The development of Raytheon Australia’s advanced Electronic Warfare Tactical Engagement vehicle reflects the beginning of a new period for electromagnetic spectrum operations (photo: Raytheon)
At first glance, it appears to be a standard camouflaged military vehicle, but it is no ordinary platform.
Raytheon Australia’s Electronic Warfare Tactical Engagement (EWTE) vehicle is a first-of-its-kind sovereign capability developed to help shape the future of Australia’s electromagnetic warfare advantage.
Unveiled in March 2025, the EWTE represents sovereign electronic warfare solutions for the Australian Defence Force (ADF), modernising Australia’s electromagnetic battlespace.
Raytheon Australia Customer Account Manager Dr Thomas Millhouse appreciates the vital role electronic warfare plays in modern military operations, noting Australia is stepping into a new phase in how it achieves spectrum advantage.
“Purpose-built through local investment and company-funded research, the EWTE forms the mobile centrepiece of Raytheon Australia’s broader Electronic Warfare Demonstration Environment, a dedicated platform created to accelerate sovereign innovations, strengthen collaboration with partners and enable fast, informed decision making,” Millhouse said.
Electronic Warfare to Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations: A new operational capability
Electronic Warfare has been defined as the use of the electromagnetic spectrum to control, attack and impede enemy operations. It includes a range of techniques designed to exploit the spectrum for military advantage, including electronic attack, protection, and support.
However, the battlespace is changing.
“The ADF is transitioning away from the traditional EW lexicon toward a broader, more integrated concept, known as Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations, or EMSO. EMSO integrates traditional EW with intelligence and spectrum management. It allows forces to manoeuvre through and control the electromagnetic spectrum. Denying, degrading and disrupting the use of the spectrum to our adversaries, whilst protecting our own use of the spectrum,” Millhouse said.
Raytheon Australia has welcomed this shift, positioning itself Australia’s industry partner for electromagnetic spectrum superiority while embedding EMSO principles across its programmes in every domain.
The aim is to achieve electromagnetic spectrum superiority, contributing to gaining and maintaining information and decision advantage to achieve ADF objectives.
A legacy in supporting Australia’s EMSO mission
Multi Domain Effects Technical Director Brian Balshaw has witnessed Raytheon Australia lead Australia’s sovereign ESMO journey for over two decades.
“Our support of Australia’s EMSO mission began in 1999 with the Electronic Warfare Test Services Learjet 35, a platform that delivered more than 25 years of advanced training and testing for the ADF,” Balshaw said.
“It has helped trial and test critical EMSO capabilities across the services, setting the foundation for future sovereign solutions.”
In 2018, Raytheon Australia expanded its role, becoming the capability steward for Mobile Training and Testing Services, supporting the Royal Australian Air Force’s EA-18G Growler fleet and providing advanced EW training for Defence aircrew.
“By 2020, we delivered a first of type integrated electronic warfare subsystem for the Royal Australian Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyers,” Balshaw said.
“This represented the first fully integrated, sovereign EW capability placed into Australia’s Aegis equipped fleet. From there, Raytheon Australia became the Navy’s strategic partner for the OCTAVES program, a cornerstone of the modernisation of maritime electronic warfare.”
In 2025, Raytheon Australia delivered the Australian Army’s first networked electronic attack capability, bringing advanced EW effects into networked Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles. The same year, the first pods of the Growler’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band were delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force, marking another leap forward in sovereign EMSO capability.
Purpose-built for the future battlespace
The EWTE vehicle is the cutting edge of Australia’s next phase of sovereign EMSO capabilities, enabling:
-Interoperability testing of emerging electronic warfare solutions
-Integration with partner technologies
-Behaviour assessment of command-and-control systems
-Evaluation of future capabilities such as Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems, distributed electronic attack, electromagnetic decoys and EMSO manoeuvre
-Performance measurement in a realistic, land-based environment under contested conditions
-The capability allows operators and engineers to experiment, iterate and validate concepts faster than previously known, ensuring Australia remains ahead of the evolving threat landscape.
Leading the way in Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations
Raytheon Australia is delivering complex electromagnetic capabilities across every domain, to ensure mission success on land, at sea and in the air.
Combining local expertise and a sovereign workforce, Raytheon Australia is committed to developing and delivering a next-generation, integrated and interoperable EW capability to Defence.
Raytheon Australia Multi Domain Effects General Manager Amanda Selway is focused on ensuring Australia has the technology, training and partnerships required to detect, decide and act faster across the electromagnetic battlespace.
“We are ensuring Raytheon Australia is positioned to be the Australian Defence Force’s trusted EMSO partner and the EWTE reflects the beginning of a new era for Australia’s spectrum operations,” Selway said.
What began as a camouflaged vehicle on a South Australian test range has become a purpose-built, sovereign capability designed to prepare Australia for future electronic battles, and an important step forward to achieving electromagnetic spectrum superiority.
(Raytheon)
