Electronic Warfare From a Laptop

Raytheon’s Raven 

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You need more than good Wi-Fi for electronic warfare.

Effective EW – conflict in the electromagnetic spectrum – relies on a complicated mix of signals, data and critical decisions. Yet operators can find themselves in locations with fragmented connections, or in some cases, no connections at all. That can shut them off from the comms and data they need to make immediate, informed decisions, a bad situation made worse by the heavy investment the enemy may have made in their own EW technology. The U.S. Army recently enlisted Raytheon’s help in the European theater. The end result was Raven Claw, a mobile electronic warfare tool that helps operators control signals in the field even without a host server or reliable connection to external data.

“Raven Claw does more than just planning; it remotely controls EW systems,” said Travis Slocumb, vice president of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. “Now you can be off-network, operating on last-known data as well as real-time feeds for intelligent, actionable EW.”

Raven Claw was delivered for testing in just six months, an impressively rapid development cycle. It has been demonstrated to be fully mission-capable — military speak for able to do its job — in the European theater. Raytheon was able to fast-track development because of an ongoing investment in an experimental version of the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool, the U.S. Army’s program of record since 2014.

Built on the first two phases of EWPMT, Raven Claw gives operators improved planning and spectrum management. That gives EW officers freedom of action in the airwaves, even when they have a poor network connection.

Raven Claw operates from a ruggedized, military laptop and can be used with other Army systems and sensors. Operators can manipulate multiple sensors from its one common interface.

And for the future, Raven Claw has established a firm foundation for rapid innovation in this fast-breaking field, crucial to maintaining a competitive edge in EW.

“Staying ahead of the development curve was key to our success,” said Karen Steinfeld, director of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. “Our investment in an experimental version of EWPMT, coupled with a focus on building and testing with the U.S. Army operators, drove the rapid delivery of Raven Claw.”

Learn more about Raytheon’s electronic warfare solutions.