Signals of Change: The Future of Electronic Warfare (Podcast)

How are geopolitical developments and emerging technologies shaping the future of defence? In this podcast, Keijo Mattila, Senior Product Manager, SIGINT & Electronic Warfare at Patria, explores the key trends influencing defence offering development and explains how critical technologies can support defence forces in a rapidly changing operating environment.Listen for expert insights into the most important technology areas in electronic warfare, together with an overview of advanced signal intelligence and passive surveillance solutions.Biography:Keijo Mattila, Senior Product Manager, SIGINT & Electronic Warfare, PatriaKeijo Mattila has extensive experience in defence technology, product development, software engineering, and academic research. At Patria, Mattila serves as Technical Lead in the AI-WASP European Defence Fund programme. Previously, he managed passive ELINT and ESM sensor systems, leading product roadmaps, facilitating R&D and supporting sales. Earlier in his career at Patria, he led software development for ELINT sensor server solutions. His achievements include successful product launches and live demonstrations, and several research articles.

Armada explored the SMART Kill, or Spectrum Measures Against Radio Frequency Threats, concept back in November 2024. How has the concept developed during the intervening years?Alasdair ‘Gilly’ Gilchrist, a former Royal Navy Electronic Warfare (EW) practitioner and an EW subject matter expert, has been developing his SMART Kill concept for several years. He was previously a guest on the Radioflash! podcast to discuss this subject in late 2024.The global security picture, notably the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the recent conflict involving Israel and the United States, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, underscore SMART Kill’s necessity and relevance. In Armada’s latest Radioflash! episode we catch up with Mr. Gilchrist. We explore how SMART Kill has developed and his plans to continue SMART Kill’s evolution. A link to Mr. Gilchrist’s recent article on SMART Kill in the Journal of Electromagnetic Dominance can be found here. He can also be reached via his LinkedIn profile.

A new book provides a valuable, and much-needed, introduction to the fundamental principles of communications intelligence. For some in the electronic warfare community, Communications Intelligence (COMINT) is the poor relation of its electronic intelligence counterpart. Nonetheless, COMINT has never been in more demand: The global growth of electronic communications, on and off the battlefield, make it a vital provider of intelligence to governments and militaries alike. Much of the COMINT world is shrouded in secrecy, the preserve of government spooks and their listening stations. Therefore, the work of the COMINT operative can be mysterious. Nonetheless, a new book entitled COMINT: All You Need to Know from electronic warfare expert Vito Pesare demystifies this fascinating discipline. It follows on from his work Electromagnetic Warfare: All You Need to Know, cowritten with Dr. Richard Rudd-Orthner that was published in 2024. In our latest Radioflash! podcast Mr. Pesare shares his motivations for writing this new work, the challenging aspects the book’s research and his thoughts on how the COMINT domain will evolve in the coming years. Copies of Mr. Pesare’s book can be ordered here.

Following a recent US federal shutdown, America’s government is reopening for business. What does this mean for electronic warfare provision in the country’s forthcoming defence budget? The US government shutdown on 1st October after Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year. As a result, over 900,000 government employees went on unpaid leave and a further two million worked without pay.By 12th November, the Congressional standoff between Republicans and Democrats was coming to an end. The Senate passed a new funding bill which was signed into law by President Donald Trump. The end of the shutdown means the 2026 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) can be passed into law. The NDAA covers defence spending for the 2026 fiscal yearWhat provisions the 2026 NDAA contain regarding US Electronic Warfare (EW) policy priorities? In our latest episode of Radioflash! we chat to Ken Miller, director of advocacy and outreach for the Association of Old Crows international electronic warfare organisation. Moreover, he is the host of the From the Crow’s Nest podcast which also examines electronic warfare and electromagnetic spectrum operations. Mr. Miller has previously been a Radioflash! guest having appeared on episode 17.

David Robbins, Business Development Director for Data Links at SPX Communication Technologies, joins Thomas Withington to explore one of the biggest challenges facing modern defence and security teams: how to ensure reliable, secure communications across airborne platforms in contested environments. David introduces ECS Connect, a new capability that aggregates satellite, cellular, mesh, and traditional data links into a single, secure solution, reducing pilot workload and delivering near-100% reliability.Robust connectivity is crucial for safeguarding borders and enabling data-driven intelligence, particularly as threats escalate across regions such as Eastern Europe and the South China Sea.Yet no single technology, whether cellular, SATCOM, or mesh, meets every mission’s need.Defence and security teams face the growing challenge of ensuring reliable airborne communications in contested environments.

A new film documentary is in development that reveals the fascinating history of tactical datalinks and the impact they have had on military operations around the world. Tactical Datalinks (TDLs) help reduce the Clausewitzian ‘fog of war’ by improving situational awareness. TDLs have been around in some shape or form since the Second World War. It was during that conflict that the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) pioneered the technology via its Bernhard/Bernhardine system. This early TDL let fighter crews receive basic written data on the location of their targets. Information was sent in written form across a surface-to-air radio link and printed on paper tape in the fighter cockpit. Following that conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) spearheaded further TDL development. This effort resulted in Link-11/22 and Link-16. The latter primarily supports air operations by sharing track and tactical information while Link-11/22 does much the same for the maritime domain. Today, scores of TDLs are in service around the world. A new film documentary called Timber Sweet is in the offing which tells the fascinating story of the tactical datalink’s development, and the impact TDLs have had on warfare. The initiative is the brainchild of TDL expert and filmmaker Sean Bergesen. Mr. Bergesen is the guest on Episode 21 of Radioflash! More information about the film can be found here.

