US Army Getting New Counter EW Technology

US Army Getting New Counter EW Technology

A U.S. tank team, in an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT), advances across the Kuwaiti desert, rehearsing techniques and coordination drills in preparation for upcoming training events as part of Exercise INTRINSIC ACTION. The exercise combines U.S. and Kuwaiti armed forces in an effort to strengthen military-to-military relationships, and enhance the U.S. militaryÕs capability to deploy quickly to the region. (Duplicate image, see also DA-SD-99-01494)

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The US Army’s vision for 2028 focuses on preparing Soldiers for possible warfare with near-peer competitors, who have used electronic warfare to disrupt communications vital to Western forces in recent years.

Currently, GPS jamming threat is one of Army priorities, because jamming and interference can seriously degrade GPS position, navigation and time availability – even to the point of total solution denial. Jammers create excessive noise, overpowering the low power GPS signals and saturating the electronics in a GPS receiver front end.

The U.S. Army has begun outfitting its M1A1 Abrams tanks with Mounted Assured Precision Navigation & Timing System (MAPS) anti-jam GPS devices that allow U.S. combat vehicles to operate in an environment when GPS signals are degraded or denied.

MAPS is a military technology designed to be installed on vehicles, providing soldiers with accurate position, navigation and timing data even when the GPS signal is denied, degraded or spoofed.

MAPS will be able to fuse PNT data from multiple sources, including timing sensors, barometer measurements and inertial navigation units, creating an alternative that can validate, or even replace, GPS data.

The new jam-resistant GPS device replaces the Defense Advanced GPS receivers (DAGR) that are currently installed on American armoured vehicles.

According to the latest analysis reports, GPS jamming and spoofing threats are increased after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and Syria. Russian-linked electronic warfare equipment has been used thousands of times – including outside of the country’s own territories, according to defence-blog.com.