Armada Analysis - Podcasts

One of the Cold War’s great ‘what ifs?’ was whether the United Kingdom’s V-Bomber nuclear deterrent force would have been able to reach and attack its targets in the Soviet Union. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the Royal Air Force’s V-Bomber fleet was the custodian of Britian’s nuclear deterrent. A trio of aircraft, namely the Vickers Valiant, Handley Page Victor and Avro Vulcan series strategic bombers were all tasked to deliver nuclear weapons of varying yields to targets in the Soviet Union (USSR). Should the Third World War have broken out, these aircraft would have flown to their aimpoints in the USSR across what was arguably the most heavily defended airspace in the world. How likely was it that these aircraft would have reached their targets, delivered their nuclear weapons and escape unscathed? Would the electronic countermeasures carried by these aircraft have successfully defended them against Soviet radar? Could the V-bombers adequately jam the radio communications Soviet air defences depend upon? A new book by historian Dr. Tony Redding, entitled V-Bombers on Britain’s Nuclear Frontline, lifts the veil on aspects of the V-Bomber force that have hitherto been shrouded in mystery. In this Radioflash! podcast he joins us to tackle such questions and to share other results of his research on the UK’s nuclear deterrent. More details of Dr. Redding’s publications can be found on his website.

Diamonds have attributes which are useful for current and future defence electromagnetic applications such as quantum communications and navigation. Diamonds have the highest thermal conductivity of any solid material making them particularly suitable for environments where temperature management is paramount. Electronic warfare, radar and military communications all depend on power amplifiers to transmit radio frequency energy. The more power you send through these amplifiers, the more effective these systems become. However, this can come with a heat penalty making the temperature tolerances of diamonds particularly useful. Furthermore, diamonds are well-placed to contribute to the emerging field of quantum communications where individual defects in the material, commonly known as flaws, help such applications. Diamonds with specific defects to support quantum communications can be produced on demand. Defects can also support quantum sensing applications, notably magnetic field sensing. Magnetic field sensing could support navigation applications not depending on Global Navigation Satellite System constellations. Element6 produces synthetic diamonds and details on how these are formed can be found here. The company is involved in a Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiative called LADDIS (Large Area Device-quality Diamond Substrates). LADDIS is examining ways in which laboratory-grown diamonds can be used in microelectronics. If you want to learn more about the role diamonds play in defence electromagnetics? Tune in to our latest Radioflash! podcast. We will be chatting to Ian Friel, Element6’s business development programme manager and principal scientist Andrew Edmonds.

Israel’s ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip have once again highlighted the perils and pitfalls of urban electronic warfare, much as US-led operations in Iraq did several years earlier. In episode 8 of the Radioflash! podcast, we chatted to Colonel Jeffrey H. ‘Fish’ Fischer, a European and global security expert, and author of the Curt Nover series of thrillers. Fish talked about the Electronic Warfare (EW) implications of Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. This discussion generated significant interest and prompted an old friend of the podcast, Major Erik Bamford, to get in touch. Maj. Bamford is the Norwegian Armed Forces’ staff officer for electronic warfare and the Association of Old Crows’ director of region 1. Region 1 covers Africa, Europe and Middle East. In this episode, we discuss the unique challenges inherent in performing EW in built-up areas. Maj. Bamford outlines the current state-of-the-art regarding the general literature on urban warfare. He talks about the place of electronic warfare within wider theories and approaches to urban combat. It is noteworthy, he says, that there is a paucity of dedicated texts looking at the peculiarities of EW in built-up areas. The examination of urban EW has tended to focus on electronic warfare’s role in the counter-improvised explosive device battle. Meanwhile, troops must fight in a complex built-up environment home to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Radio Frequency (RF) emitters. To further complicate matters, radio waves have strange behaviours in urban environments, bouncing off hard surfaces and working badly underground. Certain building materials either reflect or absorb RF in particular ways. These phenomena only serve to further complicate the EW cadres’ work in the urban environment. Maj. Bamford is keen to work with other EW practitioners who share his interest in urban electronic warfare and he can be contacted via the Armada website.

Ahmed Al Khoori, senior vice president, Strategy & Excellence, EDGE Group talks to Asian Military Review Editor-in-Chief ahead of exciting announcements at the Dubai Airshow.

In this episode of Radioflash! we explore how the war between Israel and Hamas could unfold in the electromagnetic spectrum. On 7th October, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a series of devastating raids on numerous targets in Israel. As of late October, is it believed that these attacks have killed over 1,400 people. Over five thousand have been injured and Hamas has abducted in excess of 200. The surprise attack seemingly caught Israel’s government, her military and security services unaware. Inevitably, this has prompted questions regarding the extent to which these institutions failed to anticipate the actions of Hamas. Israel is known for employing one of the most comprehensive signals intelligence capabilities in the world, and the Israeli military’s electronic warfare attributes are among the best. How is the war between Hamas and Israel being fought in the electromagnetic spectrum and how could this conflict develop as Israel’s actions against the militants unfold. For this episode of Radioflash! we are joined by Colonel Jeffrey H. ‘Fisch’ Fischer. Col Fischer is a European and global security expert, and author of the Curt Nover series of thrillers. We will be asking how the Israeli intelligence community seemingly either missed warnings that the attack was going to take place, or failed to act on those warnings? How did Hamas’ intelligence picture seemingly work so efficiently in allowing the organisation to pull off such an audacious attack? What effect will anticipated subterranean warfare in Gaza’s conurbations have on Israel’s application of electronic warfare? Join us as we explore these questions and more.

