The 23d Electronic Warfare Squadron was activated in a ceremony April 18 and falls under the 350th Spectrum Warfare Group. Its predecessor, Detachment 1, which was deactivated, was created in 2023 to focus on reprogramming mission data files for command-and-control and combat rescue platforms.

The mission of the 23d will be to support mission data file reprogramming for command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C2ISR) platforms, combat rescue platforms and expendables for the combat Air Force, including the High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, according to an Air Force release.

Mission data files are the on-board data systems of an aircraft compiling information from the surrounding environment. They’ve been described as “the brains of the airplane.”

The reactivated unit falls under the command of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing, which was created in 2021 to enable, equip and optimize the fielding of electromagnetic spectrum capabilities, specializing in the reprogramming of systems.

In the cat-and-mouse game of EW and electromagnetic spectrum operations — where adversaries seek to deny access to the spectrum for communications or navigation through jamming — agility and speed are paramount. Once a signal is detected, forces must work to reprogram systems to counter it, which during the Cold War, could take weeks to months as the signal had to be sent back to a lab, a fix devised, and then sent back to the field.

Modern forces are trying to use more digital means to reprogram systems in as near real-time as possible to stay ahead of threats.

“The 23d Electronic Warfare Squadron will be the shield that protects our forces, the sword that disrupts our enemies, and the eyes that provide critical intelligence in the electromagnetic spectrum,” Lt. Col. Luke Marron, commander of the squadron, said.

The unit provides operational, technical and maintenance support for electronic warfare systems. Airmen within the squadron maintain 24/7 contingency reprogramming capabilities, conduct exploitation testing of foreign threat systems, and support developmental and operational tests of new and modified EW systems, according to the release.

“The 23d Electronic Warfare Squadron reactivation allows us to more effectively and efficiently appropriate resources to our current C2ISR, rotary, and weapons portfolios while posturing for the future growth. As we look to invest and increase lethality across the Air Force and Department of Defense, this will ensure we’re postured to react to changes in the electromagnetic order of battle in the quickest manner possible,” Marron said in a statement to DefenseScoop.

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To do so, the air service is looking to adopt live, virtual and constructive training, which allows the military to be able to insert replicated and simulated capabilities in live training environments for a more realistic feel for warfighters.

Enhancing LVC has been a big push in the non-kinetic realm, especially electronic warfare, given the jamming signals require lengthy coordination with domestic agencies to prevent disruption to civilian services such as comminutions or even airplanes and the desire for adversaries not to collect on some of these advanced waveforms to develop countermeasures against them.

“In the live construct, I will tell you, it’s difficult. I mean, we have adversaries that are out there taking a look at us when we’re operating live. They want to collect on us so that they have their own databases to basically counter us when we actually get into a kinetic fight,” Col. Larry Fenner, commander of the 350^th Spectrum Warfare Wing, said at the Mitchell Institute Airpower Futures Forum on Wednesday.  

Created in 2021, the 350^th has three main areas of focus: rapid reprogramming; target and waveform development; and assessment of Air Force EW capabilities.

Adversaries such as Russia and China have keenly observed U.S. military bases and exercises to be able to collect certain signals. Russia has sought to monitor exercises in Europe while China has set up surveillance outposts as close to the U.S. mainland as Cuba, meant to hoover up valuable digital intelligence.

To shield from this, Fenner wants more augmented reality capabilities to train with.

“How do you train in the cockpit and provide that warfighter the training that they need? That’s going to be difficult because the more you build up your ranges, you can put overhead and things like that to collect on these particular ranges,” Fenner said. “For me and my team, we’re taking a look at augmented reality. How do I insert that particular combat scenario into that cockpit without leaking out what information I’m actually training against or I have the information radiating out of my aircraft so my adversary never can collect on it, but we get quality training for our warfighters to operate in that environment for the virtual construct, for the joint simulation environment?”

The newly established 950^th Spectrum Warfare Group, which officially stood up at the end of October and is focused on combat electronic warfare assessments, will be taking this challenge head-on.  

