The U.S. Army is reimagining how it develops, fields, and operationalizes electromagnetic warfare (EW) capabilities — and speed is at the heart of the effort. Colonel Leslie Gorman, Army Capability Manager for Electromagnetic Warfare at the Development Integration Directorate, explains that the service is several years into a major transformation that moves away from the slow, legacy requirements process and toward an agile, iterative model designed to deliver results fast.
Gorman describes this shift as a fundamental change in mindset. “How do we get those forces out into the field within zero to next two years? How do we train? How do we fight? How do we operationalize our capabilities on the battlefield?” she asks. The answer, she says, is to keep the process close to the warfighter, build in rapid feedback, and make adjustments in real time — an approach designed to match the pace of modern conflict.
The changes Gorman describes are not limited to technology alone. “It’s all of the above,” she says when asked if the transformation applies to operations, tactics, or technology. The Army is updating training programs, rewriting doctrine, and addressing policy questions to ensure that soldiers are fully prepared to fight and win using EW capabilities.
Central to her role, Gorman explains, is ensuring that these capabilities are not just developed but truly operationalized. That means thinking about how soldiers will train, how they will fight, and how new tools will be integrated into daily operations. It’s a comprehensive approach that looks beyond hardware and software to include people, processes, and strategy.
One of the key drivers of this transformation is what the Army has learned by watching modern conflicts. Gorman points out that EW took something of a “backseat” for about 10–15 years, with limited use during OIF and OEF compared to prior wars like World War II
and Vietnam. That changed when the Army observed Russia’s actions starting in 2008 and continuing through Crimea, Georgia, and Ukraine in 2014.
“We were able to observe their weaponization of the electromagnetic spectrum on the battlefield,” she says. Today, lessons from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continue to shape the Army’s approach. Both nations have used not just military but also commercial communications and have leveraged rapid innovation to target each other on the battlefield.
This, Gorman explains, has forced the Army to think differently about EW. Barrage jamming — once the default option — can disrupt friendly communications as much as adversary signals. Instead, the Army is observing and developing more deliberate, targeted effects that minimize unintended consequences and give soldiers an advantage.
Another major shift Gorman highlights is the convergence of EW with cyber operations and information operations. “You cannot cannibalize these capabilities separately,” she says. Instead, they are being woven together in a way that creates greater effects on the battlefield.
She points to the concept of “ubiquitous sensing” and “invisible effects,” where cyber-enabled EW and RF-enabled cyber capabilities overlap to deliver outcomes that go beyond traditional definitions. Social media and information operations also play a role, creating what she calls “information advantage” that ties together cyber, EW, and other tools to influence the fight.
Gorman says this convergence is leading to a bigger conversation across the Army: how to achieve electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) superiority. The analogy she shares is “owning the night,” a reference to the widespread adoption of night vision goggles in the 1980s. Just as that technology transformed how the Army fought then, EW and EMS operations are poised to change how the Army fights today.
Achieving EMS superiority involves both EW and spectrum operations, and Gorman notes that the two disciplines are converging on the battlefield. The goal is to be able to sense, understand, and decide on the right non-kinetic effect to deliver against an adversary’s signal while protecting friendly communications.
A critical part of this effort is visibility. Gorman says the Army is rolling out spectrum awareness tools and modernizing existing EW planning capabilities, such as EWPMT, through software updates. These capabilities allow soldiers to “see themselves” on the battlefield — to understand their own signals, detect adversary signals of interest, and make decisions about how to act.
By combining these tools with intelligence and operations data, the Army can deliver precise, effective EW effects that support commanders’ objectives.
For Gorman, the transformation of EW is about more than just new systems — it’s about creating a lasting framework for modernization. She wants to ensure that future generations of soldiers have the doctrine, training, and tools they need to fight effectively in the electromagnetic spectrum.