L11 Pre-flight

L11 Pre-flight#

Block 2: RF Electronic Warfare — Lesson 11: From Radar to EW Work this before L11. Pre-flights are never collected — in class, anyone may be cold-called to present any question at the board, and that recitation is the participation grade.

Assumed pre-class reading#

  • L10 wrap-up (Project 1 results and Block 1 synthesis)

  • The Jupyter Book Reading page for L11 — the goal of EW, the ES/EP/EA pillars, one-way vs two-way propagation, and the radar-vs-EW innovation cycle.

Quiz questions (5 items, ~5 minutes)#

Q1. (Multiple choice) The goal of electromagnetic warfare is best stated as:

  • [ ] (a) Destroying enemy radars with directed energy

  • [ ] (b) Controlling the EM spectrum for our use while denying the enemy’s ability to use it

  • [ ] (c) Encrypting friendly communications

  • [ ] (d) Replacing kinetic weapons with electronic ones

Q2. (Multiple choice) A B-21’s radar warning receiver passively detects and identifies a SAM site’s tracking radar. This is an example of:

  • [ ] (a) Electromagnetic Attack

  • [ ] (b) Electromagnetic Protect

  • [ ] (c) Electromagnetic Support

  • [ ] (d) Electromagnetic Hardening

Q3. (Multiple choice) A radar’s return from a target falls off as \(1/R^4\), while an RWR’s intercept of that same radar falls off as \(1/R^2\). The consequence is:

  • [ ] (a) The radar always detects the aircraft before the RWR detects the radar

  • [ ] (b) The RWR typically hears the radar long before the radar can see the aircraft

  • [ ] (c) The two detections always happen at the same range

  • [ ] (d) The comparison depends only on antenna gain

Q4. (Short answer) In one sentence, what unavoidable vulnerability does every radar accept the moment it turns on, and which EW pillar exploits it?

Q5. (Multiple choice) Which of the following is an example of Electromagnetic Protect?

  • [ ] (a) A frequency-hopping LPI waveform that resists interception and jamming

  • [ ] (b) A stand-off jammer raising the noise floor of an acquisition radar

  • [ ] (c) An ELINT aircraft cataloging a new emitter’s pulse parameters

  • [ ] (d) Chaff deployed during a missile engagement

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