News Archives - ESROE

Information Superiority in the Modern Battlespace

Esroe — Fri, 30 May 2025 14:10:03 +0000

As evidenced in the Ukraine, the modern battlespace has brought radar back into sharp focus. In this newly published whitepaper, ESROE’s Tom Beese and Jon Roe examine the key role that radar plays in modern weapon systems, and the urgent need for agile, pervasive electronic intelligence to outpace evolving threats.

The current challenge

Within Electronic Warfare, achieving detection, identification and location of radar systems is through the use of Electronic Support Measures (ESM) systems. Such systems have been developed over decades, but the challenge within NATO and the 5-eyes nations radar ESM (sometimes known as RESM) is that their cost, size, complexity and power consumption mean that they are generally only on a limited number of large, very high value platforms such as warships and surveillance aircraft. Even in the land battlespace large vehicles have been required to transport and operate such equipment and the cost of even these smaller platforms has limited the numbers available in operations.

Because of this value and scarcity, most existing RESM capability and the platforms carrying it, tend to be deployed in “stand off” positions to avoid exposure to significant threat. This limits how effective these systems can be. It also drives up the performance requirements on the RESM equipment, particularly in terms of receiver sensitivity needed to ensure that radar threats and radar signals of interest can be detected at long range. The result is that individual systems cost into the $M’s.

This new whitepaper discusses how MicroESM solves this challenge with a radically deployable solution that brings high-grade radar detection capability to even the smallest platform, unlocking new tactical possibilities, shifting the paradigm in electronic warfare and enabling commanders to dominate the electromagnetic environment.

Download the whitepaper > Contribution of MicroESM to the achievement of Information Superiority in the Modern Battlespace?

The post Information Superiority in the Modern Battlespace appeared first on ESROE.

MicroESM or High Performance ESM?

Esroe — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:29:06 +0000

ESROE founder and internationally renowned ESM scientist, Jon Roe, was recently asked the question: why would I acquire MicroESM when radar ESM equipment offerings from major manufacturers provide higher sensitivity detection against weak signals and more accurate direction of arrival measurement? He lays out the reasons in his new whitepaper…

Abstract

Over the decades in which they have been a key capability for situational awareness and threat detection, improvement of Radar Electronic Surveillance Measures (ESM) systems has particularly focused on receiver sensitivity and directional discrimination:

Receiver sensitivity to ensure that ESM retains its detection range advantage over radar (“detect the threat radar before I am detected”), even as opposition radars are able to reduce their power levels.
Directional discrimination to get a more precise bearing to the target radar and to aid in distinguishing multiple radars on similar bearings.

From a detection perspective, this focus has been valuable. But from a vulnerability point-of-view, it has also been critical. This is because these high value and often heavy and power consuming ESM systems have only been deployable on warships or high value aircraft, all of which need to be kept at acceptable range from any threat.

MicroESM, designed to be complementary to existing systems, brings very low size, weight and power (low SWAP) to ESM for the first time, enabling ESM to now be anywhere and even to be ‘disposable’. It does not even need an operator present and can be networked to provide a whole area ESM capability, whether along a coastline or across a battlefield. This paper provides the context for deciding when MicroESM is the right solution, often as one element within an overall ESM capability.

Download the whitepaper > MicroESM or High Performance ESM?

The post MicroESM or High Performance ESM? appeared first on ESROE.

Prevailing in the EME with MicroESM

Esroe — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 15:03:24 +0000

Electronic Warfare Live (EW Live) 2024 is on the horizon and the team is gearing up to deliver its series of live next-gen ESM demonstrations at Ülenurme Airport, Tartu, Estonia. NATO and NATO-friendly countries that have future requirements to improve their related capabilities will be in attendance, ready for hands-on experience of how ESROE’s latest breakthrough will change the way that ESM contributes to the safety of their armed forces in hostile environments, across air, land and sea battle spaces.

Building on the MicroESM capabilities that ESROE previously showcased at EW Live, this year we will be demonstrating how to network our very low SWAP sensors together into a passive, resilient battlefield array and use our brand new multi-sensor hub to identify and triangulate the location of non-cooperative targets.

