EWOS (electronic warfare operational support)

Electronic warfare operational support (EWOS) is operational support for electronic warfare. It covers the recording, analysis and updating of electronic warfare information and products so that deployed forces, and future operations, work from current data. Canadian aerospace doctrine uses the term in exactly this sense.

NATO lists the abbreviation as EWOS, electronic warfare operational support, in its Glossary of NATO Acronyms and Abbreviations, and associates it with ATP-51, a NATO electronic warfare publication. In Canada, the term belongs to Royal Canadian Air Force doctrine and sits inside the wider electronic warfare capability of the Canadian Armed Forces.

How Canadian doctrine describes EWOS

Canadian aerospace electronic warfare doctrine describes EWOS as support that lets deployed analysts update electronic warfare information based on operational experience. Data-recording devices allow those analysts to make in-theatre modifications to the updates and upgrades that were prepared before deployment. The result is that lessons from an operation feed back into the information used for the next one. The doctrine is published in Canada's aerospace electronic warfare doctrine.

The same doctrine describes a reach-back function. Deployed analysts can draw on the Canadian Forces Electronic Warfare Centre and other organizations for further analysis and for updates to the electronic warfare knowledge base. EWOS therefore links the deployed analyst to the centres that hold deeper analytical capacity.

Canadian doctrine divides electronic warfare into electronic warfare support, electronic protection and electronic attack. EWOS is a function within that broader capability. The RCAF doctrine chapter on electronic warfare sets out that structure.

NATO's listing and the ATP-51 link

The NATO glossary gives the expansion of EWOS and attributes the term to ATP-51. That gives Canadian suppliers a fixed reference point when the abbreviation appears in allied documents. The entry is found in the NATO glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.

NATO also describes a Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff that gives Allied and NATO commands electronic warfare expertise, support and training at the tactical, operational and strategic levels for operations and exercises.

The Canadian Forces Electronic Warfare Support project

The Defence Capabilities Blueprint lists the Canadian Forces Electronic Warfare Support project under electronic warfare integration systems, as shown on the Defence Capabilities Blueprint project listing. National Defence sponsors the project.

According to the project details page, the objective is to deliver an enterprise-level Electronic Warfare Operational Support System (EWOSS) together with a reprogramming, testing and validation capability. The stated requirements include:

• authoritative and timely electronic warfare products;
• NEWEG-compliant reprogramming deliverables;
• automation and database software;
• workflow-management tools.

Who delivers electronic warfare support in the RCAF

The RCAF's 414 Electronic Warfare Support Squadron delivers electronic warfare support through timely EW products, specialized training and expert guidance, as listed in the RCAF organizational structure. The RCAF also offers basic and advanced electronic warfare training, which includes the operational employment of EW assets.

What EWOS means for a supplier bidding on Canadian contracts

The sources establish the capability and the DND project behind it. They do not establish a federal solicitation clause, certification or security requirement that uses the abbreviation EWOS. A supplier responding to an EWOS-related DND requirement should address the technical capability stated in the solicitation. Depending on the requirement, that can include electronic warfare data, analysis, products, reprogramming, testing, validation, databases and workflow support.

Read each solicitation for its own requirements. Do not assume a general EWOS standard applies to every bid.