It is a truism of military theory that the road to victory is harder for the side which does not win and sustain air supremacy. It is now over eighteen months since the Russian government commenced its second invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has seen the shattering of some military aphorisms and the affirmation of others. One that has stood this test of time is that the achievement of air superiority and supremacy is a prerequisite for victory. To date, neither the Russian nor Ukrainian military has established air superiority, the overture to securing air supremacy. There are subtle, yet important differences between these conditions: Air superiority means one side largely prevents the other from using airpower. Air supremacy means that opposing airpower is all but nullified. Suppression of enemy air defences forms a key part of what the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation calls the Offensive Counter-Air mission (OCA). In turn, OCA is the tactical embodiment of the quest for air superiority and supremacy. Russian and Ukrainian airpower has performed energetic OCA efforts, but air superiority remains elusive for both sides. In this podcast we are joined by Colonel Jeffrey H. ‘Fisch’ Fischer, a European and global security expert, Ukraine watcher and author of the Curt Nover series of thrillers. We discuss initial perceptions of Russian airpower and ground-based air defence strengths. Premature predictions of the ineffectiveness of Ukrainian airpower are questioned, while Ukrainian success in destroying Russian air defence systems are highlighted. Why is Russia’s use of the electromagnetic spectrum seeming to contribute to Russian Air Force fratricide? What role have uninhabited aerial vehicles played in the battle for air supremacy? Will the Link-16 tactical datalink be used by the Ukrainian Air Force and what effect might this have on the battle? Moreover, how is Ukraine’s military contributing to the ongoing OCA battle? Should Ukraine win the OCA battle, how might this achievement affect the wider war? All these questions fall under the Radioflash! spotlight. Tune in to find out more.

Milrem Robotics has made impressive strides in developing innovative robotics solutions for challenging environments. Established in 2013, Milrem developed Type-X, which was the first RCV designed for unmanned operations, as well as the renowned THeMIS which is currently part of the robotics program in 16 countries. In this episode, we are joined by Kuldar Väärsi, the CEO and Founder of Milrem Robotics. Having recently joined the Platforms & Systems cluster of EDGE, one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defence groups, Kuldar sheds light on Milrem’s growth strategy and ambitious autonomous and robotics roadmap, giving listeners a glimpse into the current trends in the UGV market and the future of robotic warfare.

As near-peer adversaries continue to develop and deploy advanced electronic warfare capabilities, the warfighter’s ability to operate in congested and contested electromagnetic spectrum environments has emerged as a critical need. Silvus Technologies Jimi Henderson joins Armada’s military communications webpage and monthly newsletter editor Dr. Thomas Withington on this special podcast to examine the challenges of establishing and using tactical communications networks in congested and contested environments. We look at how Silvus Technologies is responding to those challenges to provide the security, speed, reliability, and electronic warfare resiliency needed to achieve Spectrum Dominance.

Information is a strategic resource, it always was, but with fake news and disinformation by nefarious actors very much on the agenda, its manipulation risks having a profound effect on our democracies. How do we manoeuvre in the information space? What steps should governments and militaries be taking to ensure we are safeguarded against disinformation’s adverse effects? In our latest Radioflash! podcast we talk to Ewen Stockbridge, chief executive officer of 360ISR. 360ISR is an operational support company specialising in the field of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. We chat to Mr. Stockbridge about these challenges, and more.

Multi-Domain Integration risks creating challenges for electromagnetic spectrum operations command and control, but these are not insurmountable, argues Major Erik Bamford. Once again, this year’s Association of Old Crows (AOC) Electronic Warfare Europe conference and exhibition was a resounding success. Held in the delightful city of Bonn, Western Germany, Multi-Domain Integration (MDI) was the event’s overarching theme. MDI sees the integration of all personnel, capabilities and bases across all services to perform synchronous operations at all levels of war. This risks creating headaches for electromagnetic spectrum operations command and control. Major Erik Bamford, principle electronic warfare staff officer in the Norwegian armed forces and director of the AOC’s region 1 covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India, made this the theme of his presentation. In this Radioflash! podcast, he explains how these challenges can be addressed and overcome.

Keen-eyed readers of Armada’s military communications webpage may remember an article we ran in April that looked at tropospheric radio. The article discussed the British Army’s recent acquisition of a tropospheric communications system. As the name suggests, tropospheric techniques exploit the troposphere. This is a layer of the atmosphere stretching up to 43,000 feet (13,106 metres) above the Earth’s surface. When aimed at an angle towards the troposphere, some radio signals can jump over the horizon reaching distances of up to 500 kilometres (311 miles). Tropospheric communications are proving attractive for long-range military communications, joining their high frequency and satellite communications brethren. Why is tropospheric radio in vogue? What can it do that other forms of communication cannot? To answer these, and other questions, we are joined on this Radioflash! podcast by Daniel Gizinski, Comtech Telecommunication’s chief strategy officer.

