Pretoria. At AOC Europe, the international electronic warfare exhibition in Liverpool, UK, HENSOLDT South Africa is introducing its new-generation communications electronic attack systems for countering threat signals, the GEW® GRJ8500 for V/U/SHF jamming and the GEW® GRJ6000 for HF jamming.
On the modern electronic battlefield, the ability to effectively disrupt and deny enemy communications in the operational theatre gives tactical superiority to own forces. However, conventional communications jamming techniques have been found lacking against the advanced networked communications and low probability-of-intercept (POI) technologies utilised by enemy forces today.
“Introduced to reliably counter the new and emerging signals that have reshaped the electronic battlefield, HENSOLDT’s new GEW® GRJ8500 and GEW® GRJ6000 systems feature the most advanced signal attack methods on the market”, says Hennie Venter, Chief Executive of HENSOLDT South Africa’s GEW Business Unit. Multiple transmitter bands, adaptive waveform algorithms, fast scanning and advanced jamming modes reliably counter even the most elusive target signals.
The GRJ Advantage
The GEW® GRJ-range of electronic attack (EA) and surveillance systems control the adversary’s ability to communicate and use the electromagnetic spectrum – either by disrupting it, or manipulating it. Application-specific power amplifiers and antennas make the GRJ systems effective and versatile jamming solutions for ground-mobile, tactical, or fixed applications. The systems provide fast spectrum surveillance, ultra-low reaction latency, advanced exciter algorithms and multi-waveform counter-measures against the latest-generation signals. Featuring advanced architecture, the systems simultaneously target point-to-point radio links and new-generation multi-standard networks seamlessly.
With high-performance wideband receivers and digital demodulation functionality, the systems offer excellent spectrum surveillance and signal monitoring performance, which is vital for conducting effective jamming missions.
New-generation technology for countering new threats
Adaptive waveform technology is used to constantly optimise the system response to an ever-changing spectral environment. This smart technology enables the GRJs to autonomously respond to various signal scenarios in the most effective way.
Sophisticated hopper-follower algorithms track and jam individual hops of modern fast-hopping radios. With predictive algorithms and fast look-through capabilities, the systems lock onto hopping radios after detecting the first few hops transmitted, ensuring that communications are never established between the target operators. “Frequency hopping or spread-spectrum signals are characterised to define smart jamming waveforms matching the target signals, which is much more efficient than traditional barrage attack methods”, says Christo Fouché, Chief Executive of Sales and Marketing of HENSOLDT South Africa’s GEW Business Unit.
Operational benefits
Designed for modern operational needs, the system offers high-speed processing with ultra-high response-times against frequency-agile signals, which allows for extremely fast countermeasures using advanced algorithms and tracking methods. “With significantly increased instantaneous bandwidth, it is now possible to detect and jam frequency-agile threats across much wider bandwidths than previous-generation EA systems.” says Fouché.
The GRJ systems are fully software-defined, allowing new jammer waveforms to be added quickly and easily. This offers future expandability and waveform upgrades, ensuring effective long-term use of the equipment.
The GEW® COMJAM software suite unlocks the full potential of the GRJ range of EA systems in any signal-jamming scenario. The feature-rich graphical user interface harnesses the operational advantage of the hardware to bring the battlefield to the operator’s fingertips. With emphasis on optimised and simultaneous jamming of different signal types, the user interface offers controls and integrated workflows that allow precise jamming power and direction, visualised RF-propagation calculation and jamming-efficiency prediction.
Target market
The GRJ family of EA systems is aimed at the global land electronic warfare (EW) market for tactical and strategic communications jamming applications. With its compact size and common interface to hardware components, the systems can be configured to meet even the most demanding platform or installation requirements.
