Day: January 5, 2024

As technology advances incessantly, so too do the deadly threats appearing on the multi-dimensional electronic battlefield. The challenges to forces on the ground, at sea, and in the air are daunting. Examples include sea skimming missiles, powerful imaging radars deployed from aircraft, and long-range air surveillance and defense radars. The list is virtually endless, and to make matters worse; some of these systems are finding their way into the hands of dangerous, rogue nations and non-state actors.

The stakes are high – the loss of highly trained personnel and costly, difficult to replace platforms and equipment may result in failure or even defeat – so it is imperative that forces be equipped with the tools needed to survive and successfully complete their objectives. To this end, Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Group and Subsidiary, ELTA Systems Ltd., has leveraged its five-decade rich technological heritage as the country’s radar and electronic warfare house, and its culture of innovation, to field the Scorpius family of cutting-edge Electronic Warfare (EW) systems. Offering unmatched protection on land, at sea, and in the air, the Scorpius family redefines the state of the art in EW and Electronic Attack system performance.

AESA and GaN – Game Changing Technologies

The Scorpius product range is based on ELTA’s Active Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) technology. AESA, built with a staring array of wide-band solid state transceivers, provides a dramatic increase both in receiver sensitivity and in Effective Radiated Power (ERP) – far exceeding legacy EW solutions. Furthermore, AESA technology allows narrow multi-beam operation for reception and transmission, enabling the system to detect and target multiple threats simultaneously, across the entire field of regard.

The Scorpius family also incorporates the latest Gallium Nitrate (GaN) technology, which provides much higher power density and efficiency than previous generation Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) transistors, maximizing power and reducing energy consumption.

Leveraging AESA’s exceptional sensitivity, the Scorpius family is able to detect and track advanced threats such as low probability-of-intercept (LPI) radars and long-range targets. Furthermore, with its superior ERP, Scorpius disrupts and degrades enemy radars with unparalleled effect. Scorpius effectively protects assets against modern airborne, shipborne and land-based threats, including fire-control radars, search radars, active missile seekers, and imaging radars.

Meet the Family

Scorpius-G (ELL-8256SB) Scorpius-G (ELL-8256SB) is a powerful ground-based, state-of-the-art, long-distance RF Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system. Scorpius-G effectively intercepts, analyzes, locates, tracks and jams a wide variety of airborne and land-based systems including fire control radars, search radars, AEW sensors, and SAR. The system is based on advanced and innovative technology featuring Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) with Gallium-Nitride (GaN) Solid State Amplifiers (SSA). The novel design provides exceptional receiver sensitivity and Effective Radiated Power (ERP) transmission, far exceeding those of legacy EW solutions. The enhanced sensitivity and ERP enable Scorpius-G to detect, distort and degrade enemy radars even through their side lobes, greatly increasing the system’s jamming effectiveness.

The AESA technology allows for narrow, simultaneous multi-beam operation. Digital multibeam forming provides unprecedented sensitivity and the ability to target multiple threats individually. The system can detect very low signals, simultaneously jam numerous emitters over its entire frequency range while covering a wide geographic sector and displays an Electronic Order of Battle (EOB). The system is driven by a pre-programmed Mission Data File (MDF) and can operate automatically.

Scorpius-T (ELL-8257SB) Scorpius-T is a multi-threat Electronic Warfare (EW) emulator for aircrew training and system testing and evaluation, creating unprecedented diverse and effective training scenario – including advanced training scenarios for fourth and fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Scorpius-T trains aircrews and EW operators in handling realistic, signal-dense, multi-threat environments.

The system emulates a wide range of emitters, including modern long-range threats. Using a programmable and updatable threat database, current and future threats are supported – including surface-to-air missile systems, radar systems, and communication links.

With AESA multi-beam capability, the system can simultaneously engage multiple trainee aircraft with different threat patterns.

Scorpius-N (ELL-8256SB) is ELTA’s powerful shipborne EW suite combining advanced Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) capabilities. It comprises four conformal antenna array panels, each housing transceiver arrays that cover a wide frequency range, a control unit for processing and managing operations, and an operator console that includes maintenance and training functions.

Scorpius Escort Jammer (EJ) is designed to suppress all types of air surveillance and fire control radars, creating a safe corridor along a mission flight path. This flexible system can be installed as a pod on the centerline station of a fighter aircraft. Transport and support aircraft can accommodate the pod on an external mount and a version configured for internal installation is also available.

Scorpius-SP (ELL-8222SB) is designed to provide advanced protection to individual aircraft. Mounted within ELTA’s proven, compact, lightweight, low drag pod configuration, which is similar in contour to an air-to-air missile, the system can be installed on all wing stations.

