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NEWS | June 16, 2016

8th annual Electronic Warfare (EW) Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational and Technical Information Exchange Conference co-hosted at NSWC Crane

By NSWC Crane Public Affairs

June 16, 2016

CRANE, Ind. - Eighth Annual Electronic Warfare (EW) Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational and Technical Information Exchange conference co-hosted by The Association of Old Crows (AOC) and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane) at Navy Support Activity (NSA) Crane’s Club Lakeview.

The 8th annual Electronic Warfare (EW) Capability Gaps and Enabling Technologies Operational and Technical Information Exchange conference was co-hosted by the Association of Old Crows (AOC) and Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC, Crane) May 10 – 12. This year’s event provided a forum for EW professionals from the military, government, industry and academic fields to discuss issues related to the requirements of EW programs, platforms and operations.

This three-day capstone event focused on identified fleet gaps and technologies the services require to ensure freedom of maneuver in the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) in support of achieving commanders’ objectives. Speakers and presenters reviewed the past few years and identified progress made to ensure the success of the warfighter in tomorrow’s battlespace.

The event, which offered three classified sessions, included the following: Exploring the service’s gaps, including the mutually supportive capabilities of EW across all maneuver domains, review of the service’s gaps with respect to the many disciplines of Electronic and Non-Kinetic Warfare including but not limited to Radio Frequency (RF), Electro-optic (EO) and Infrared (IR) and detailed Intelligence Community updates on where adversaries’ threat systems are today and where they are going in the future. Two-hundred and fifty people attended the conference.

NSWC Crane Division Chief Strategist for EW Clint Seyer and NSWC Crane’s AOC Roost President Jim Hearn served as conference chairs and provided details on the recent event.

“The idea of the conference is to focus on Electronic Warfare gaps in the fleet and to talk about the technologies that NSWC Crane and others in the Electronic Warfare community can provide to fill in those gaps,” Seyer explained. “We try to connect people and give them an opportunity to talk about what they’re doing and to see how they can collaborate.”

Seyer also stressed the importance of the annual event to NSWC Crane. “Holding the annual AOC conference at Crane is critical to our successful support of the EW mission in the fleet. The conference provides a classified venue to review the fleet's prioritized EW gaps and looks at technological solutions that are being worked to fill the gaps,” he explained. “Collaborating with other DoD activities and industry gives us a benefit with innovating new solutions to fill the gaps. As the Navy's largest concentration of over 750 EW experts, we are also able to give visibility to our capabilities and work supporting the EW mission.”

Additionally, Seyer noted this year’s event to be a success. “We received a lot of positive feedback from those in attendance. There was a lot of excitement about the conference and many people said they received a lot of value out of it.”

Conference keynote speakers included the following: Rear Admiral Randolph L. Mahr, United States Navy, Deputy Program Executive Officer, Department of Planning and Development, F-35 Lightening II; John G. Fiore, Senior Executive Service, Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Officer Integrated Warfare Systems; Margie Palmieri, Senior Executive Service Director of OPNAV Integrated Fires Division; and Dr. Bill Conley, Senior Executive Service, Deputy Director, Electronic Warfare, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) Acquisition Technology and Logistics (AT&L).