August 13, 2019
Convergence of Cyberspace Operations and Electronic Warfare
Over the past two decades, cyberspace operations have
become an important element in military operations.
Electronic warfare (EW) has been a component of military
operations since the advent of the radio at the beginning of
the 20
th
century. These two types of operations are
becoming somewhat analogous as technical capabilities
converge, yet historical divides between EW and cyber
operations remain in Department of Defense (DOD)
organization and doctrine.
Both cyberspace operations and EW are efforts to dominate
aspects of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) that
transmit packets of information. As such, EW and
cyberspace operations have traditionally been used as part
of a broader information operations (IO) campaign, and
previously existed in joint doctrine as two of the five pillars
of IO (along with psychological operations, military
deception, and operations security). These capabilities are
increasingly being used in support of operations in the
information environment (IE)—the aggregate of social,
cultural, cognitive, technical and physical attributes that
ultimately affect action. Current and evolving DOD
doctrine refers to EMS operations and cyberspace
operations as separate but related to operations in the IE.
Cyberspace Operations (CO)
Cyberspace operations are defined by DOD as the military,
intelligence, and ordinary business operations of the DOD
in and through cyberspace. Military cyberspace operations
use cyberspace capabilities to create effects that support
missions in both physical domains and cyberspace.
DOD categorizes cyberspace operations as follows:
Offensive cyberspace operations, intended to project
power by the application of force in and through
cyberspace. These operations are authorized like
operations in the physical domains.
Defensive cyberspace operations, intended to defend
DOD or other friendly cyberspace. Defense operations
are both active and passive conducted inside and outside
of DOD information networks (DODIN).
DODIN operations, to design, build, configure, secure,
operate, maintain, and sustain DOD communications
systems and networks across the entire DODIN.
Electronic Warfare (EW)
Since the introduction of two-way radios, militaries have
become highly dependent on the EMS. This reliance has
expanded over the past century to include nearly every
weapon system. Applications include
radio frequencies to communicate with friendly forces;
microwaves for tactical data-links, radars, and satellite
communications;
infrared for intelligence and to target enemies; and
lasers to communicate, transmit data, and potentially
destroy a target.
Modern militaries rely on communications equipment that
uses broad portions of EMS to conduct military operations.
This allows forces to talk, transmit data, provide navigation
and timing information, and to command and control forces
all over the world. They also rely on the EMS to determine
where adversaries are and what they are doing, where
friendly forces are, and what effects weapons achieve.
Because of this dependency, modern militaries attempt to
dominate EMS through electronic warfare.
From the perspective of military operations, there are three
broad divisions of electronic warfare:
Electronic protection involves actions to protect access
to EMS for friendly military assets.
Electronic attack uses electromagnetic energy to
degrade or deny an enemy’s use of EMS.
EW support identifies and catalogues emissions of
friendly or enemy forces either to protect U.S. forces or
develop a plan to deny an enemy’s access to EMS.
These subsets of EW often mutually support each other in
operations. For example, radar jamming (electronic attack)
can serve a protection function for friendly forces to
penetrate defended airspace; it can also prevent an
adversary from having a complete operating picture. EW
may attack and defend the EMS using cyber capabilities,
while cyber operations may target parts of the EMS that are
vulnerable to EW.
Differences and Overlap
Part of the convergence involves not just similarities in
technical capabilities, but also cyberspace operations being
used to provide EW effects, and vice versa. Cyberspace
operations attempt to deny an adversary access to their
computer networks using software and computer codes. EW
affects communications between networks using radio
jamming or other spectrum controls, while cyber operations
use computer code to provide a range of effects from
disruptive (e.g., denial of service attacks) to destructive
(e.g., physically damaging computer components and
platforms).
The most recognizable convergence of electronic warfare
and cyberspace operations is when forces transmit
computer code to inject it into an adversary’s network. In
these types of operations, radios can transmit data packets
