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Unease grows in US over electromagnetic spectrum vulnerabilities

5th April 2021 - 12:35 GMT | by David Walsh in Washington DC

RSS

How can the US recover ground it has lost to China and Russia in electromagnetic spectrum operations? (Photo: DoD)

As US dominance ebbs away, is it time for a DoD electromagnetic spectrum supremo?

Ineffective leadership means that US military pre-eminence in electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO) is shifting dangerously towards adversaries.

Such was the verdict of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report in December 2020 — its third warning in eight years.

Commenting to Shephard in March 2021, GAO study lead Joe Kirschbaum described how adversaries took advantage of US torpor over the past two decades.

He said: ‘While the United States was focused on counterinsurgencies … in Afghanistan and Iraq, Russia and China have been developing EMSO capabilities to use in “high-end” situations — testing them, and learning lessons for the future.’

Russian EMS

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Author

David Walsh

David Walsh is a cyber and space security writer based in Maryland, US.

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