Tactical EMCON Risks – Spectrum Dominance & the INDIAN Army Field Manual Operations

Tactical EMCON Risk Group

The following are six FM 3-0 identified risks grouped together around the idea of Tactical EMCON. These are specifically important for individual radio operators who must communicate under the threat of enemy EW/SIGINT systems.

Minimizing length and frequency of radio transmissions.

The longer you’re broadcasting the more likely your transmission will be detected. On training exercises, RFeye Nodes and Site Software can be deployed so soldiers can capture transmission length/frequency, even on frequency hopping and burst signals. This data can be reviewed post-exercise for rapid debrief and lesson learning. To go deeper into friendly signal characteristics, the new SenS Remote or SenS Portable, our 100MHz I/Q capture solutions, can record for hours, covering an entire exercise. It enables you to see exactly what a tactical field radio looks like to an enemy SIGINT operator.

Using lowest effective power settings.

Are your soldiers always setting their radios to full power? Doing this means that a signal could travel easily into an enemy’s SIGINT coverage. Using Site’s RF propagation tools, operators will see how far their signals will travel and how easily receivers, like RFeye Nodes, could pick them up. Therefore, instructors can use IIO Technologies RF Propagation tools at schoolhouses and early in the training cycle to highlight the benefits of lower power settings.

Example of modelling a 700MHz tactical radio within RFeye Site Software. The RFeye Node (in RED) is placed on an alpine mountain peak simulating an enemy SIGINT Station. Left image shows where the Node would observe Tactical Radio with a 3-meter-high antenna at 20 dBm. Center image shows modelling if the radio increased power to 60 dBm and transmitting antenna raised to 10 meters high. The yellow area indicates good detection and a high likelihood the radio will be seen on a spectrum display; green is poor detection and blue is very poor. We also have the elevation overlay image as a reference (right image)

Establishing and enforcing the primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency (PACE) communication plan.

When primary communications become unavailable, you’ll need a backup, which is exactly why PACE plans are cental to operating in contested environments. Tactical Communicators can import their “PACE” plan (and the greater Joint Restricted Frequency List, JRFL) into RFeye Site using markers and then set customs masks to trigger and alert on incorrect communications. Instructors can then observe proper switching between PACE channels when jamming occurs.

Using brevity codes, pro-word execution matrices, and communications windows.

Brevity codes and procedure (pro) words are designed to make voice communications clear, concise, and unambiguous. This in turn keeps transmission times short. To monitor correct usage, Instructors could sit over a radio and listen to each communication (very manpower intrusive), or they can set RFeye Site to record each unencrypted conversation across a range of narrowband frequencies. This automation enables instructors to listen later to saved files to see if proper brevity codes/pro-words are used, freeing them up to conduct other training tasks. Time-stamped captures also allow for communication windows to be verified.

Using proper encryption and equipment configuration.

IIO Technologies works with a number of third-party decoding software to ensure proper encryption of land/professional mobile radios (TETRA, DMR, P25) and other encrypted communications. If the encryption is wrong, it could be noticed. Again, the ability to create a “blue force signal library” can ensure proper equipment configuration is tested in garrison before going “outside the wire.”

Recognizing and reporting jamming of Global Positioning System, radar, and satellite communications.

There are several types of jamming, but commonly a jammer will operate at a higher power level than the targeted transmitter. Within RFeye Site, this makes detecting, geolocating, and reporting jamming simple by using the inherent mask, trigger, and alarming functions. In addition, the GNSS feed from each RFeye receiver can be automatically monitored, and an alert raised when there is GPS interference.