All around the world, escalating socio-political and military tension has seen electronic warfare become dominant in modern security and defence. In today’s conflicts, whether against state or non-state actors, the reliance on radio frequency-dependent systems is universal. The electromagnetic environment is saturated with signals, from advanced drone platforms and autonomous systems to encrypted tactical communications.
In response, militaries are demanding sophisticated, adaptable RF sensing and analysis capabilities, and propelling Communications Intelligence (COMINT) into a central operational role within modern Electronic Warfare (EW). COMINT is the ability to identify, detect, track and analyse radio frequency (RF) signals. It has emerged as a force multiplier, underpinning modern strategies across all domains, from air to land, maritime, space and cyberspace.
This article explores how revolutionary RF-finding products enable defence and security forces to maintain dominance amid the shifting electromagnetic landscape, turning spectrum access into a decisive advantage.
The rise of exploitable signals
Modern warfare has brought new dimensions to the electromagnetic battlespace. Whether counter-insurgency operations or peer conflict, the insurgent or enemy warfighter needs to communicate via phone, radio or improvised network.
Advanced defence technologies remain RF dependent, whether it is the use of live video data links, drone command and control, and telemetry, or general encrypted communications. The RF environment is saturated with signals and dense with noise.
Once confined to strategic networks, Cyber solutions and operations now extend all the way to the tactical edge. Uncrewed systems, whether airborne, ground-based or maritime, that operate autonomously via GPS will inevitably emit a signal to receive commands, send data or activate a payload. That brief signal is an opportunity to reveal what it is, where it came from, and who’s controlling it so that Electronic Warfare assets can act fast.
Cutting through the noise
While new technologies create tactical advantage on the battlefield, each of their necessary communications creates an exploitable opportunity for the COMINT operator. If COMINT teams can detect and understand the noise in real time, they can enable the Electronic Warfare units to command and dominate the RF environment to deliver operational advantage within the RF Spectrum. The key challenge lies in sifting through the vast amounts of electromagnetic noise to identify operationally important signals.
Modern Software Defined Receivers lie at the heart of the COMINT solution. They can identify, detect, track, filter and classify multiple signals rapidly and simultaneously, giving operators early warning of threats and actionable intelligence. Knowing where and when signals appear is as valuable as knowing their content. For instance, operators can immediately see a signal spike in a valley or detect a sudden rise in emissions in a previously quiet village. These are combat indicators to trigger action.
The future of COMINT
As specialists in RF spectrum technologies that enhance COMINT, TCI from SPX Communication Technologies works closely with defence organisations to keep pace with their needs and develop new solutions that will make the greatest impact.
Against this backdrop and the evolving electronic warfare landscape, we’ve just released two new RF systems, the RFDF Processor (955) and the Single or Dual Channel RF & DF system (957). They have been designed for more effective detection, tracking and geolocation of hostile signals in support of COMINT and counter-uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) missions. Here’s how:
Greater, more sensitive bandwidth
The new receivers offer up to 80 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, doubling the capacity of earlier models. This allows teams to monitor more signals at once, reducing the risk of missing critical transmissions during periods of high activity. When required, operators can narrow the bandwidth to focus only on priority signals, improving sensitivity and signal fidelity. In practice, this means scanning broadly for situational awareness and rapidly concentrating on specific targets.
Look-back recording
A look-back recorder enables teams to review past RF activity. Looking at immediate threat warnings, teams don’t know what they know until they know it. That means, if a signal becomes relevant after the fact because additional information or context comes to light, operators can rewind, or go back in time, up to 72 hours. They can find out what a signal was doing, if it was moving, where it was, and how long it had been in the battlespace. Analysis of historical data helps COMINT teams build a more complete operational picture, fill gaps, understand historical signal collection, assess patterns of use, and extract additional intelligence.
Beyond the 72-hour look-back window, operators also have access to a longer-term database that preserves data and signal information. While content demodulation requires the 72-hour window, teams can still retrieve signal details and patterns days and weeks later to support analysis and mission planners.
Scale, flexibility and mission agility
The pace of modern conflict means that COMINT systems must be able to easily adapt to shifting mission requirements. Being able to switch between supporting counter-terror operations and large-scale front-line operations, teams need the ability to reconfigure quickly. Pre-loaded mission profiles allow operators to switch roles instantly, from monitoring insurgent networks one moment, then tracking conventional military formations the next.
This agility reflects the realities of contemporary military operations. In Ukraine and elsewhere, conventional battles coexist with irregular tactics, special forces incursions, and cyber operations. Situational awareness, a common operating picture and flexibility of deployment are essential.
Centralised and decentralised Command and Control (C2)
The 955 and 957 enable both centralised and decentralised operations.
The intuitive Blackbird interface is extremely simple to use, reducing training overhead. This allows more junior personnel to rapidly become proficient in its use, immediately expanding the pool of available operators. That means teams no longer need dedicated, highly trained specialists managing lots of equipment. Instead, frontline teams can operate independently, analysing signals in the field: with a few clicks, faster results, to make an immediate impact.
Alternatively, teams can choose to push data back to command centres where analysts maintain an overview across potentially multiple sites. The system has been designed to work on very low-latency bandwidth to ensure continued operations with minimal connectivity.
Multiple users can access the same data set concurrently, each focusing on different objectives or areas of interest.
Hybrid geolocation
The 955 and 957 employ hybrid geolocation to detect the origin of each signal. The technology integrates two different techniques – Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) combined with Angle-Of-Arrival (AOA) detection – with more precise methods for refining target location with fewer assets. Operators can use fast geolocation to identify likely emitters, then apply more detailed analysis as needed, all within the same system.
Integration and compatibility
The receivers are backwards compatible with existing antennas and infrastructure, regardless of whether they are from TCI. Defence teams can upgrade processing units while retaining proven hardware already deployed in vehicles, fixed installations or transportable systems. This approach extends the capability without requiring a complete system replacement and reduces the financial budget.
In addition, the new 955 and 957 can be integrated into other SPX Communication Technologies systems, like Enterprise Control System’s (ECS) BLACKTALON counter-UAS system. This combination firstly allows defence teams to understand what’s in the air, where it came from, and who’s controlling it, all through RF emissions, and then use the BLACKTALON to neutralise the threat.
Using directional RF jamming techniques, it effectively jams every combination of GNSS, command, control, and telemetry signals used by both commercial and military drones. This ensures a decisive advantage in countering drone threats while simultaneously safeguarding friendly RF signals from unintended inhibition.
BLACKTALON empowers defence and security forces to maintain airspace dominance and protect against threats from the fast-changing UAS threat landscape.
Training and skills maintenance
Simulation capabilities allow EW teams to rehearse realistic scenarios using pre-recorded signals. This ensures consistent training standards and verifies individual competence without the complexity of live deployments.
Conclusion
As the electromagnetic spectrum becomes increasingly congested and contested, the ability to effectively sense, analyse and act on RF signals is critical. Advanced RF Direction Finding systems like our new 955 and 957 exemplify how technological innovation can generate operational advantage. These systems, allow EW teams to stay ahead of emerging threats and maintain the agility that modern COMINT missions demand.
To find out how TCI can support your missions, please contact , or visit www.tcibr.com