Army alters approach for electromagnetic spectrum planning tool

Following the cancelation of a planned contract approach for the Army’s electronic warfare command-and-control system, the service announced it will be pivoting to a new framework.

The Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool (EWPMT) serves as a C2 planning capability that allows forces to visualize potential effects within the invisible spectrum and chart courses of action to prevent their forces and systems from being jammed during operations.

As DefenseScoop first reported, the Army canceled a task order for the next phase of the program that had been planned.

In an announcement Tuesday, the Army said it is shifting EWMPT’s electromagnetic warfare and spectrum management capabilities to the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) framework, where applications for situational awareness data and geospatial visualizations can be created.

This information is displayed on Android-based devices mounted to soldiers’ chests, vehicles or operations center screens.

“Transition to the TAK framework is consistent with ongoing efforts to deliver capability at speed by leveraging common technologies across the Services with a similar user experience,” the Army said in a release. “The TAK user community collaborates across the EW user space and presents opportunities for technology advancement and integration across the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and the Joint Communities of Interest.”

The Army noted that while it will continue to prioritize its current service-specific fielding of EWPMT’s first increment, the program office will begin piloting this architecture with the Marine Corps.

“This strategic move aims to ensure that EWPMT is a relevant capability at the forefront of emerging operational requirements,” the Army said. “The results of the U.S. Army-USMC collaboration on the TAK-X foundation will provide for microservice-based, modular software architecture satisfying Joint and individual Service requirements. It will enable agile development, integration, and ability to rapidly adjust to evolving operational requirements.”

For years, there has been collaboration between the Army and Marines on EWPMT and other EW and EW visualization efforts from a ground service perspective. Furthermore, all the services are looking to converge on more joint solutions and standards in line with the Pentagon’s top priority of Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control that aims to better connect systems and data streams for faster decision-making.

In the electronic warfare realm, the Defense Information Systems Agency is developing a joint solution for visualizing and planning operations within the spectrum dubbed Electromagnetic Battle Management–Joint. It awarded a $9.8 million other transaction agreement to Palantir to develop a prototype earlier this year.

The first releases of the modernized architecture, which the Army is calling EWPMT-X, will be piloted and demonstrated over the next year, the service said, in order to get operator feedback. If the pilot is successful, EWPMT-X will replace the current version of EWPMT in fiscal 2026, moving toward a joint electronic warfare and spectrum management set of capabilities.