The electromagnetic spectrum has never been so congested. This is only likely to get worse. Training is a key part of meeting this challenge as we explore in episode 3 of the Radioflash! podcast. Ericsson predicted the world would have one billion 5G subscribers by early 2023. This could grow to five billion by 2028. As the ether gets more saturated, hostile actors have more places to hide their signals of interest. Moreover, new techniques like artificial intelligence are coming to the fore to help the electronic warfare expert find the signal in the noise. Joining us on the podcast to help make sense of these challenges is Taph Willumsen, head of training and cyber and electromagnetic activities, at MASS.

DSEI Japan 2023 Senior Military Advisor Air Vice Marshal (Ret) Gary Waterfall in conversation with Armada/AMR Editor-in-Chief Andrew Drwiega.

AMR is delighted to present our second podcast. Editor-in-Chief Andrew Drwiega discusses the IDEX defence expo in Abu Dhabi with the EDGE Group's Miles Chambers, Director International Business Development. The Gulf defence sector is expanding rapidly and the EDGE Group, a United Arab Emirates state-owned conglomeration of 25 companies providing military weaponry and related technologies is at the centre of this expansion. Miles discusses the technologies that EDGE is developing as well as the company's show highlights.

FICINT is a useful tool to help us imagine how the future may unfold. It is particularly apt for those working in the electromagnetic spectrum where technology moves at breakneck speed. Keen eyed members of our audience may remember an article we published in late November entitled Fast Forward the Future. This looked at the emerging field of Fictional Intelligence (FICINT). In 2021 the Royal Air Force commissioned a three-volume series of books to imagine the RAF in 2040. These looked at the challenges it, and the wider world, may face. In episode 2 of Radioflash! we are joined by Peter W. Singer, an expert on fictional intelligence, founder and managing partner at Useful Fiction. He is also a New York Times bestselling author writing on technology and warfare. Mr. Singer and your correspondent will be speaking at a panel event on 15th February discussing Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy. More details on Mr. Singer’s and his colleagues’ work can be found at useful-fiction.com. You can also purchase his books online and they are available in all good bookshops.

Armada is proud to launch our new Radioflash podcast. Blending our electronic warfare and military communications podcasts Radioflash covers all aspects of military electromagnetic spectrum use. Fittingly, our first guest is Dr. Bleddyn Bowen, associate professor of international relations at the University of Leicester. He is the author of two books on the militarisation of the cosmos: War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower and Geopolitics and the recently published Original Sin: Power, Technology and War in Outer Space. Space has never been more important to the military. The heavens host spy satellites collecting intelligence and communications satellites letting navies, armies and air forces keep in touch. Yet space is competitive. The US and her allies depend on it as do their rivals Russia and the People’s Republic of China. Anti-satellite weapons risk spacecraft safety. Meanwhile the private sector is taking on a host of missions once the preserve of the military. We sit down with Dr. Bowen to talk about these vexing challenges.

As the electromagnetic spectrum becomes more congested and contested so the EW practitioner’s work increases. Human factors play a key role in Electronic Warfare (EW) but how do we empower EW practitioners to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges? How do the tasks of today’s EW practitioners differ from those of yesterday? What tools do today’s and tomorrow’s practitioners need to meet contemporary and future threats? To discuss these important subjects Armada’s EW Podcast chats to Dave Devine and Phil Guy of Mellori Solutions, a leading Australian EW company.

A recent article contained a startling revelation that US FARRAH satellites provided SIGINT to British forces during the Falklands War. Taking its name from film and television icon Farrah Fawcett, America’s FARRAH Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) satellites were launched from 1982. That same year, the UK deployed forces to the South Atlantic to liberate the Falkland Islands from Argentine control following their invasion on 2nd April. The article by space expert Dwayne Day revealed these satellites had provided SIGINT to the British military during the Falklands War. Mr. Day tells us more about this extraordinary revelation in our latest Armada Electronic Warfare Podcast.

How orbit and architecture combine to enable game-changing mission-specific capabilities. SES will shortly commence deployment of its second-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellation, O3b mPOWER. Building on the technically proven and commercially successful O3b MEO operating since 2014, O3b mPOWER will deliver dramatic levels of increased throughput, flexibility, and secure, resilient connectivity, all with the low-latency inherent to its Medium Earth Orbit location. So why will this carefully designed system of satellites, gateways and terminals work so well, and what kind of global capabilities will it offer government customers in the Asia Pacific region?

Electronic Warfare has a new foe in the guise of the Covid-19 with microwaves harnessed as an effective tool to kill the virus. Elettronica has developed the E4Shield virus inactivation system which is effective against Covid-19 and several other pathogens. In our latest Electronic Warfare Podcast we chat to Simone Astiaso, Elettronica’s vice president of engineering and operations, about this new technology and its potential.