The Fleet Electronic Warfare Center (FEWC) is an organization established by
Naval Network Warfare Command
Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM) is the United States Navy's information operations, intelligence, networks, and space unit. Naval Network Warfare Command's mission is to execute, under Commander TENTH Fleet Operational Control, tactica ...
(NNWC) in 2008 to be the center for
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
fleet electronic warfare (EW) operational and tactical issues. It is currently located at Navy Information Dominance Forces (NIDF) Headquarters, in
Suffolk, VA
Suffolk is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such has no county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the List of cities in Virginia, 9th m ...
as an independent directorate.
Background
The demand for a focus on EW is greater than ever before. Recent operations throughout the world, and in particular Iraq and Afghanistan, have highlighted the crucial EW support required by the Joint Force Commander. These challenges have a direct application on the ability to perform Navy missions.
The impetus for the establishment of the FEWC began in 2005 when the
Chief of Naval Operations offered Navy EW expertise to Army leadership to counter a growing, deadly threat from Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RCIEDs) to the Joint fight in Iraq. This resulted in the formation of Joint CREW (Counter RCIED Electronic Warfare) Composite Squadron ONE (JCCS-1). The Navy has deployed hundreds of EW-qualified Sailors on Individual Augmentation (IA) assignments to
Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom with significant success. This successful application of EW into the fight highlights the positive impact that EW has on the battlefield, and just as importantly, how a lack of EW capability could impair US combat capability.
In May 2007, NNWC conducted the Navy EW Study to provide a foundation for the development of a strategic implementation plan. The study gave a comprehensive overview of the organizational challenges facing Fleet EW and some of the negative consequences incurred as a result of those challenges. Over 40 interviews were conducted with Fleet EW stakeholders from Echelon I, II, III, and IV commands including operational commands, resource sponsors, acquisition and procurement, research & development, doctrine development, fleet training and individual training. These stakeholder interviews also involved all major warfare communities - Air, Surface, Submarine, Expeditionary, and
information warfare
Information warfare (IW) (as different from cyber warfare that attacks computers, software, and command control systems) is a concept involving the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a ...
. The results of the Navy EW Study culminated in the development of a value chain focusing on the following areas: Fleet EW Integration, EW Capabilities & Requirements, EW Training, EW Force Management, and EW Doctrine/TTP & Policy. This value chain and the results of the stakeholder analysis led to the development of a series of strategic goals, objectives, and initiatives as well as the formation of the FEWC whose sole mission is focused on the improvement of Fleet EW readiness.
Purpose
The FEWC has three major roles:
#Consistently maintain visibility and current, accurate information on EW and Spectrum challenges.
#Perform the management functions required to enable the EW Readiness Group (EWRG) to resolve deficiencies and, through the Commander, Navy ID Forces, advise the Fleet Commander.
#Act as the Fleet's EW/Spectrum "DC Central" to thoroughly coordinate answers to emergent requirements from higher echelon commanders for all Fleet operational EW. The coordination spans across all naval platforms—air, surface, subsurface and expeditionary—and across doctrine, organization, training, material, leadership and education, personnel and facilities (DOTMLPF).
The FEWC also provides for operational control of the Navy and Marine Corps Spectrum Center to handle operational spectrum issues in the electromagnetic battlespace across the globe.
FEWC and EWRG structure
To effectively organize the FEWC, NIDF, as the Operational Agent for EW, leads Fleet EW stakeholders into a cohesive team by facilitating coordination and collaboration efforts among the organizations that influence Fleet EW readiness.
To that end, NNWC previously established the EW Integration & Improvement Program (EWIIP), which is the formal process to identify Fleet-centric EW issues and deficiencies and generate an annual EW Integrated Priority Capabilities List (IPCL) to prioritize operational Fleet EW requirements to improve Fleet EW readiness. Navy Cyber Forces (NCF) modified the original structure by establishing the EW Readiness Group (EWRG) to focus on specific elements of EW readiness. The EWRG consists of Fleet EW stakeholder command or organization representatives who are responsible for identifying and promulgating Fleet EW priorities through EWRG members' familiarity with their command's or organization's EW capabilities and requirements. The ultimate goal of the EWIIP is to improve the capability, capacity and readiness of Fleet EW.
The EWRG will identify EW capability gaps across doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) and provide readiness recommendations and mitigating actions in support of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process. These EW capability gaps and recommendations are then reviewed for their applicability to resolve operational Fleet EW requirements.
Currently there are four standing EWRGs:
# Doctrine & Tactics (D&T), which develops recommendations for changes to existing doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) and for new doctrine and TTP in response to emerging threats and technology.
# Training & Exercises (T&E), responsible for identifying unit and strike group Fleet Response Training Plan (FRTP) training and exercise readiness shortfalls and identifying solutions to existing and emerging training and exercise capability/capacity gaps.
# Equipment & Experimentation (E&E), tasked to review EW material capability, maintenance and facility gaps, and determine utility and maturity of emerging/enabling technologies in response to threat based assessments of emerging threat technology.
# Workforce Development (WD), responsible for identifying EW manning and leadership/education shortfalls and solutions to existing and emerging manning and leadership/education capability/capacity gaps.
ERGs meet during the Fall EWIIP Symposium, focusing on assessing the state of EW and spectrum capabilities and potential gaps in capabilities. This assessment provides the analytical rigor supporting follow-on DOTMLPF changes which address operational capability and capacity gaps in the EW IPCL.
See also
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Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...
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Directed-energy weapon
A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include w ...
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Improvised Explosive Device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...
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EA-6B Prowler
The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United ...
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EA-18G Growler
The Boeing EA-18G Growler is an American carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet. The EA-18G replaced the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers in service with the United States Navy. ...
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EP-3 Aries II
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AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite
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ELINT
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...
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Electronic Warfare Officer
In the U.S. Air Force, an electronic warfare officer (EWO) is a trained aerial navigator who has received training in enemy threat systems, electronic warfare principles and overcoming enemy air defense systems. These officers are specialists in ...
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Electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...
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Electromagnetic bomb
*Joint Electronic Warfare Center
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Office of Naval Research
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United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...
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COMSUBLANT
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United States Fleet Forces Command
The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Sta ...
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Battle of Latakia
The Battle of Latakia ( ar, معركة اللاذقية; he, קרב לטקיה) was a small but revolutionary naval action of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973 between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to se ...
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Battle of the Beams
The Battle of the Beams was a period early in the Second World War when bombers of the German Air Force (''Luftwaffe'') used a number of increasingly accurate systems of radio navigation for night bombing in the United Kingdom. British scientific ...
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Association of Old Crows
The Association of Old Crows is an international nonprofit professional organization specializing in electronic warfare, tactical information operations, and associated disciplines headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
Its mission is to "advoca ...
References
External links
InfoDomain Magazine, Summer 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleet Electronic Warfare Center (Fewc)
Cyberwarfare
Electronic warfare units and formations
Information operations units and formations
Military in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Net-centric
Military units and formations of the United States Navy