Episode Summary:

In this Aerospace Advantage episode, Heather “Lucky” Penney chats about electronic attack with Col JR Smith, commander of the 55th Electronic Combat Group. 

Maintaining an electromagnetic-based battlespace advantage is essential for twenty first century mission success. That’s why the EC-130H and the new EA-37B are so important. They execute a mission the Air Force calls Compass Call: disrupting enemy command, control, communications, radars, and navigation systems. This allows U.S. forces to maintain a decision advantage, while denying this to the adversary. Nor is Compass Call just about the aircraft and mission systems. Highly trained airmen are key. Compass Call assets also partner with EA-18Gs and F-16CJs as part of a team to facilitate the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD). This episode will explore this mission—how it has developed, current considerations, and where it is going from an operator perspective.

Credits:

Host: Heather “Lucky” Penney, Senior Resident Fellow, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin 

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Col Jeremy R "Smitty" Smith, Commander, 55th Electronic Combat Group

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