DISA releases electromagnetic spectrum capability to enhance modern warfighting

The Defense Information Systems Agency released the initial features for Electromagnetic Battle Management – Joint, or EMBM-J, which improves the U.S. military's situational awareness of the electromagnetic spectrum, or EMS, considered a modern-day battle space that spans the air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace domains.

EMBM-J Situational Awareness is a minimum viable capability release, or the first iteration of the tool. The cloud-based platform, which aligns with Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control, integrates a range of electromagnetic spectrum capabilities and functions into one system that seamlessly gathers and arranges data into a single visual display.

"EMBM-J provides critical and accurate electromagnetic spectrum spontaneous data to combatant commands and Joint Task Force Headquarters Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Cells," says Christopher Argo, DISA's Spectrum Program Executive Office director. "This tool ensures a commander's ability to rapidly act by visualizing the EMS common operating picture and the first step toward achieving EMS superiority."

EMS has become a highly contested and constrained battle space in which the United States and its allies are vying for dominance over energy waves produced from things like radios, cell phones, radars, and microwaves. Maintaining situational awareness of the EMS is necessary for military commanders to manage its use, as it becomes increasingly used by adversaries, and therefore congested.

EMBM-J implements a common data layer, allowing it to be interoperable with service-specific EMS systems like the Army's Electromagnetic Warfare Planning & Management Tool, the Marine Corps' Spectrum Services Framework, and the Navy's Real Time Spectrum Operations.

"Effective use of the electromagnetic spectrum is essential for successful military operations,” says U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Ann-Marie Anthony, Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operation Center director. "This system is crucial for the full integration and visualization of spectrum operations."

DISA, through its Program Executive Office – Spectrum, partnered closely with U.S. Strategic Command to develop EMBM-J. The two will continue developing the capability to enhance its analytical features and ability to identify and address any EMS issues that could affect a commander's decision-making.