Electronic Warfare Camp

Maryke Lynn
Journalist Ad Astra magazine
Photos by Christo Crous

The “war games” commenced on 19 September 2005 and continued for two excruciating weeks, during which electronic warfare (EW) operators faced the elements and the penetrating high-pitched drone of thousands of cicadas with boldness. However, no amount of dust, wind or scorching sun could dissuade them from performing their duty on this venture at the Roodewal Bombing Range, which was strongly reminiscent of something out of the wild, wild West.

Numerous air campaigns since the 2nd World War have proven that EW is an essential aspect of modern warfare that no Air Force can neglect. Therefore the main purpose and aim of these exercises were force preparation of our aircrew and command and control ground forces in the very important art of Electronic Warfare.

The systems deployed throughout this undertaking included a Tactical Mobile Radar (TMR), an Automated System for the Capturing and Analysis of Radar Information (ASCARI), the manual annexure (MANEX) from which debriefings took place, the SA-8, Flapwheel, ZSU 23/4, Cactus AU and FU, an Open Loop Tracker and a Mobile Communication Unit (MCU).

A typical day consisted of several air defence scenario simulations, and started with an essential high-level target reconnaissance sortie by a Cheetah C for accurate mission planning of attacks on the different weapon and radar systems. The actual strikes took place a few hours later and started with a 2-Ship Impala or Cheetah advance. The first priority of such a strike is to take out the Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) sites, after which the command post can be disenabled.

On the ground the Tactical Mobile Radar, used for the provision of an accurate air picture, “paints” the aircraft from about 40 miles out and acts as an early warning system that gives controllers the direction, airspeed and number of aircraft in formation. A controller inside ASCARI would subsequently warn the different weapon systems about the incoming bogeys and imminent attack. Weapon systems like the SA-8 SAM then go into a search mode in order to detect the target, get a lock-on and launch a missile.

Pilots avoid detection for as long as possible by flying nap-of-the-earth or by making use of stand-off radar jamming, effectively “clouding” the radar scopes, ostensibly rendering their presence a myth. As soon as the aircraft detects weapon systems on the ground, it is able to identify what mode they are in. A shrill audio tone, together with a flashing light inside the cockpit, warns the pilot as soon as lock-on occurs or a SAM is fired. The pilot is then expected to make use of electronic countermeasures such as self-protection jamming and chaff dispensing, evasive manoeuvres and making use of his/her flying skills and tactics to ultimately outwit the ground-system operators. The well known saying, “chaff is king”, demonstrated it’s truth when it once again lent a helping hand in getting pilots out of tight spots when missiles had their unrelenting eyes on them.

All information captured by the weapon systems during these mock strikes is sent to ASCARI by means of optic fibres. There it is recorded by the EW evaluators of air crew and ground forces for later analysis and debriefing of pilots and EW operators with regard to their performance during the attacks. The pilots, on the other hand, had to play back their Heads-Up-Display (HUD) camera to claim a kill. Debriefing was made possible by means of video conference technology, which connected the EW command post at Roodewal with the different bases from which the pilots operated.

Various squadrons and units were involved in this complex deployment, including the Air Force Mobile Deployment Wing (TMR and MCU), the EW Centre (Evaluation and Foreign Weapon Systems), 2 Sqn (Cheetah C/D), 35 Sqn (C47-TP), 17 Sqn (Oryx Radar Jammer), and 85 CFS (Impala MK I/II), who all contributed to making a success of this operation.

This camp also ushered in a new era in which women will actively participate in EW operations. Capt Catherine Labuschagne and her husband, Maj Jaco Labuschagne, wing-by-wing proved their mettle in their Impalas with numerous victorious missions.

“Our aircrew, our aircraft, our future”, is the proud motto and driving force behind these very skilled Electronic Warfare operators, and in future they will continue to play an extremely important role in the defence of South African airspace!