The U.S. Air Force is scheduled to install electromagnetic spectrum monitoring systems at two bases in spring that would help monitor radio frequency signals around military installations.
The Air Combat Command will initially field EMS tools at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina and Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, the service branch said Monday.
The monitoring systems will collect data from electromagnetic radiation from radio, aircraft communication and other applications around bases and send the information to the ACC headquarters for analysis.
They could also be used in tandem with the Air Force’s counter-unmanned aerial system technologies in defense of an installation’s area of operations.
“[Now] we can visualize our spectrum output and also alert base defense if abnormalities are detected,” explained Laurence Triggs, ACC’s EMS Operations branch chief.
The Air Force command plans to outfit all of its bases with monitoring systems in the future, should funding permit. The installation plans follow the completion of a pilot program conducted at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia in 2021.