Next phase of Army EW planning tool to focus on GPS denied environments

Mark Pomerleau
Aug 18, 2022 | FEDSCOOP

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The next phase of an Army electronic warfare tool to help visualize and plan operations in the invisible electromagnetic spectrum will focus on resilience in GPS denied environments.

Described by officials as the glue holding all EW capabilities on the battlefield together, the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool (EWPMT) is a command-and-control planning capability that allows forces to visualize the potential effects of electronic warfare on the battlefield and chart courses of action to prevent jamming.

The Army is delivering the first increment of the program, which included several incremental capability drops over the course of many years using software to build on previous versions.

Officials have said now is the time to inject competition into the program and the next phase will hone in on navigation warfare.

“The next phase will be focused mostly on NAVWAR, which is our resilience to GPS denied environments,” Mark Kitz, program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors, told FedScoop in an interview at this week’s TechNet Augusta conference. “How will our systems and capabilities perform? Model out what capabilities have assured PNT on them that would be resilient —which do not — so I understand what operations I can perform in that denied environment and then understand yourself in that NAVWAR perspective.”

Kitz said an aspirational goal for the program will be to determine what the adversary is trying to do to affect positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).  

“Are they trying to spoof and steer us in a different direction, are they just broadband jamming and trying to deny us GPS? Give that situational understanding of what the NAVWAR” environment looks like, he said.