Ship Self Defense (Engage: Soft Kill/EW)

The Ship Self Defense (Engage: Soft Kill/EW) program, part of the Navy's Research, Development, Test & Evaluation efforts, focuses on enhancing shipboard electronic warfare capabilities. This initiative includes projects aimed at improving anti-ship missile defense and situational awareness through advanced electronic support and attack systems. A key component is the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP), which upgrades existing systems with new sensors and capabilities. The program also integrates a Soft Kill Coordination System to optimize engagement decisions.

The NULKA Decoy project is a collaborative effort between the United States and Australia, designed to counter radar-guided anti-ship missiles. It employs a broadband radio frequency repeater on a hovering rocket to mimic ship-like trajectories, diverting incoming threats. Current efforts focus on enhancing the decoy's deployment architecture and integrating it with the Soft Kill Coordination System for improved operational effectiveness.

The Long Endurance Electronic Decoy (LEED) aims to deliver an expendable decoy system capable of extended operations. It addresses electronic warfare gaps by providing enhanced coordination and capability against anti-ship missile threats. The program follows a rapid prototyping strategy, with ongoing development of prototypes and system testing to validate critical capabilities before transitioning to production.

Advanced Offboard EW (AOEW) involves developing long-duration decoys integrated with onboard systems to address electronic warfare gaps identified by the fleet. This project includes engineering development models and software integration efforts for maximum effectiveness in coordination with ship systems. The focus is on completing flight certification testing and preparing for operational deployment.

SEWIP Block 3 is advancing electronic attack capabilities to counter evolving threats. It leverages technology from the Integrated Topside Science and Technology effort to provide new transmitters and techniques for surface ships equipped with the AN/SLQ-32 system. The program emphasizes software development for managing engagements and improving system efficiency through advanced power amplifiers.

Scaled Onboard Electronic Attack (SOEA) is an incremental development initiative aimed at providing scalable electronic attack capabilities for ships with specific constraints. It involves rapid prototyping of critical technology elements to validate performance and supportability requirements, with future plans for fielding these capabilities as part of the broader SEWIP family of systems.