Support Jammer Queing

Mobility Air Force assets deployed in forward positions are vulnerable to enemy air defenses and require protection, typically provided by high-power standoff jammer aircraft loitering outside the range of enemy missiles while radiating powerful waves of wideband energy at an entire region of enemy territory. However, the position of the standoff jammer may result in the jamming power being directed at the sidelobes of some ground-based threat emitters, and consequently ineffective. In order optimize the jam coverage of the standoff jammer, real-time information is needed of threat emitter locations, so that the jamming assets can be repositioned. To address this need, Technology Service Corporation (TSC) will be investigating the feasibility of Threat Emitter Geolocation System (TEGS) concept in Phase I, which consists of highly sensitive intercept receiver technology, coupled with a broadband antenna with front-hemisphere wide beamwidth, and powerful Geolocation estimation and tracking algorithms to determine and refine the location of the detected emitters and minimize the effects of multipath, atmospheric attenuation, and other interfering signals. These components can be made small, light, and power-efficient, to accommodate UAS SWaP constraints. Data is partially processed onboard airborne platforms, but must be fused with other airborne platforms’ information in offboard processing. BENEFIT: It is anticipated that the potential outcome of this study will be hardware and software designs that will result in a small, lightweight ES receiver that can be carried onboard UASs, possessing the capability of detecting a variety of RF emitters, utilizing either conventional or low-probability of intercept (LPI) waveforms. The software algorithms, in combination of small UAS fleets (at least three), will provide the ability to Geolocate these emitters with sufficient accuracy to optimally position support jammers to protect vulnerable MAF assets. The technology may also benefit domestic commercial applications, among them are rescue missions to locate hikers and skiers carrying small RF beacons, and homeland security missions such as locating teams of intruders that communicate using cell phones.