NATO keeps on jamming
From the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton in Somerset (above), the NATO Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS) is responsible for providing NATO nations with Electronic Warfare (EW) expertise, support and training for operations and exercises.
Since January 2014 funding for JEWCS has come from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) backed by a coalition of nine willing NATO nations and engineering support services to the unit have been contracted out.
MASS has a rich heritage in EW and, uniquely, over the last 20 years has played a key role in developing the UK’s electronic warfare database and electronic countermeasures in use on the UK’s military aircraft. The support contract awarded to MASS will enable JEWCS to continue delivering effectively essential training capability. This training helps NATO front line troops remain combat ready for deployment around the world.
Lieutenant Colonel Reinhard Bussler, director of JEWCS, said: “NATO JEWCS is very pleased that the contract with MASS has been successfully achieved and signed. The unlimited use of the Electromagnetic Spectrum by our own forces is a key to success in all aspects of modern military operations.
“The predominant NATO JEWCS effort is to train forces of NATO and its member Nations in the wide field of EW and to provide qualified expertise in order to achieve that aim. The contract with MASS, an established and very experienced partner in matters of EW will enable NATO JEWCS to continue to provide, indeed improve upon, the level and quality of services provided to our current and future customers.
“The contract and anticipated cooperation with MASS provides an important pillar for NATO JEWCS, one which ensures continuity in the successful delivery of EW support and expertise for NATO. NATO JEWCS is now in a much stronger position to be able to continue to provide that support and expertise and to contribute its essential input to the future development of Electronic Warfare.”
Ashley Lane, managing director of MASS, said: “This contract award shows MASS’s strength in the delivery of engineering support services in classified environments, particularly those involving electronic warfare. Our immediate priority is to ensure that the essential training which JEWCS delivers to the NATO front line armed forces continues without any interruption during the transition period.”
