 11, or Link 22, it can be used on more platforms and deployed more rapidly. One advantage of CESMO, in contrast to other data links, is that it is IP-based and can be exchanged between coalition platforms using commonly available UHF/VHF radios. Ground troops, for example, already carry radios that can send and receive encrypted data to support CESMO. Knowing the precise location of threats and friendly forces is essential to increasing warfighter survivability. Previously, detection of threats was typically a task performed by a single surveillance aircraft, flying over battlefields to capture RF signals and use basic triangulation methods to determine threat locations and types. Warfighters in the field would receive details about the threats, such as the locations of missile launchers and radar systems, in a spreadsheet, often hours or even days after the signals were collected. These reports were manually generated, and often contained errors and duplicate or ambiguous data. On today’s modern battlefield our adversaries have developed smaller, more sophisticated, and more mobile communications equipment and weapons. Because of this, threats are constantly moving, and RF emissions often occur in very short bursts, which presents a challenge to detection and renders the legacy methods obsolete. As a result, technology and tactical data networks have evolved considerably to offer new battlefield tactics, completely changing the game for NATO when it comes to Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT). To be effective on today’s battlefield, the time between transmission of an RF signal and subsequent detection, position fix, and targeting must be as close to real-time as possible, and the digital sharing of that Electronic Warfare (EW) data must be interoperable between coalition forces. Cooperative Electronic Support Measure Operations (CESMO), a new NATO tactical data link (TDL) standard for exchanging high fidelity EW information, provides NATO coalition forces with the visibility for this critical task. Our adversaries have invested much effort and expense to research and develop technologies to dominate the EW spectrum. CESMO provides a powerful tool, available today, to help manage the EW spectrum and offset progress made by adversaries. CESMO is adopted in STANAG 4658 and Allied Engineering Documentation Publication 13 (AEDP-13) to support EW and Electromagnetic Operations (EMO). It involves platforms equipped with sensors capable of detecting RF emissions from all types of ground, air, and sea platforms – hostile and friendly. Friendly platforms in the area can use the Peter Ellis and Steve Horsburgh, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions Strength in Numbers CESMO and the Power of EW Interoperability f
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