16th Annual AOC Electronic Warfare Europe

Background:

The 2016 AOC Europe Conference, now in its 16th year, is scheduled for 11-12 May 2016.  The 2016 Conference will follow a well-proven format of presentations, Q&A and discussions in a relaxed atmosphere with lunches and refreshments included.  The AOC is the international Electronic Warfare advocacy association with over 13,000 members worldwide and now in its 52nd year. Once again, AOC EW Europe will be supported by the AOC’s logistics partner Clarion Events and local European Chapters.

Theme: 

As Nations re-focus on contingency operations after over a decade of counter-insurgency there are many challenges and opportunities for governments, the military, academia, science and technology and industry.  Recent events have reminded everyone of the deadly nature of RF guided weaponry and that the threat from insurgents, has not ended, but intensified.  The widely reported use of wholesale, sophisticated Russian counter-C3 systems in and around Ukraine in parallel to cyber operations and widespread dis-information/psychological operations has given rise to what leading military and political thinkers refer to as Hybrid Warfare.  The question is what does this mean for the future of EW in the free world?  Almost all military operations are enabled by wide-ranging electromagnetic (EM) operations, a concept that NATO and others have fully embraced.  These include SIGINT; C4ISR; precise navigation and timing; targeting; communications, spectrum management and the whole gamut of EW.  But, are there new requirements for EW arising from Hybrid Warfare?  The answer to the question then, is Yes, a great deal, with an obvious example being EM-enabled cyber operations.

National forces are being re-shaped and re-equipped to face the future which will be contested, congested, complex, connected, constrained and potentially chaotic unless the right informed choices are made now. AOC EW Rotterdam 2016 will consider the future of EW and EM Operations in the changing light of current and emerging threats, including Hybrid Warfare; it will consider the possible responses, how thinking and attitudes must change, and examine the new capabilities that will be required across all lines of defence, by all services, in all countries. Part of the event will include twin-tracks focusing respectively on operations, capability and defence lines of development, and industry developments and inventiveness. AOC EW Europe 2016 will once again bring together, this time in Rotterdam, perhaps the most happening and connected City in Europe right now, all the communities involved in EW, SIGINT, C4ISR, Cyber EM Activities (CEMA) and more. This is the largest global EW networking, exhibition, seminar and conference, outside of the US, and is not to be missed!