ELTA offers an extensive portfolio of high-performance and field-proven payloads and systems on a wide range of platforms. System solutions cover integrated EW (ESM/ECM), Radar, EO/IR, IMINT, Launch Detection Systems (LDS), SAR/GMTI, SIGINT, and cyber. This ability to deliver game changing solutions such as the Scorpius EW family, at the strategic and tactical levels to customers worldwide, is a key factor in ELTA’s ability to maintain its position as a trailblazer in advanced defense electronics.

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Israel has recently unveiled a new electronic warfare system called Scorpius that its manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries, says has capabilities that will revolutionize electronic warfare.

Asked about the namesake of this system, Gideon Fustick, Marketing VP EW Group at IAI, said it intends to convey “the sense of an innocuous thing that actually has a very powerful sting.” 

“We call it ‘soft protection.’ It’s an offensive weapon that doesn’t send out missiles. It’s not a hard-kill system,” Fustick told me. “And yet it is very effective in engaging and disabling enemy systems.” 

Here’s why IAI thinks this new system is in a league of its own. 

“More and more of the activity in warfare is going into the electromagnetic domain,” Fustick said. “Planes, missiles, UAVs are all using electromagnetic magnetic means, to sense the environment, to navigate, and to communicate.”

Illustration of the training version of Israel’s Scorpius electronic warfare system, the Scorpius T, … [+] developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.

Courtesy of Israel Aerospace Industries.

“The enemy is trying to use the electromagnetic domain for all these activities,” he said. “We are also trying to use them. And we’re each trying to deny the other side from the use of the electromagnetic domain.” 

He added that this domain is quickly becoming a battlefield in its own right.

Effective modern electromagnetic warfare requires the know-how to detect and counter various threats coming from all directions. 

Unlike previous systems, which Fustick says are “inherently limited,” the Scorpius uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology to scan the entire sky and can send narrowly targeted beams – “at any wavelength, any frequency, any direction against specific targets without interfering with anybody else” – that disrupt enemy electronic sensors, data communications, navigation and radar.

“It’s the first system that can really detect anything in the sky and address multiple targets in different directions and different frequencies simultaneously,” he said. 

‘A revolution in electronic warfare.’

While prior EW systems can neutralize specific targets, or perhaps a couple of targets, the Scorpius can take out anything in the sky and engage multiple targets simultaneously.

“That is a revolution in electronic warfare,” Fustick said. 

Before the innovation of such narrow beams, operators of EW systems only had two options. They could either aim a single narrow beam around the sky in search of a target, which is very difficult to do, or use a wider beam. 

“If you’re using the wider beam, then you’re definitely catching your target, but you’re also catching a whole lot of other stuff, including friendly forces in the same beam,” Fustick said. 

Scorpius’ combined use of a wide beam, to scan for potential threats in all directions, and narrow beams, to target such threats, gives its operator “wide effect with minimum collateral interference.” 

“We believe this is the revolution. It’s the future of electronic warfare,” Fustick said. 

Illustration of the land-based Scorpius G electronic warfare system built by Israel Aerospace … [+] Industries.

Courtesy of Israel Aerospace Industries

The ground version of the system, the Scorpius G, is designed to defend a battle arena against a variety of threats with complete 360-degree coverage. As a result, Fustick said, the system “becomes not only a tool for taking out a specific target, but it creates an electronic umbrella of defense over a whole region.”

“That’s something that was simply not possible with previous electronic warfare technology,” he added. “So, it’s not only new capabilities. It’s a new product category.” 

Zero price per activation

There are obvious advantages for operators of such a system. The Scorpius’ capability to neutralize targets such as drones by simply targeting them with narrow beams reduces the need to use missiles or other munitions, which can be quite expensive. 

“One of the advantages about electronic or soft defense systems is that the price per activation is virtually zero,” Fustick said. “You don’t run out of ammunition, and there is no question of ‘do I or do I not engage that particular threat.'” 

The training model of the new system, the Scorpius-T, was recently showcased by the Israeli Air Force in the recent multinational Blue Flag exercise in the country, the largest such exercise in Israel’s history. The Scorpius T can simulate newer threats that are relevant for fifth-generation aircraft. 

“It is the only training system that can engage fifth-generation aircraft and was very publicly in view and successful operation during the Blue Flag exercise,” Fustick said. 

Scorpius systems have already been exported to “several prominent customers.” 

Fustick concluded by noting that this new technology has “an extremely broad range of applications.” 

Scorpius SP (self-protection) electronic warfare pod built for combat aircraft built by Israel … [+] Aerospace Industries.

Courtesy of Israel Aerospace Industries.

These include a self-protection pod for combat aircraft, the Scorpius SP, and a standoff jammer, the Scorpius SJ.

The naval version, the Scorpius N, is optimized for defending ships against threats such as drones and over-the-horizon anti-ship cruise missiles and, like its land-based counterpart, can generate huge amounts of very powerful beams.