Naval warfare was confined for centuries to surface combat and undersea clashes. In the 20th century, aerial warfare became the third domain, and shortly thereafter, the electromagnetic spectrum also appeared. When navies began to make use of the airwaves, they soon discovered those waves could also be exploited as a source of information about the opposing force, beginning the discipline of electronic intelligence (ELINT). Furthermore, navies learned the value of interrupting or corrupting the enemy’s communication signals that were transmitted in the “ether," leading to the method of fighting termed electronic warfare (EW).

In this book, Wildenberg cuts through the secrecy about this understandably mysterious domain of combat. He offers details on aircraft and methods and provides a layman’s set of definitions of terms. Wildenberg shares lessons learned from World War II skirmishes as well as clashes in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, while providing the audience with a foundational understanding of this complex form of combat in all its forms.

This book discloses rarely covered concepts and methods that will shape future conflict among great powers.

About the Author:
Thomas Wildenberg is an independent historian and scholar with special interests in aviators, naval aviation, and technological innovation in the military. He has written extensively about the U.S. Navy during the interwar period. His articles have appeared in several scholarly journals, including the Journal of Military History, American Neptune, Air Power History, and U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. He is the author of several books on naval history covering such varied topics as replenishment at sea, the development of dive bombing, and the history of the torpedo in the U.S. Navy. His interest in the personalities of innovators has led to books on Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, Billy Mitchel, Charles Stark Draper, and Howard Hughes. His latest work, “The Origins of Aegis,” has just been released by the Naval Institute Press.

Mr. Wildenberg served as a Ramsey Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum from 1999-2000. He is a recipient of the Arthur W. Radford Award for Excellence in Naval Aviation History (2012), the Surface Navy Association Literary Award (2005), and two John Laymen Awards from the North American Society for Oceanic History for best naval history (2013) and best biography (2003). He received the Air Force Historical Foundation's award for the best article in the 2009 volume of Air Power History, was awarded an honorable mention in the Ernest J. Eller Prize in Naval History (1994), and received the Edward S. Miller Naval War College Research Fellowship (1998).