UK AOC Newsletter - October 2007 |
VISIT TO THALES 26 JUNE 2007THALES kindly hosted a visit by the UK Chapter to their Electronic Combat Systems business unit in Leicester on Tuesday 26 June 2007. THALES made Integrated Passive Land Systems the focus for the visit with several fascinating and absorbing presentations, together with an opportunity to view a live system outside. We are very grateful to Andy Gray and his colleagues for their hospitality and a most enjoyable day. VISIT TO 100 GROUP MUSEUM 18 JULY 2007A few stalwarts, including some welcome new faces, made the journey to Norwich and the City of Norwich Aviation Museum on 18 July to view the 100 Group Museum and other exhibits. Listen to half a dozen Old Crows gossiping as they sup coffee in the sun outside an EW museum and you will soon gain a reasonable understanding of what ‘network centric’ means. The opportunity was also taken to deposit yet another AOC UK Chapter award with our collection of trophies resident in the museum. FLEET EW EFFECTIVENESS TROPHY 2007Congratulations to HMS CORNWALL's EW team who have demonstrated once again they are Top Dog in the surface fleet, having won the Fleet EW Effectiveness Trophy for a third time in the ship’s busy career. CPO "Ginge" Hudspeth and his team are to be congratulated for displaying exceptional professionalism in providing a superb EW service to their command and in meeting Fleet requirements. The Fleet EW Effectiveness Trophy and an AOC UK Chapter Commendation were presented to CORNWALL’s EW team by Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks and David Kitching during a ceremony on CORNWALL at Plymouth on 1 October 2007. HMS CORNWALL's Electronic Warfare Sub Department has consistently delivered a first class performance over the last year and, since deploying to the Gulf as part of Operation TELIC, contributed very significantly to the understanding of Northern Arabian Gulf operations, both militarily and commercially. This was achieved through a motivated and dedicated EW team who take great pride in their contribution to the overall military campaign. Completing the latest version of Basic Operational Sea Training towards the end of Spring 2006, the sub-department achieved a very strong performance. This success was built upon during Exercise Neptune Warrior 06-2 while operating under the direction of two Leading Hands in the absence of the CPO(EW) and a short deployment to the Baltic that included the large NATO Exercise DANEX 06. The exercise provided an excellent opportunity to work with other NATO teams and improve professional understanding and co-operation within the EW community.
Incorporating the recommendations of the Maritime Security Operations (MSO) Green Paper during Gulf pre-deployment training in November 2006, the team identified the need for an additional Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver within the Operations Room. The requirement was quickly defined and the case, written by the onboard team, was justified and the second receiver was fitted prior to CORNWALL's Gulf deployment in January 2007. This additional asset proved invaluable even before arrival into the Gulf, with two Contacts of Interest being released to the Recognised Maritime Picture within minutes of identification during the Mediterranean transit. Most favourable comments were received from both Fleet and Maritime Component Commander Naples Staff for the quality of the reports, particularly as full photographic imagery accompanied the submissions. With the commencement of OP TELIC duties and the embarkation of the CTF 158 1* Battlestaff, the EW team was heavily involved in providing detailed intelligence support and daily briefings that required significant research. This high level and extensive workload occupied the senior members of the team, leaving the more junior members to manage the core EW, Anti-Ship Missile Defence (AMSD), and MSO aspects, a challenge they rose to with gusto. Of particular note, it rapidly became apparent that the processing of the White Shipping Picture was at a very low standard. Within a week, under the direction of a suitably empowered OM(EW), the production was reinvigorated and a totally new process derived and implemented which fused data from open source (eg Lloyds database), the Coalition Intelligence Fusion Cell at Bahrain, Fleet N2 and other onboard sensors. Utilising the best RN MSO practices, this enabled rapid identification of suspicious vessels to cue the "Query and Boarding" process; this proved to be extremely effective during live operations. Alongside this broader tasking, the tense nature of the Gulf environment demanded sharp core EW skills. Whether providing a High Interest Targets Broadcast for other units, ASMD for the ever-present threat, or building the busy Recognised Maritime Picture by integrating a combination of organic and off-board sensors, the EW team was stretched but continued to deliver in a busy, highly operational environment. This was epitomised with the consistency of EW returns from the ship to the Defence EW Centre at Waddington at a rate of over one hundred per month. Many of these were new or unusual sensors for which CORNWALL received positive feedback and several of the team were commended for intercepts and analyst awareness.
