Electronic warfare and friend or foe systems

← All Insights

1. What is actually being sold

An electronic warfare system is a counter emitter device. The manual’s examples are radar warning receivers and jammers, built to deny or counteract an opponent’s use of radar, communications, guidance, detection and control devices (SAMM C3.7.4.1).

"The sale of an EW capability involves the transfer of the EW system hardware, firmware, and software" (SAMM C3.7.4.1). The software carries a mission data file, a library of information about the emitters the system is meant to recognize. That file makes the box useful, and it is written from a Department of Defense source called the Electronic Warfare Integrated Reprogramming Database, the primary source for technical parametric performance data on emitters (SAMM C3.7.4.1).

A supplier selling a warning receiver is therefore also asking for data about how foreign radars behave. The approval chain follows the data rather than the hardware.

2. Certified in writing, before an offer exists

Before an agreement is offered, the implementing agency must review every component of the system, the mission data file included, and confirm that each has been certified in writing. The authorities named are the National Security Agency, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the applicable program offices (SAMM C3.7.4.1).

Where certification does not yet exist the sale is not blocked, but the buyer must be told. "If an EW system is not certified in writing prior to sale, the FMS purchaser must be advised" (SAMM C3.7.4.1), and the agency must ensure a plan exists to obtain data protection certification from the National Security Agency before delivery.

The delivery gate then holds, with one exception. Delivery cannot happen without that certification, unless the buyer relies on its own parametric performance data rather than the Department of Defense source (SAMM C3.7.4.1). A partner that brings its own emitter data is buying a different program with a different schedule.

3. Two kinds of database

The database is sold in two forms, and the difference decides where the reprogramming happens. "A Direct FMS EWIRDB is delivered directly to the FMS customer and provides data required for an In-Country Reprogramming (ICR) capability for the EW system" (SAMM C3.7.4.2). The indirect form goes instead to the United States facility that will develop the mission data file for the requesting country (SAMM C3.7.4.2).

Both forms pass through the release process described below before the sale (SAMM C3.7.4.2). A partner that wants to change its own library in country needs the direct form.

4. The advisory that starts the clock

An advisory should be issued to the National Security Agency and the military departments (SAMM C3.7.4.3). It goes out when a request covers an electronic warfare system going on a partner weapon system for the first time, as early notice to the community that will evaluate it. The reason given is time. "It is critical that the evaluation process be initiated as soon as possible due to the amount of time required to complete the process" (SAMM C3.7.4.3).

The responsibility table divides the work. The implementing agency supplies details of the proposed system and determines whether it is certified for handling classified data. It also carries the cost and schedule effects into the agreement, and advises the buyer of certification status and schedule risk. The military department international affairs offices process disclosure requests and check that the agreement carries the required wording (SAMM C3.7.4.3).

5. In principle, then in specific

Two approvals sit in sequence, and neither is the communications security approval described in anti tamper and system release requirements. "The FMS EWIRDB RIP is issued by NSA for a particular country on a specific weapon system platform, and is not related to a COMSEC RIP" (SAMM C3.7.4.3.2).

A release in principle must exist before an agreement for database support can be offered at all. The request goes to the military department point of contact, and identifies the requesting country, the platform, the type of database and the system nomenclature where known. Once granted, the case remarks should record that it was granted, the approving agency, the date and a point of contact (SAMM C3.7.4.3.2).

The release in specific comes after implementation. The point of contact works with the partner to settle what data the library should hold, and that supports a request to the disclosure authorities. Approval authorizes the executive agent for the database to begin building the country version, funded by the case (SAMM C3.7.4.4).

Classified content adds a further review, because approvals for the release of classified data are required before an agreement can be offered (SAMM C3.7.4.3.1). That rule is set out more generally in disclosure of classified military information.

6. Friend or foe, and the certification behind it

Identification systems attract the same caution through a different process. They are "sensitive identification devices that emit signals used to identify whether a platform is friendly or unknown to help prevent fratricide" (SAMM C3.7.5.1). Mode 4 and Mode 5 releases run through the communications security process rather than the electronic warfare one (SAMM C3.7.5.2).

"IFF Mode 4/5 is typically approved on a general release basis for U.S. manufactured platforms, which means it is not tied to a specific quantity or platform" (SAMM C3.7.5.2). Fitting a United States system into a platform built elsewhere is the case that needs a specific approval. Need also has to be shown: "Transfers of Mark XIIA IFF Mode 4/5 systems are based on validated interoperability requirements" (SAMM C3.7.5.2).

Certification happens at two levels. One covers the equipment itself, the transponders and interrogators. The second covers the installed performance on the platform. The work is done either by the program office for those systems or by a NATO approved agency assessed as meeting the same standards (SAMM C3.7.5.2.2). The implementing agency must confirm that certification exists, or that the agreement pays for it (SAMM C3.7.5.2).

7. Keying material, and what the agreement has to say

Keys are handled outside the sale. Accounts obtain Mode 4 keying material from the controlling authority, the joint management office at MacDill Air Force Base (SAMM C3.7.5.2.3). For the newer mode the position is staged: "IFF Mode 5 Test Keying Material is currently available for platforms in the integration and test phase" (SAMM C3.7.5.2.3.1), requested from the National Security Agency, while operational release procedures wait on United States forces putting the mode into use (SAMM C3.7.5.2.3.2).

Both systems end with a drafting instruction. An agreement offering such systems must identify the component nomenclature, the type of database support and the platforms, and "The LOA notes must clearly state if an EW system is not certified prior to the LOA being offered" (SAMM C3.7.4.5). For identification systems the components are named in a note, and "The LOA note shall also clearly state whether or not the platform for an IFF system has been or will be certified as meeting AIMS standards" (SAMM C3.7.5.3).

Both subsystems can be sold uncertified, with the risk written into the notes rather than removed. A program schedule that assumes certification is already in hand is the schedule most likely to slip. The wider release framework these gates sit inside is described in technology transfer and release decisions.

Key terms

Mission data file	The emitter library inside an electronic warfare system, written from Department of Defense parametric data.
Release in principle	Approval for a country and platform, required before database support can be offered.
Release in specific	Approval to build the country version of the database once the case is implemented.
Platform certification	The second certification level, covering installed performance rather than the equipment alone.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

How Sentfore supports this

Sensitive systems arriving in country need secure handling from the moment they land. Sentfore works at the delivery end of defense programs in difficult environments, providing secure movement, protective security, facilities and life support. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.