The nature of warfare is changing. Threats are evolving rapidly and increasing in numbers, and today’s warfighters require a mix of capabilities to engage them. When it comes to well-protected, high-value targets, only the most exquisite systems are up to the task. For everything else, lower cost and less advanced systems can accomplish the mission and contribute to affordable mass.
A growing number of small, cost-efficient systems will be needed to deliver electromagnetic effects that significantly impact the battlespace, providing critical situational awareness, self-protection, guidance, and attack capabilities for small platforms like precision munitions and drones. These electronic warfare (EW) systems must be highly effective, power efficient, affordable, and produceable at scale.
BAE Systems is at the forefront of small form factor (SFF) EW design and manufacturing and is working today to address the evolving needs of tomorrow’s warfighters.
Scaling Production
Manufacturing capacity is critically important to the future of national security. Experts predict a conflict with a peer adversary could necessitate engaging up to 100,000 targets. Addressing mass production challenges now will yield significant results in future conflicts. Production must scale to build stockpiles and ensure rapid replenishment should the need arise.
However, complex production lines – like those that produce small EW systems – cannot simply be turned on. Industry must innovate, expand production capacity, and develop skilled workforces ahead of the demand. This includes adopting modular systems and sharing manufacturing lines and testing infrastructure with proven systems.
Changing Acquisition Paradigm
Government customers are embracing new acquisition strategies that emphasize collaboration, digital engineering, open technology, and scalability. The focus is on producibility, upgradeability, cost, and rapid volume production. They seek systems that repurpose common hardware and software building blocks for affordable munitions that can be produced at scale. BAE Systems is helping customers meet this growing need.
Common Building Blocks
BAE Systems’ SFF mission electronics already deliver advanced EW capabilities across a range of platforms – from exquisite strike systems to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and mass munitions. The company continues to invest in SFF design and manufacturing, building modular systems that share hardware, software, and production lines with other platforms.
BAE Systems is focused on using a common bill of materials and industry standards to accelerate production. The company’s modular hardware enables custom solutions with a range of capabilities and price points for customers’ specific requests. It’s converged radio frequency (RF) packages can support simultaneous laser and infrared capabilities for a variety of missions. The packages are designed for rapid prototyping and high-volume production, and they work with the company’s state-of-the-art software-defined radios and unique software applications.
Open Systems
BAE Systems’ approach to small EW systems is about delivering products at scale. The company is embracing Modular Open System Architecture (MOSA), which simplifies hardware integration and upgrades. The open systems design accelerates the delivery of capabilities to warfighters and enables faster adaptation to evolving threats.
The company’s EW software is compatible with Big Iron (a defense open systems standard for electronic warfare), Weapon Open System Architecture (WOSA), and Open Mission Systems (OMS) compliant hardware. These standards support high-volume production, rapid technology updates, and faster fielding of new capabilities.
The company’s strategy also aligns with the U.S. Air Force Armament Directorate’s Modular M-Series acquisition paradigm, which prioritizes affordability, adaptability, and scalability
A Culture of Readiness
BAE Systems builds on proven EW hardware, software-defined radios, digital engineering, modular design, open standards, and scalable manufacturing to deliver adaptable, mission-ready solutions for an evolving threat environment.
The company is committed to supporting warfighter readiness by focusing on innovation and delivering products at scale to meet the demand signals of future conflicts.
