The United States Air Force moved a step closer to having an entire group that will be centered on “electronic warfare” (EW), as it activated two detachments at Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia. At a ceremony inside the facility’s aviation museum, the service uncased the colors for the activation of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing Detachment 1 and the 87th Electronic Warfare Squadron Detachment 1, which will both be focused primarily on assessment.
The two units will fall under the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing, which was created in 2021 as part of the Air Force’s electromagnetic spectrum study that called to reinvigorate spectrum within the service. The 350th, which is staffed by engineers and other specialists, has three primary missions: rapid reprogramming, target and waveform development, and assessment of the Air Force’s EW capabilities.
“In my opinion, the group we’re building here today at Robins Air Force Base … has the potential to be the most important of our wing’s three missions,” Col. Joshua Koslov, commander of the 350th, said during the activation ceremony, DefenseScoop reported.
“The reason for that is that in order to fight this, the conflicts of the future, we’re going to have to know how well we can execute within the contested spectrum in the EW world,” Koslov added. “And the way we’re going to do that is rigorous assessment, which is a mission set that while we do today, it’s not on the level we need to in the 21st century.”
The wing has already reprogrammed more than 70 types of aircraft, weapons, and other equipment in at least 27 countries.
The Future Spectrum Warfare Group
The new detachments will also contribute to the creation of the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group, which will be tasked with enhancing the service’s electronic warfare assessment programs. The units will work with the electromagnetic spectrum, which is now a key component of part of our modern world.
The 950th is slated to stand up in fiscal 2027 at Robins AFB, and it will take over the Combat Shield effort, which tests aircraft EW systems. The 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing Detachment 1 will serve as a feeder entity for the 950th and will deactivate when the 950th activates. The 87th Electronic Warfare Squadron Detachment 1 is now the first initial squadron for the group that will conduct large force assessments.
The group will be solely focused on EW assessment across the Air Force’s enterprise, and to counter threats from adversaries.
“Our enemies right now are looking at developing countermeasures as they shore up their capabilities against us,” Koslov added. “Our team here at Robins will identify what our weak points are, and be able to point us in the direction we need to go.”
The United States Air Force is not alone in reinvesting in electronic warfare and the related domination of the electromagnetic spectrum, as the Army and Navy, are also reinvigorating efforts as well. The spectrum is employed by all modern militaries to communicate, navigate and guide weapons to targets.
“Standing up these units today gives me the organizational capability to put mission on the table for warfighters,” Koslov said. “We’re depressurizing the administrivia of standing up an organization and allowing them to focus on mission earlier.”
More Electronic Warfighters Needed
The new detachments will eventually have a team of at least 300 people, and it will be recruiting engineers, IT professionals, weapons and tactics, and operation missions specialists.
When the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing was founded in 2021, it began with about 1,200 military and civilian personnel – and had a goal to expand those numbers to about 2,100. Earlier this year, it still had more than 400 civilian and military vacancies to fill. That included those who were technically skilled, but could also teach the rest of the U.S. military how to put these capabilities to use.
The wing’s 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron is such an example. It is now focused on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II’s mission data, and it reprograms every single one of the fifth-generation aircraft in the world. The unit also upgrades older aircraft and maintains the subunit 850th Spectrum Warfare Group, which develops and manages databases and tools used to reprogram Air Force assets.