On 15th August, the second edition of Cognitive Warfare: An Artificial Intelligence Approach, the seminal work on this subject, will be published.The first edition of Dr. Karen Haigh and Dr. Julia Andrusenko’s book was published in 2021. Armada gratefully received a copy which we reviewed. Just four years later, the second edition has hit the shelves. That a new version has appeared so rapidly should be no surprise. The world of cognitive Electronic Warfare (EW) is moving apace, thanks to advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).The original edition was a clear yet comprehensive discussion of the fundamentals of cognitive EW. The new version continues to be easily readable and is just as, if not more, informative than the first. Drs. Haigh and Andrusenko neatly summarise recent advances in the subject. They also clarify or add further discussion to points raised in the original work. Much has happened since publication of the first edition: Russia commenced her second invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Iran and Israel have fought a recent short war and the People’s Republic of China continues to emerge as a strategic rival to the United States and her allies.As both authors note, the net effect of these global shocks is exacerbated by the dizzying speed at which AI and ML are moving. A useful addition to the latest book is a section with practical exercises one can undertake to start to get a feel for cognitive EW architectures. As with the first edition, the new work is comprehensively referenced. This exhaustive approach is particularly welcome in helping the reader discover new avenues of scholarship and analysis which will prove useful as the discipline develops.Drs. Haigh and Andrusenko’s new work is very much the right book at the right moment and will become the standard text for this fascinating discipline. Its concise yet thorough style will appeal to both the specialist and general reader alike. Cognitive Warfare: An Artificial Intelligence Approach should be required reading from the foxhole to the boardroom and ministerial office. To learn more about the book, and Dr. Haigh’s insights on cognitive EW, enjoy this latest episode of Armada’s Radioflash! podcast. To order a copy please visit the website of its publisher Artech House.

Kyiv faces the prospect that the United States may end her military support for Ukraine following a suspension in March. How could the international community fill any gaps left by Uncle Sam?On 4th March the administration of US President Donald Trump announced an abrupt suspension of all military aid to Ukraine. A few days earlier on 28th February, the world witnessed an unbelievable spectacle in the Oval Office. Ukraine’s President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy was on the receiving end of a bizarre temper tantrum from Mr. Trump and his vice president JD Vance. Fortunately, the suspension was soon lifted, but Mr. Trump’s actions provoked some serious questions.Ukraine has benefitted from supplies of US Electronic Warfare (EW) kit and expertise. Ukraine’s allies must be able to step up to quickly fill any void, in terms of EW assistance, left by Uncle Sam’s isolationism. At the same time, European allies must continue enhancing their defences against Mr. Putin’s regime. How can US EW capabilities be substituted for Ukraine? What are Ukraine’s electromagnetic needs as the war continues? These questions, and more, are the focus of this episode of Armada’s Radioflash! podcast with Oleksandr ‘Sashko’ Matviienko, a defence journalist and analyst from the publication CounteroffensivePro.

China’s advancement in sensing technology is moving at pace. A new report examines in detail where the country might be catching up with the United States.On 20th January, the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) DeepSeek artificial intelligence chatbot was released, based on the DeepSeek-R1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) model. The Hangzhou DeepSeek AI company, which developed the model, has claimed its chatbot outperforms US rivals like OpenAI. It also claimed that DeepSeek’s large language model cost $5.6 million to train. This is notably less than that spent on comparable US offerings.Whatever the long-term effect of DeepSeek, the news thrust Chinese technological innovation into sharp relief. Advances such as these could have major strategic ramifications for accepted US technological pre-eminence. Not least of which in the sensing domain, which a report entitled China’s Remote Sensing, published in December 2024 by OTH Intelligence, discusses in detail.In this Radioflash! episode we talk to one of the report’s authors Tate Nurkin, a previous Radioflash! guest, about Chinese advances in sensing technologies across the board: How will the Chinese government and armed forces collect, process, store and use all this sensor data? What will be the impact of the dual use sensing technology being developed by the PRC? What effect is corruption having on China’s ability to secure the sensing capabilities the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) needs? Likewise, what impact will the PLA’s recent reorganisation of the Strategic Support Force into the Information Support Force have on PLA sensing capabilities writ large? All these topics, and more, come under discussion in this latest episode.

The defence and security electromagnetic agenda for the new US Congress and Executive is considerable, but what are the priorities? The new US Congress, and the administration of President Donald Trump, will have a heavy workload regarding the importance of the electromagnetic spectrum to America’s strength, security and prosperity. EW spending priorities will need be balanced with other defence and security needs. No matter how big any budgetary increases may be, economies must be made. There simply will not be enough available cash to fund every requirement. Meanwhile, the need to educate lawmakers on EW’s strengths and limitations will continue. Furthermore, the US Department of Defence bureaucracy must evolve to accommodate the need to innovate and deploy EW capabilities at pace. As our Radioflash! guest Ken Miller, director of advocacy and outreach for the Association of Old Crows’ international EW organisation explains, the next five years look busy.