Demonstrating passive, resilient, battlefield arrays
Now, with as few as two networked sensors out in the field, ESROE’s multi-sensor solution deployment delivers threat geolocation capability. The ESM data captured by integrated and/or remote sensors – which can be placed across a range of platforms including UAVs – are streamed back to the multi-sensor hub, allowing triangulation of bearing lines to provide an accurate indication of range.

Very small, with a low cost per unit, the networked sensors can be deployed in high volume, making the multi-sensor solution highly scalable, versatile and resilient:

Enhancing ELINT data with geolocation of radar targets.
Providing a low cost battlefield, border and coastline surveillance capability.
Improving force protection around forward operating bases.
Supporting the detection of unknown emitters, giving trained ESM operators the parameters and bearings needed to analyse tracks.

Enabling ESM as a force multiplier, across domains
ESROE’s MicroESM solutions act as a force multiplier, across domains, to improve situational awareness of the total ELINT environment. Extending threat warning and covert surveillance capabilities to a wide range of platforms, including unmanned vehicles, system operators can penetrate deep into enemy defences, getting closer than ever previously possible to locate targets of interest and measure the characteristics of even low power radars that are invisible to longer range intelligence gathering systems.

A spinout from the UK’s Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, ESROE is recognised as at the forefront of electronic support measures (ESM) technology, having designed the world’s smallest sensor. From single sensors to a battlefield array, ESROE’s autonomous, next-gen ESM is available in a variety of modular configurations to meet user requirements, with each model sharing a core set of technical benefits and attributes.

Download the Military Deployments Summary for more information >

The post Prevailing in the EME with MicroESM appeared first on ESROE.

Next-gen ESM for advanced threat location and friendly forces protection

Esroe — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:01:10 +0000

Showcasing innovative defence and security technologies for land, maritime and aerospace applications – DSEI opened it’s doors this morning, bringing together government, armed forces and industry from across the globe.

This year’s overarching theme for the event is ‘achieving an integrated force’ across five domains – air, cyber and electromagnetic activities (CEMA), land, sea and space. ESROE is exhibiting in the Joint Zone (stand H1-260) and the team is keen to be at the heart of the conversation, discussing our innovative, world first, MicroESM solution that will be on display.

Transforming access to and the use of ESM in contested environments

Electronic Support Measures (ESM) has long been a vital defence capability for gaining situational awareness of the ELINT environment and achieving a tactical edge across the air, land and sea battle spaces. Yet due to the high SWAP, cost, and operating requirements of traditional ESM solutions, the capability has typically been reserved for major military platforms.

ESROE’s breakthroughs in ESM technology change this. Deployable anywhere, as a standalone micro sensor or a networked array across battlefields or along coastlines, ESROE has developed low SWAP, autonomous, next-gen ESM for pervasive, advanced threat location and friendly forces protection.

Providing comparable capabilities to traditional ESM systems but with significantly reduced size, weight and power (SWAP) requirements, makes ESROE’s MicroESM solution a low-cost game-changer in the area of battlefield situational awareness. The key to the radical reductions in SWAP for an ESM capability lies in ESROE’s processing software which is highly efficient at identifying radar pulses, making it compatible with small, low-power computing platforms that drastically reduce the overall requirements of the ESM system.

Next-gen ESM: Low cost, scalable, networked deployment
The fully-automated ESM redesign means the capability can also be scaled from individual special forces, to unmanned vehicles, and larger high value platforms – completely changing the way that ESM contributes to the safety of armed forces in hostile environments. Very small, with a low unit cost, MicroESM can be deployed in high volume too, making the solution highly versatile and resilient, as the units can be networked into an intelligent array along borders and battlefields.

Acting as a force multiplier, across domains, MicroESM extends threat warning and covert surveillance capabilities to a wide range of vehicles, so that system operators can penetrate deep into enemy defences, getting closer than ever previously possible to locate targets of interest and measure the characteristics of even low power radars, invisible to longer range intelligence gathering systems.

Cross-domain intelligence
The ultimate solution to the range problem, ESROE’s MicroESM can be fitted to a UAV or drone, which can overcome sensor/target radar elevation limitations of land and/or surface based ESM. Aircraft applications of MicroESM can also provide the location of a radar signal, rather than just the direction to the signal.
Meanwhile, ground forces can augment their radar systems with multiple passive MicroESM sensors to build a more complete picture of the enemy’s electronic order of battle. Mounted on lightly armoured or unarmoured vehicles, MicroESM enables operators to gather additional intelligence to passively detect and locate hostile artillery and attack helicopters, and alert ground forces to enemy units nearby.

