Electronic Warfare Specialists Day in Ukraine Date in the current year: September 12, 2024

Electronic warfare, also known as electromagnetic warfare and often shortened to EW, is warfare that involves the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the EM spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy operation. Its main purpose is to ensure friendly unimpeded success to the EM spectrum while denying the opponent the same advantage.

Electronic warfare has been around for more than a century. Its earliest documented use was during the Second Boer War that lasted from 1899 to 1902. The British Army used a searchlight to project Morse code signals onto the clouds. Upon spotting this, the Boers used their own searchlight to jam British signals. Winston Churchill described this early example of EW in his book London to Ladysmith via Pretoria. Another early use of electronic warfare was recorded during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.

During World War II, both the Allies and Axis powers extensively used electronic warfare in what Winston Churchill referred to as the Battle of the Beams: Luftwaffe bombers used radio navigation systems for night bombings in the UK, while the British fought back using jamming and deception signals. With the improvement of radar technology and battlefield communication, electronic warfare also significantly improved. Today, it plays a major role in military operations.

There are thee main subdivisions of modern electronic warfare: electronic attack, electronic protection, and electronic warfare support. Electronic attack (EA), or electronic countermeasure (ECM), involves the offensive use of EM energy, directed energy, or anti-radiation weapons. Electronic protection (EP), or electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM), involves measures intended to protect against enemy EA or unintentional friendly EA. Finally, electronic warfare support (ES) involves intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance.

Electronic Warfare Specialists Day was first established in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in 2006, but in 2012 it became one of many professional holidays in the AFU that were canceled by a decree of the Minister of Defense. It was also ordered to significantly reduce the number of EW units in the AFU, which left the Ukrainian army virtually without electronic warfare support after the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

During the war in Donbas, the AFU’s electronic warfare units gradually recovered, and in September 2021, Lieutenant General Valeriy Zaluzhny, who at the time served as Commander-in-Chief of the AFU, officially reinstated the celebration of Electronic Warfare Specialists Day.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2024, electronic warfare units became even more important in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, because in modern conditions it is simply impossible to conduct ground, air, or naval operations without the use of electronic warfare equipment. For instance, mobile EW teams were created to counter Russian drones.