EW BDA is currently performed by Signals Intelligence because Electronic Warfare Officers (EWOs) lack the right tools to assess EW Operational effectiveness. New EW BDA tools are needed to: - Detect and baseline all signals, including commercial, military, and previously unknown signals; - Identify signal changes in real time with metrics; and - Operate within existing systems and SWAP (size, weight, and power) requirements. Ideally an EW BDA tool provides sufficient detection granularity so that an EWO could dial in a soft kill to minimize power on target and maximize total targets attacked. Unfortunately, assessing subtle changes in signals is hard, and making those assessments on never-before-seen signals is exponentially harder, especially with the restricted processing currently fielded. To fill this gap, TeraSys will create the TeraICE EW Spectrum Sensor (TESS), which will combine our thorough understanding of EW ground platforms with our CERDEC-funded research in DSP-based signal processing. This new technology will assess subtle signal changes in known and unknown signals to provide clear EW BDA signal-kill metrics.
