From the Crows' Nest

Electromagnetic spectrum operations touch nearly every part of modern warfare, yet the mission still has no clear owner.

For today’s conversation, Ken Miller sits down with Armada International editor and military historian Dr. Thomas Withington to break down why EMSO remains so hard to organize and prioritize. Together, they discuss whether a dedicated EMSO authority could coordinate the services and cut duplicate procurement, then they walk through a hypothetical GPS-jamming crisis in the Baltic to ask who would lead the military and civilian response if critical infrastructure were hit. They also make the case for distributed, affordable land EW systems, drawing on Ukraine’s real-world testing experience, and ask whether NATO needs an EW version of Red Flag.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Special operations teams rely on the spectrum to communicate and see the battlefield, but every signal they send also tells an opponent where to look.

For today’s conversation, Ken Miller sits down with retired Colonel Jeff Fischer to break down how the special operations and spectrum warfare communities can work more closely together. Together, they discuss what Fischer saw at the Global Special Operations Forces event in Rome, what the EC-130H Compass Call airframe retirement means for airborne electronic attack mission and the future of the new EA-37B Compass Call, why Europe may be the best market for multi-role business-jet platforms, and how cheap drones that home in on radio signals could turn any jammer or transmitter into a target.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Recent operations involving Iran have handed the US direct lessons in electromagnetic warfare, and the open question is whether the Pentagon will act on them.

For today's conversation, Ken Miller sits down with John Knowles, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Electromagnetic Dominance (JED), to break down what Operation Epic Fury means for EMSO. Together, they discuss directed energy moving into production, why buying more interceptors is easier than changing organizations, and AOC's push for an EMSO combat support agency. John also argues for a dedicated DOD Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) for spectrum and explains why Golden Dome and counter-UAS make shared spectrum an operational problem at home.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today's topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

An operation planned around the electromagnetic spectrum as an afterthought works right up until the enemy adapts to it.

For today's conversation, Ken Miller sits down with retired Colonel Dr. William "Dollar" Young, AOC Board Member Scott “Sherm” Oliver, and Booz Allen Director of Defense Technology Group Jarod Patton to break down what came out of INFOPAC 2026. Together, they discuss why false certainty is dangerous in AI-enabled systems and how double-loop learning helps commanders test their own assumptions before committing to a theory of victory. The conversation also gets into what lessons from Ukraine mean for rapid reprogramming and scalable EW systems.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today's topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Without a NATO-style alliance to lean on, electromagnetic warfare readiness in the Indo-Pacific depends on regional cooperation that the industry is still building from scratch.

For today's conversation, Ken Miller closes out coverage from AOC Asia 2026 in Adelaide, Australia, with three separate conversations: Jang Pyo Kim, AOC Regional Director for Asia Pacific and Chief Principal Researcher at the Agency for Defense Development, on why the region needs its own recurring forum, Hope Sneddon, an embedded software engineer at DesignWorks, on what electromagnetic warfare can borrow from game development, and David de Haaij, Chief Technology Officer at Black Art Technologies, on RF and antenna design in a congested threat environment. Together, they discuss coalition interoperability and software-defined platforms, plus the industrial base needed to keep pace with a faster, more contested spectrum.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today's topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Spectrum control now sits at the center of Indo-Pacific defense planning, and AI is changing both how allies coordinate and how China pursues electromagnetic advantage. 

For today's conversation, Ken Miller sits down with Dr. Nathan Johnson, president of the AOC Australia-New Zealand chapter, and Dr. Chen Yi Tu (Crystal), a research fellow at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, to break down what AOC Asia 2026 revealed about the region's security outlook. Together, they discuss why AOC Asia was paired with Australia's ADSTAR event, how coalition warfare demands shared frameworks across the Indo-Pacific, and how China is advancing EMSO through military-civil fusion, AI-assisted monitoring, and influence in international regulatory bodies.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today's topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Four countries, one test range, and a shared problem: How do you stop a drone or a remote-detonated bomb before it does damage?

Ken Miller is back with more on NATO's Thor's Hammer 2026 exercise, this time talking with military and industry experts from Norway, Australia, Germany, and the US. They discuss how RF signal suppression holds up in terrain that doesn't cooperate, why comparing notes matters as much as the equipment itself, and why having someone outside your own country check your results tends to catch things you'd miss on your own.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Electromagnetic warfare exercises give NATO a way to test new technology against real threats before those threats show up on a battlefield.

For today's conversation, Ken Miller sits down with military and industry experts from Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands to break down NATO's Thor's Hammer 2026 exercise. The exercise tests systems built to detect and disable drones, and to find and neutralize remote-detonated bombs. With his guests, Ken discusses how the exercise runs these tests, what role lab-based simulations and simulated jamming environments play in speeding up development, and how NATO's smaller member nations work alongside larger ones to build systems that hold up under real interference.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

The defense budget process plays a critical role in shaping military priorities, technology investments, and the future of electromagnetic warfare.

For today’s conversation, Ken Miller sits down with Katy Nazaretova of Forza DC to break down how authorization and appropriations legislation moves through Congress. Together, they discuss the policymaking process, advocacy strategies on Capitol Hill, and how election-year dynamics can influence congressional decisions affecting electromagnetic spectrum operations.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

Joint ventures and teaming arrangements can be your fastest path to a defense contract win – or your most expensive lesson. Knowing which to use and how makes all the difference.

Ken Miller sits down with government contract advisor Jenna Girompini to break down the legal and strategic distinctions between the two. Together, they explore how top contractors build alliances and examine how rising defense budgets and an increasingly global market are reshaping the rules of collaboration.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.