ESM2 (electronic warfare support measures)

ESM2 is the NATO abbreviation for electronic warfare support measures. NATO's glossary of acronyms and abbreviations expands the term in exactly this way and attributes it to AAP-06, the Alliance's terminology publication. You can see the entry in the NATO glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.

In NATO usage, electronic warfare support measures are actions to search for, intercept, locate, record and analyse radiated electromagnetic energy in order to exploit those emissions. Put simply, this is the listening and analysing part of electronic warfare. It is concerned with finding out what is being emitted, where it comes from and what it means, rather than with jamming or deceiving anyone.

What NATO means by electronic warfare support measures

The NATO definition has five working verbs: search for, intercept, locate, record and analyse. Each one describes a step in handling radiated electromagnetic energy, such as a radar or radio emission. The purpose of those steps is exploitation, meaning the emissions are turned into information that commanders and systems can use. The wording comes from NATO material on electronic warfare, including NATO Military Committee document MC 0212.

The three divisions of electronic warfare

NATO material identifies three divisions of electronic warfare:

• Electronic warfare support measures (ESM), the search, intercept, location, recording and analysis of radiated energy.
• Electronic countermeasures (ECM), the actions taken against an adversary's use of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), the actions taken to protect friendly use of the spectrum.

ESM is the first of these. It is the division that supplies information, while the other two are the divisions that act on the spectrum.

What ESM information is used for

NATO states that ESM provides electronic warfare information for threat detection, warning, avoidance, target acquisition and homing. Each use depends on the same underlying activity: detecting and analysing emissions and then passing the result to a user. A warning function, for example, relies on intercepting and identifying an emission before it becomes a danger. Target acquisition relies on locating the source of an emission. The same ESM output can also support the other electronic warfare divisions and related functions.

The NATO policy and terminology behind the term

NATO states that its Electromagnetic Warfare Policy and Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy govern how the Alliance uses, develops, tests and trains with electronic warfare capabilities and tactics. The overview is on the NATO electromagnetic warfare page. For the wording of individual terms, NATO maintains NATOTerm, its official database of non-classified military terminology.

What ESM2 means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

For a bid team, ESM2 is a NATO terminology reference, and the NATO definition is the one to use when a document cites the term. If a Canadian solicitation or statement of work uses ESM or electronic warfare support measures, read the requirement as written and match your response to its stated scope.

Public contract records show the buyer and contractor but not the technical vocabulary behind them. The Department of National Defence contract record for General Dynamics Mission Systems–Canada names DND as the contracting organization and does not itself state an ESM2 requirement. Treat any specific ESM requirement as something to confirm in the solicitation documents of the opportunity you are pursuing.