“We just set up the 950^th Spectrum Warfare Group and that is the group that is going to specifically get after our EW assessments, whether it’s in the live, the virtual or the modeling and sim constructs, that’s where we’re going to make an aggressive push to identify where those gaps and seams are, whether it’s in our training, whether it’s in our capabilities, whether it’s in our tactics, techniques and procedures, and highlight those so we can report those up to higher echelon,” Fenner said. “I have pushed for the 950^th Spectrum Warfare Group … to go take a look at the JSC and see where we can introduce better capabilities to get a better, I would say the truth data, on how well our systems are operating within that environment. Because if we’re not truly training like we fight because we’re not turning systems on, we’re not training against specific threats, then are we truly prepared for that pacing challenge threat.”

Fenner noted the Air Force is also looking at enhancing modeling and simulation capabilities to improve the fidelity of training.

“Gone are days where we take a system and we put a couple of testers on it and we introduce it one vs. one against a threat. That’s not how we’re going to fight and that is not the environment that that system is going to operate in and provide defensive capabilities or offensive capabilities for that warfighter,” he explained. “It has to be a many-on-many dynamic capability that has truthful red data from the intelligence community to make sure that that system is radiated and then true blue data in that system so that we’re not missing things because of classification levels and things like that. We have a true representation of what that system is going to do in that warfighting scenario and get the truth done.”

Industry is excited about the push to improve training, particularly with more modeling and simulation and LVC.

“Now we have the ability to go faster because we have the modeling and simulation capability to do it and we want to help with that. We also have the ability to do it at a lower cost because we can now run it through a lot more modeling and sim before we start going through live fly and live development,” Chris Moeller, head of Air and Space Force customer requirements at BAE Systems, said at the same event. “This is something that’s been missing for a very long time and has driven to higher costs and I would say, less trust by the warfighter in their electronic warfighting systems. EW is add-on in your tactics and techniques, to where you go ‘I’ll also run some EW, but I’m going to run my tactic based off ranges and the weapons I have because I don’t know if it’s actually going to be working.’ If we can build that trust in the virtual construct, in the virtual environment, then suddenly these systems become something that is not just an add-on, but is driving our tactics, techniques because our warfighters can rely on it.”

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Detachment 1, also known as Det 1, is part of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Group, and Lt. Col. Luke Marron has been tapped to command the new unit, according to an Aug. 28 Air Force release.

The wing, a first of its kind in the Air Force, was activated in 2021 to enable, equip and optimize the fielding of electromagnetic spectrum capabilities, specializing in the reprogramming of systems. The 350th Spectrum Warfare Group reprograms assets across the service, wing commander Col. Joshua Koslov said during an event in April.

“Over 70 platforms, 27 countries up to date. And just to put it in perspective for you, we do every single F-35, we reprogram every single F-35 in the world. Allies, friends, partners, et cetera,” he said at the time. “[W]e run from 5th gen, or new capability, all the way down to things that have been in the Air Force inventory for a long time.”

In the cat-and-mouse game of electronic warfare and electromagnetic spectrum operations — where adversaries seek to deny access to the spectrum for communications or navigation through jamming — agility and speed are paramount. Once a signal is detected, forces must work to reprogram systems to counter it, which during the Cold War, could take weeks to months as the signal had to be sent back to a lab, a fix devised, and then sent back to the field.

Modern forces are trying to use more digital means to reprogram systems in as near real-time as possible to stay ahead of threats.

Koslov has said the wing has three specific missions: rapid reprogramming, target and waveform development, and assessment of Air Force EW capabilities.

Mission data files are on-board data systems of an aircraft compiling information from the surrounding environment They’ve been described as “the brains of the airplane.”

The Air Fore said reprogramming mission data files provides airmen the most up-to-date data and allows them to sense, identify, locate and counter threats to ultimately increase survivability and lethality.   

According to the release, the activation of Detachment 1 realigned the missions of the 16^th Electronic Warfare Squadron — formerly solely focused on bomber mission data files — and the 36^th Electronic Warfare Squadron, which was previously solely focused on Air Combat Command’s fighter platform reprogramming squadron.

Det 1’s mission will be to enhance survivability in the electromagnetic spectrum supporting operational sustainment for mission specific software for jamming, detection and suppression systems, the Air Force said. It will also provide operational, technical and maintenance expertise of electronic warfare with 24-hour contingency reprograming and exploitations tests of foreign threat systems supporting developmental and operational tests of new and modified EW systems.

“The need for a new unit has always been apparent,” Col. Robert Cocke, 350th Spectrum Warfare Group commander, said in a statement. “We know the mission requirements are going to expand in the next couple of years and we are building an organization to enable us to receive that additional mission and execute it.”

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