Throughout the last year, CORNWALL's EW team was heavily engaged in the collection and delivery of high quality data, production of 1* briefings and development of the wider MSO picture. The team was challenged throughout, with the youngest and most inexperienced member of the team being given significant responsibility at a very early stage. They all rose to the challenges presented and continued to deliver a vast array of products to assist the wider understanding of Gulf operations, while liaising and developing new practices and procedures that will stand the test of time. Highly motivated with extreme pride in their work, CORNWALL's EW team reached well beyond the normal boundaries of the sub-department. Yet despite these additional challenges, the team managed to maintain core skills at the highest level while developing the professional ability of the team and enhancing the reputation of the Royal Navy as a provider of accurate EW information. AOC OUTSTANDING NATO UNIT AWARD 2007Many congratulations to the Light Electronic Warfare Teams (LEWT) of 14 Signals Regiment for being nominated by the NATO EW Advisory Committee (NEWAC) and recognised by the AOC as the outstanding NATO EW unit for 2007. The award will be presented at the AOC international symposium and convention in Orlando, Florida, at the end of the month. The Light Electronic Warfare Teams (LEWT) of the UK 14 Signals Regiment and the Danish EW Company from Danish Division formed up as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under the United Kingdom Task Force in HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, for around 6 months in mid-2006 in support of ISAF Stage 3 implementation. The combined teams achieved truly outstanding cooperation with exemplary operational success in support of ISAF from April to September 2006. The LEWT Troop and the Danish EW Troop met for the first time in theatre but quickly formed strong interoperable capabilities (under the banner of 226 Signal Squadron Group) thanks to a common NATO approach and doctrine. Their capabilities instantly proved to be battle-winners. Through electronic warfare they provided real-time force protection and situational awareness with effective intelligence and indicators and warnings. They are credited with saving numerous lives. The support they
provided has led to a paradigm shift among senior army commanders who
experienced the battle winning potential of EW operations, many for the
first time. They were also acknowledged for being the most productive EW
contributors to the SIGINT/EW Operations Centre throughout Regional
Command (South). AOC UK CHAPTER CHRISTMAS DINNERThe annual UK Chapter Christmas Dinner will be held in The Royal Air Force Club, London, on Friday 14 December 2007. All AOC members, their partners and their guests will be most welcome at this most enjoyable annual event, a bargain at only £35 per head including wines. Please complete the proforma and return it to David Kitching no later than 7 December. BOOK REVIEWBLETCHLEY PARK AIR SECTION support to RAF BOMBER COMMAND: Since the late 1970s many books and reports have been published that collectively present very detailed information about the Enigma story during WW2 but curiously much less about the operational use that information served. For example, what was the connection between Bletchley Park and the Combined Bombing Offensive? These two major subjects both had a significant impact on the conduct and progression of WW2 from 1943 onwards and it will be shown that there are two other subjects that had great aggregate importance to both of them: the Y-Service and Radio Countermeasures. The combination of these four subjects in an operational context presents a fascinating story that has had little cohesive visibility. The operational connection between them has remained obscure. On the way to describing that operational connection and the benefits thereby provided to the planning and conduct of bombing operations, a number of other organisations become involved in various ways, eg the Air Ministry Intelligence department, the Combined Strategic Targets Committee, the German Air Defence system and No 100 Group within RAF Bomber Command that provided the bomber support Radio Countermeasures (RCM) from late 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. The Foreword to the book has been written by Sir Arthur Bonsall, KCMG, a founder member of the Air Section at Bletchley and subsequently Director at GCHQ (1973/78) who writes: “I welcome this report as the first thorough account of an aspect of SIGINT history that has so far received little attention. Aileen Clayton’s book, “The Enemy is Listening” is an excellent account of a branch of the RAF Y-Service, but Wing Commander Stubbington is, as far as I know, the first writer to understand and describe the role of the Air Section at Bletchley Park. "It is gratifying for me that what I recall from my experience in the German Air Section from 1940 to 1945 is broadly confirmed by his research into the records. The original material (messages in Enigma, lower grade codes and radio telephony) intercepted by the Y-Service radio operators has been destroyed. Fortunately, a quantity of the Air Section’s output based on this material has survived. These are reports in the BMP series, including those incorporating relevant Ultra material. "Wing Commander Stubbington has brought these reports to light and
has investigated what use was made of them in the 1943-45 Combined
Offensive by RAF Bomber Command and the US Army Air Forces. He shows
that Bletchley Park and the Y-Service gave a great deal of support to
these operations. His description of the nature of that support in both
strategic and tactical contexts provides a fascinating insight into the
relationship of special intelligence and radio countermeasures. Regarded
nowadays as an essential prerequisite for military operations, they were
then at the leading edge of operational technologies.” AOC UK WEB SITE: www.ukaoc.orgPlease remember to press the refresh button on each page to get any updates to the site……and please keep the Membership Secretary up to date with any change to your e-mail address. |
