Avalon 2011: Elisra unveils COMINT solution

Elisra launched a man-portable communications intelligence (COMINT), designed to be used by dismounted troops for military operations in urban terrain (MOUT), at the Avalon international airshow on 1 March.

The direction finding (DF) system, dubbed NEWS or Networked Electronic Warfare System, can be carried by a single soldier but is also available in vehicle-borne and tripod-mounted configurations. The company added that it had also integrated the system on board an undisclosed UAV.

According to Adrian Abramovitz, Elisra Senior Director Marketing and Business Development, NEWS is designed to detect, locate and monitor 'signals of interest from specific locations'.

Already understood to be operational with the Israel Defense Force (IDF), the system also includes an on-the-move capability allowing a soldier to pick up signals while mobile.

Elisra told Digital Battlespace that a minimum of two NEWS sensors were required to accurately pinpoint the position of an enemy transmitter. He added that NEWS was accurate to within two-degrees and tens of metres.

Abramovitz then explained how information was then relayed back to a headquarters or tactical operations centre for COMINT area analysis before a decision is made on whether to jam enemy transmissions or not. He described how multiple NEWS sensors would allow forces to locate multiple enemy positions in an urban environment.

Elisra said it was due to demonstrate the system to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in two months, as part of ADF plans to improve its electronic warfare capability. This, Abramovitz told DB, would form part of the ADF's DEF-500 and 55 COMJAM (communications jamming) and COMINT programmes. It can also be networked into the ADF's Land 200 battle management system, which is contracted out to Elbit Systems.

In 2010, Elbit Systems was awarded a AUS$298 million contract for the Land 200 programme, designed to supply, integrate, install and support a Battle Group and Below Command, Control and Communications (BGC3) system.