U.S. NAVY CWO AVIATION ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN HARD SHOULDER BOARDS

us navy hard shoulder board male cwo2 aviation electronics technician

In the modern Naval aviation battlespace, the time between detection and destruction can often be measured in seconds, and avoiding the former greatly reduces the risk of the latter. This is most commonly achieved through the use of electronic countermeasures (ECM) which either fool enemy detection systems—most notably radar and sonar—or render them inoperative. Aviation Electronics Technicians (AT) play a vital role in the deployment of ECMs, with Intermediate Level Technicians (ATI) tasked with the troubleshooting, repairing, and testing ECM systems and ATOs handling their maintenance.

The primary ECM platform that Aviation Electronics Technicians will be working on is the EA-6B Prowler. First deployed in the early 1970s, the Prowler is equipped with ECM systems designed to disrupt or drastically degrade the enemy’s electromagnetic capabilities—or even destroy them.

Its primary ECM tool is the AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System, which is capable of performing two mission-critical functions: it can jam enemy radar and communications, and it also can locate and identify the source of those signals. This data can then be collated and sent to command-and-control units who use it to determine the enemy’s order of battle, and then deploy the appropriate offensive weapons in response.

Those will most likely be AGM-88 HARMs (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles). Anti-radiation missiles home in on electromagnetic signals and use them as guidance to the target. Soon after anti-radiation missiles were introduced, radar operators figured out that turning off their systems would deprive the weapon of guidance. To counter this, AGM-88s employ an inertial guidance system that remembers the original source location and uses that information to stay on course to the target.

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Rank

Size

Price

$70.79

Quantity

USPHS

Merchant Marine

AUXILIARY

U.S. NAVY CWO AVIATION ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN HARD SHOULDER BOARDS