JED - February 2015 - (Page 6)

the view f rom he re MAINTAINING DOD FOCUS ON EW I The Journal of Electronic Defense | February 2015 6 t's February, and that means the Pentagon leadership will begin its annual pilgrimage across the Potomac to provide testimony in front of Congressional defense committees. This is usually a fairly straightforward process, as Service secretaries, generals and admirals spell out their needs and plans for the next fiscal year. It is timed to coincide with the DOD's release of its annual budget request. There is new leadership on the House Armed Services Committee in the form of Rep. Mac Thornberry, and Sen. John McCain has taken the reins of the Senate Armed Services Committee. And, as happened in FY2013, the DOD is expected to request far more funding than the Congressional budget caps allow. The last time this occurred, it created significant uncertainty in the defense industry, because big cuts were potentially hanging over many major programs, Electronic Warfare (EW) programs included. Politics aside, it is worth noting how much attention EW programs have received in recent testimony compared with the past. In the 1990s and early 2000s, EW was rarely mentioned, either as part of prepared testimony from Service leaders or in questions posed by Congressional committee members. Today, it's a different story with EW often listed among the DOD priorities, although this trend is not universal; the Navy typically has far more to say on EW than the Army does, for example. Overall, however, the DOD's focus on EW has been positive. The US Government has some important spectrum decisions coming its way in the future. One of these issues is how the DOD and the commercial telecommunications providers can work out a plan to share certain spectrum bands. The DOD is interfacing with a newly formed National Spectrum Consortium to help it develop technologies and solutions that could address some of the spectrum "real estate" challenges that DOD's test and training centers face in the future. Congress can play an important role in this process, especially as it weighs the benefits and negative impacts of upcoming Government spectrum auctions. The attention that EW and larger EMS issues are receiving from the DOD and Congress is a very positive development, especially compared with the benign neglect these issues often endured in the past. Let's remember what it was like not so long ago and recognize how we can keep EW issues near the top of the priority list. - J. Knowles Editorial Note JED readers have brought to our attention several technical errors in the article, "GPGPU Rising: A Game Changer for EW?" from the November 2014 JED. As a result, JED is conducting an in-depth editorial review of this article, and we will address these concerns when our review is completed. We sincerely thank the readers who brought the matter to our attention. The Electronic Warfare Publication www.crows.org The Journal of Electronic Defense FEBRUARY 2015 * Vol. 38, No. 2 EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: John Knowles Managing Editor: Elaine Richardson Senior Editor: John Haystead Technical Editor: Ollie Holt Contributing Writers: Dave Adamy, Barry Manz, Richard Scott Marketing & Research Coordinator: Kent Agramonte Proofreader: Shauna Keedian Sales Administration: Candice Blair EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Mr. Micael Johansson Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area, Electronic Defence Systems, Saab Mr. Edgar Maimon General Manager, Elbit Systems EW and SIGINT - Elisra Mr. Jeffrey Palombo Senior VP and GM, Land and Self-Protection Systems Division, Electronic Systems, Northrop Grumman Corp. Mr. Steve Roberts Vice President, Strategy, Selex Galileo Mr. Travis Slocumb VP, Electronic Warfare Systems, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Mr. Rich Sorelle President, Electronic Systems Division, Exelis Gp Capt P.J. Wallace Assistant Head Targeting, Military Strategic Effects, UK MOD Dr. Richard Wittstruck Acting Deputy Program Executive Officer, PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, USA PRODUCTION STAFF Layout & Design: Barry Senyk Advertising Art: Elaine Connell Contact the Editor: (978) 509-1450, JEDeditor@naylor.com Contact the Sales Manager: (800) 369-6220 or sales@crows.org Subscription Information: Please contact Glorianne O'Neilin at (703) 549-1600 or e-mail oneilin@crows.org. The Journal of Electronic Defense is published for the AOC by 5950 NW 1st Place Gainesville, FL 32607 Phone: (800) 369-6220 * Fax: (352) 331-3525 www.naylor.com ©2015 Association of Old Crows/Naylor, LLC. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written authorization of the publisher. Editorial: The articles and editorials appearing in this magazine do not represent an official AOC position, except for the official notices printed in the "Association News" section or unless specifically identified as an AOC position. PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2015/JED-M0215/8947 http://www.crows.org http://www.naylor.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JED - February 2015

The View From Here
Conferences Calendar
Courses Calendar
From the President
The Monitor
World Report
Maritime SIGINT: Shipborne Ears for the “Five Eyes”
Technology Survey: Analog-to-Digital Converters
EW 101
AOC News
Index of Advertisers
JED Quick Look

JED - February 2015