Why electronic warfare depends on secret threat libraries

Could pervasive electronic warfare force navies back to human eyesight and unguided weapons?

Optical recognition and multimode seekers are expected to keep evolving, while electronic warfare still depends on detailed knowledge of opposing sensors and countermeasures.

Heavy electronic interference prompts the suggestion that weapons will rely more on onboard optical recognition. Electro-optical, millimetre-wave, and multimode seekers are examples of different sensor approaches already being combined. Electronic warfare also depends on what each side knows about the other's sensors and defences. The reported compromise of a threat library illustrates why revealing that knowledge can matter more than revealing one weapon project. Software changes can alter the contest weekly once fighting starts. A recalled Cold War submarine-quieting example makes the same point, although the participants revise its date and do not establish the individual's identity.