Two New Electronic Warfare Squadrons Standing Up at Robins

Two new electronic warfare detachments of the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group stood up at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., on Aug. 8. They will become full squadrons in the coming months. The unusual step of starting the units as detachments was taken to speed their standup.

“We are currently awaiting the final approval from Headquarters Air Force to activate the detachments into squadrons,” a 950th Spectrum Warfare Group spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We expect that to be sometime in the next quarter, or in early 2026.” Right now, “they’re getting after everything that they would need … to turn that into a squadron,” she said. That includes getting approvals for manning documents, budget and other administrative functions. The 950th is part of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing.

Detachment 1 will become the 501st Electronic Warfare Squadron and “will provide operational and tactical level assessments through data-driven models and realistic simulations to determine the most effective employment of electromagnetic spectrum warfare operations,” according to a press release. The unit hosts the Electronic Warfare Assessment Laboratory, which verifies “cumulative effectiveness for strike packages” at Combatant Command-level planning events. It does so using modeling and simulation.

The spokesperson said the Air Force can’t use all its electronic warfare tricks in test and training “because we know the enemy is always watching.” The unit thus ensures through simulation that the systems of various aircraft “will work in harmony,” allowing the Air Force “to effectively integrate kinetic and nonkinetic” combat capabilities.

Detachment 2 will become the 81st Electronic Warfare Squadron, which will “support the expansion of the electronic warfare assessment program with a focus on long-range kill chain key enablers,” within a “contested and congested electromagnetic operating environment,” the release states.

“This unit’s mission focuses on assessing our datalinks and their electronic protection features, so that we can ensure dynamic lethality in the presence of enemy jamming,” the spokesperson said.

Detachment 2 commander Lt. Col. Adam Peachman likened the unit’s mission to a sniper team “carefully analyzing the battlefield, identifying threats, and ensuring that warfighters’ shots hit their targets by using sophisticated electromagnetic countermeasures instead of bullets.” He said the unit will “figure out how to make sure that our weapons can reach out and touch the bad guys when they’re doing their best to jam us, hack us, and generally make our lives more difficult.”

The new units will be Active-Duty but have a “blended” component that may include contractors and civilians.

The decision to activate detachments before squadrons “was done deliberately to ensure that these new units are best set up for success,” the spokesperson said, noting “there are no other assessment units like these in the Air Force.” The move permitted hiring of commanders, directors of operation, and other subject matter experts “who are entirely focused on effectively building a solid foundation and support structure, rather than relying on other units to support their mission and operations.”

“Had we opted go straight to a squadron, this would not afford the caliber of expertise required to solely focus on unit development, as it would require a different unit’s leadership team to spend half its time trying to develop a new unit, while also trying to execute its own mission,” she said.

The 950th itself was activated just over a year ago and assesses Air Force EMS capabilities “ranging from individual aircraft components to large-force integration,” according to a press release. Their efforts provide Air Force leaders and commanders an understanding of EMS capabilities, “identify areas for improved ttactics, and inform future acquisitions.”

Also at Robins underneath the 950th is the 17th Electronic Warfare Squadron, which hosts the Electromagnetic Warfare Assessment Center, of which the laboratory will be a part. It provides “real time EMSO (Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations) Assessments for combat operations, as well as Tier 1 and 2 combatant command exercises in preparation for combat operations, so it can verify the cumulative effectiveness of strike packages.“

The spokesperson said this unit ensures the “orchestra” of fighters, bombers, tankers, jamming decoys, and other assets “all flying in the same airspace … is able to play together.” The unit is comprised of combat aviators, intel specialists, and data analysts, “and is equipped and growing to best accomplish the mission.” It is available to advise air operations centers 24 hours a day.  

Col. Michael Middents, commander of the 950th, said the group provides senior Air Force leaders, operators, and acquisition programs “with the actionable data they need to make vital decisions, from the equipment needed to build a ready force to tactical decisions made in the cockpit.”