FIDAE 2002: A Harbinger of EW to Come?

摘要

The 2002 Feria Internacional del Aire y del Espacio (FIDAE, the International Air and Space Fair) held in early April in Santiago, Chile, presented some of the earliest indications that Latin America may be an emerging market for electronic-warfare systems a few years down the road. The region is already seeing increased interest in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, along with command and control (C~2) capabilities. But this year's FIDAE pointed to the potential for an even greater EW market to come due to the seemingly imminent introduction of highly capable weapons systems, such as beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missiles. The introduction of advanced threat systems such as these will drive an ever greater requirement for EW in Latin America as regional militaries see the need to protect their platforms from these weapons.