By Martin Rofheart, CEO, Applied Signals Intelligence
The modern electromagnetic battlespace is changing faster than at any time in recent history. Electronic warfare systems, RF-enabled weapons, and distributed sensing architectures now shape every domain of conflict. As these pressures intensify, one reality has become clear: the future of RF intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (RF ISR-T) will rely on compact, highly survivable sensors deployed on small unmanned systems.
The shift from large, manned aircraft and Group 3+ UAS toward smaller Group 1 and Group 2 platforms is not merely an evolution in technology. It is a direct response to the demands of operating inside contested, degraded, and denied electromagnetic environments. Smaller UAS are more survivable, more numerous, and more adaptable to the dynamic requirements of modern operations.
A Battlespace That Demands New Approaches
Two categories of RF systems now dominate the operational environment.
The first includes denial-focused systems such as navigation jammers, communications jammers, counter-battery radars, and air-defense radars. These systems degrade GPS, disrupt datalinks, and restrict maneuver, creating complex operational constraints.
The second includes highly mobile RF-emitting threats such as missiles, swarming UAS, and radar-equipped vehicles. Their emissions are short-lived, their trajectories unpredictable, and their relevance measured in seconds. Detecting and geolocating these targets requires sensors capable of rapid response and real-time insight.
Legacy ISR architectures are not built for these challenges. Multi-aircraft geolocation techniques depend on GPS synchronization, coordinated flight geometries, and reliable datalinks—conditions that cannot be guaranteed in contested airspace. Meanwhile, traditional single-platform precision direction finding has historically required the size, power, and protection of large ISR aircraft, which are often too valuable and too scarce to commit forward.
A Breakthrough in Compact RF Sensing
Air Force Special Operations Command has publicly signaled its interest in low SWaP electronic warfare and data relay payloads for small and medium UAS. This reflects a broader operational demand for capabilities that can survive and perform in contested environments. Compact Electromagnetic Vector Sensor (EMVS) sensors directly support these emerging requirements by enabling precision RF sensing from the very platforms AFSOC seeks to employ.
A new generation of Ultrawideband Electromagnetic Vector Sensors is transforming what small UAS can do in the RF domain.
Historically, EMVS technologies were confined to large, low-frequency installations. Today’s compact EMVS operate from HF through 18+ GHz, weigh less than four pounds, and fit within volumes compatible with small UAS, Launched Effects, high-altitude balloons, and one-way UAVs.
Unlike conventional antenna arrays that compute direction from phase differences across physically separated elements, EMVS determine signal direction from the local structure of the electromagnetic field vector. This eliminates the need for antenna baselines and dramatically reduces system size without sacrificing capability.
This combination of size, bandwidth, and agility brings precision DF performance to platforms once considered too small for meaningful RF ISR-T roles.
A New Architecture for RF ISR-T
Compact EMVS technologies enable a new vision for RF ISR-T characterized by:
- Distributed sensing instead of reliance on a small number of high-value ISR aircraft
- Ubiquitous, layered coverage using many small platforms
- Real-time detection of fleeting or fast-moving emitters
- Higher survivability and reduced operational risk
This approach makes RF ISR-T scalable, resilient, and persistent in ways conventional architectures cannot match.
The Path Forward
The future of RF ISR-T will be defined by small, agile sensors that deliver timely threat awareness from platforms able to survive inside contested electromagnetic environments. EMVS technology makes this possible, enabling precision direction finding from small unmanned systems.
ASI’s SNITCH™ embodies this shift, bringing advanced RF sensing and 3D DF capability to compact airborne platforms and helping create the distributed, resilient sensing architectures modern operations require.
We are committed to advancing these technologies and delivering practical, operational capabilities that allow forces to sense more broadly, react more rapidly, and maintain electromagnetic advantage across the battlespace.
