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Industry Report: Pakistan’s Electronic Warfare Systems
Quwa Team
This report was written by open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst Farooq (whose other work can be found on X).
As the lines between traditional warfare and counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) operations blur, integrated electronic warfare (EW) systems have emerged as essential and effective assets that operate in the background of most military operations.
The rise of drones has led to the modernization of EW systems to such an extent that now most combat EW (CEW) systems retain a sub-C-UAS capability in addition to traditional jamming roles, such as those of communications.
Pakistan, which had often remained shy from adopting EW at a large scale, seems to be building upon a significant domestic capability to locally produce and use a large portfolio of integrated communications intelligence (COMINT) EW systems.
In the past, foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEM) – notably Rohde & Schwarz (R&S), Siemens (now under Hensoldt), and Elettronica Group (ELT) – dominated Pakistan’s EW landscape, the trend now appears to be shifting towards domestic EW solutions. Three domestic manufacturers are Pakistan’s EW drivers: the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC), the Defence Science and Technology Organization (DESTO), and the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP).
National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC)
Of NRTC’s publicly revealed EW capabilities, COMINT and SIGINT systems form the core of its offerings. These include the COMINT – i.e., electronic support measures (ESM) plus electronic countermeasures (ECM) system (ESM + ECM) – and a lighter mobile direction finding (DF) ESM system.
NRTC COMINT EW System
NRTC’s COMINT EW system is designed to detect, locate and jam communications falling across VHF, UHF, and SHF ranges located in a congested radio frequency (RF) environment. The system adopts purpose-built antennas that enable it to pick up weak signals. The system is split into ESM, ECM and command-and control (C2) vehicles. The system has communications link range of 30 km.
The C2 vehicle part of the COMINT EW system creates a ‘Communication Order of Battle’ using data collected from various DF sensors and acts as higher-level node for ECM and ESM sub-systems. The C2 system also has an inbuilt geo-fencing ability when linked with geographic information system (GIS) platforms.
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