The more sensors deployed, the more resilient the system. Person-portable ESROE sensors can be deployed to an individual or team, or networked across a battlefield or along a border, to extend surveillance capabilities way beyond what is currently possible with legacy solutions.

MicroESM also enables EW to become pervasive across oceans and along coastlines, enabling reliable non-cooperative target location across vast search areas to improve threat warnings, e.g. for anti-ship missile defences. Deploying ESM on covert surveillance vessels enables forces to gather operational intelligence from the hardest to reach locations such as beachheads. Whilst fixed to UUVs, MicroESM can provide extra, low cost protection to surfacing vessels by detecting anti-submarine aircraft and fishing boats.

Moreover, networking MicroESM across air, land and sea based micro sensors provides enhanced geolocation and other significant cross-domain EWOS benefits.

Radar detection. Redesigned.
ESROE’s innovative, all aluminium MicroESM sensors will be on display on a number of partner stands at DSEI. During the show, the team is also hoping to share an update from the NATO unclassified REPMUS 2023 trials in Portugal, where networked arrays are being utilised to provide location of radar targets to military end users.

If you’re at DSEI this week, be sure to head to Hall 1, Stand H1-260 in the Joint Zone to learn more about our next-gen ESM capabilities – or get in touch to discuss your requirements.

The post Next-gen ESM for advanced threat location and friendly forces protection appeared first on ESROE.

Counter-battery radar: a more resilient solution?

Esroe — Thu, 04 May 2023 21:02:39 +0000

Counter-battery radar: a more resilient solution?

AOC Europe is on the horizon with Germany hosting this rotation in Bonn, 15-17 May 2023. An important event in the Electronic Warfare (EW) and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) diary – the show provides a great opportunity to connect government, defence, industry and academia to consider the latest advances in these fields.

The theme this year covers the five operational domains that need to be considered in multi-domain operations, with sessions dedicated to integrated technologies and solutions. The current technologies and systems deployed by the Russians in Ukraine will also be the subject of a dedicated session, with a focus on the use of the EMS for achieving military objectives and the countermeasures it supports.

Counter-battery radar has been high on the defence agenda since February 2022, as there has been continuous effort from both sides to neutralise the adversary’s counter-battery radar systems. Just recently, Ukrainian Special Operation Forces footage was released showing a Russian ZOOPARK-1M counter-battery radar being destroyed in the Donetsk area.

These systems act as a significant force multiplier, providing real-time information about the location, trajectory, and impact point of incoming enemy fire; allowing friendly forces to take evasive action and to return fire with greater accuracy and effectiveness. However, counter radar systems are not without their limitations. Frequency hopping, waveform diversity, and other methods of signal processing can help to overcome jamming or other forms of interference. However, the electromagnetic signature of counter-battery radar systems make them particularly vulnerable to passive ESM solutions that can detect and identify radar.

One of the many benefits of the MicroESM radar detection and identification system that ESROE will be showcasing on Stand G12, is the fact that the receiver units are passive. The breakthroughs we’ve made in this space means that the MicroESM unit is so small, with a low enough unit cost, that it can be deployed in high volume too. This makes the solution highly versatile and highly resilient, as the units can be networked into an intelligent array along borders, coastlines and battlefields.

ESROE’s radar detection and identification system redesign, now means military ESM capability can be scaled from individuals or small teams, such as special forces, to larger EW capabilities across traditional high value platforms – completely changing the way that ESM contributes to the safety of armed forces in hostile environments.

As MicroESM has been defined to be fundamentally automatic, training is minimal and users do not have to have an electronic warfare background. Required user skill levels have always been problematic for ESM – and this has often been a subject of conversation at Association of Old Crows. But ESROE is changing all that.

The low cost and intelligent automation is also opening up ESM to civilian applications, for the first time. And as AOC Europe focuses on multi-domain integration and combining capabilities, the ESROE team is looking forward to conversations about how MicroESM contributes to the strategy.

If you’re heading to AOC Europe, head to stand G12 to see for yourself, our latest advances – or get in touch for a demo and more information.

The post Counter-battery radar: a more resilient solution? appeared first on ESROE.

Extending ESM beyond major surveillance assets

Esroe — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 16:36:08 +0000

Extending ESM beyond major surveillance assets

Extending naval and coastal team capabilities is high on ESROE’s agenda for 2023, and CEO Jon Roe has been invited to present on this very subject at the annual Maritime Reconnaissance and Surveillance Technology conference, hosted in London, 1st-2nd February.

Rapid technological advances are already transforming the way maritime forces are utilising their Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities, across domains. However, previous conferences have highlighted the growing need for joint capabilities to respond to maritime crises, particularly in busy vessel choke points.

There is also an increasing focus on deploying the latest maritime surveillance technology in civil applications, to protect borders, fisheries and marine reserves. So this year’s conference brings together delegates responsible for patrolling, monitoring and protecting the seas and oceans, to talk about critical components of MR&S technology.

One such critical component is Electronic Support Measures (ESM) technology, which has long been a key surveillance sensor for larger military platforms such as warships, patrol aircraft, and submarines. Jon’s presentation looks at the benefits that can now be accrued from the extension of ESM onto autonomous vehicles, and the radical re-design of the sensor required to achieve this capability.

His paper examines:

Range extension beyond what can be achieved from a warship, with the ability to place the ESM where it might not be possible/desirable to position a major surveillance asset.
How miniature ESM can be fitted alongside other sensors without stretching payload limits.
The cost effectiveness of MicroESM, enabling the use of ESM in primarily civilian maritime surveillance operations for the first time.
An example of MicroESM design which is suited to both military and civilian operations.

So small it can be carried in the hand or mounted on very light unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) – ESROE’s breakthrough MicroESM solution will be on display at the conference. We will be demonstrating the benefits of standalone sensors, as well as the cost effectiveness of networking the sensors to create an intelligent array along a border, or coastline to help in the prevention of terrorism, smuggling, illegal immigration, illegal fishing and pollution. To whet your appetite, here’s a quick summary of a transformative MicroESM use case in maritime surveillance…

MicroESM for locating vessels of interest and identifying suspicious vessels

Whilst most larger commercial vessels are readily identifiable if they maintain their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), there are a host of smaller vessels that are more difficult to track. For example, nearly 80% of the UK fishing fleet is composed of vessels that are less than 10m in length and therefore do not legally need to be equipped with VMS or AIS (although they may choose to operate the latter). In addition to these smaller vessels, larger vessels may choose to be uncooperative, especially if they are engaged in dubious activities, by refusing to broadcast on AIS, or by broadcasting false AIS information (known as ‘spoofing’). Any of these vessels may be deemed “vessels of interest” (VoI) by the authorities because of the nature of their activities.

Finding a VoI without reliable AIS or other self-reported information, even with some recent tracking information such as last port of call, and even using an aircraft, however, is like looking for a needle in a haystack – or, indeed – a drop in the ocean! It can take a lot of time, resources and fuel.

The good news is that ESM sensors – which can be fitted to a coastguard patrol, maritime police, or unmanned surveillance vessel – can provide some additional level of identification even when there is no AIS transmission, by detecting and identifying the target vessel’s radar signature at very long range. ESM thus helps locate VoIs, at long ranges, providing vital data to help prioritise intercepts and minimise the time and fuel required for seaborne or airborne patrol assets to reach the vessel.

Radar is a critical navigation tool, so few commercial vessels operate without it, and it is increasingly ubiquitous, even for pleasure craft. This is good news for those with ESM capabilities. Switching off radar not only compromises the safety of the vessel, it sends a red flag to anyone tracking the radar signal that its actions are suspicious. Detecting and identifying radar signals using Electronic Support Measure solutions is therefore a reliable way to not only locate VoIs, but to identify suspicious vessels – ‘lighting up’ ships, even when they ‘go dark’.

For more on this subject, please get in touch for free access to Jon’s recently published whitepaper on the use of MicroESM in Maritime Surveillance.

The post Extending ESM beyond major surveillance assets appeared first on ESROE.