Keysight and SRC UK advance EW test modernisation

Keysight Technologies and SRC UK have formed a strategic collaboration to support electronic warfare customers modernising their test and simulation environments, with a focus on accelerating adoption of Keysight’s EW Advanced Simulation Platform.

The collaboration is designed to help defence organisations move toward open, scalable, and software-defined EW test architectures while preserving existing threat libraries and test assets. SRC UK will provide in-country engineering, mission data, integration, and support expertise, while Keysight contributes EWASP architecture, scenario generation, and wider test and measurement capability.

Electronic warfare is now one of the most demanding areas of defence development. Radar warning receivers, electronic support measures, jammers, decoys, communications intelligence systems, mission data files, and defensive aids suites all depend on accurate modelling of the electromagnetic environment. As threat emitters become more agile and software-defined, test environments must reproduce more complex scenarios at higher fidelity and with shorter update cycles.

The validation burden is growing across the sector. EW equipment cannot be treated as hardware that is built once and left unchanged. Its performance depends on software, mission data, threat libraries, waveform generation, RF behaviour, signal-processing algorithms, and platform integration. A new radar mode, missile seeker, data link, or jammer technique can force rapid updates to the way equipment is tested and validated.

Open and scalable architectures help defence organisations avoid a costly break between legacy assets and modern test requirements. Many customers hold large investments in threat databases, test ranges, laboratory equipment, and mission data processes. Preserving those assets while introducing more flexible simulation tools gives users a more practical route to modernisation than replacing entire test environments in one step.

SRC UK’s role gives the collaboration a domestic support layer for UK and allied users. EW work often involves sensitive mission data, national threat libraries, classified operating requirements, and close interaction with platform teams. Global test platforms can provide capability, but customers still need local engineering teams able to configure systems, support integration, train users, and handle nationally sensitive requirements.

The same pressure can be seen across the electronic attack and mission systems market. Interest in expanding EA-37B electronic attack capacity through USAF seeks larger EA-37B fleet reflects a wider appetite for software-defined electronic warfare, rapid mission-system updates, and aircraft that can adapt to changing emitters. Laboratory test and simulation systems have to keep pace with that operational shift.

Manufacturers face a difficult engineering environment because EW sits close to the boundary between design, intelligence, and operations. A radar or communications system can be specified through conventional performance requirements; an EW system must also respond to a changing threat picture. Engineers need to model emitters, generate realistic scenarios, measure system responses, reproduce edge cases, and repeat tests consistently enough to support certification and acceptance.

Software-defined EW adds further complexity. Moving more functionality into reprogrammable systems increases update speed, but it also raises the need for disciplined verification. A software update that improves performance against one scenario must not degrade another mode, create timing problems, or introduce unexpected behaviour when integrated with platform avionics, power systems, antennas, or other sensors.

Repeatable simulation becomes essential because live testing alone cannot cover the full range of electromagnetic conditions. Complex air, land, and maritime platforms may face multiple emitters, contested communications, jamming, spoofing, passive detection, and degraded navigation at the same time. Test teams need controlled environments where those combinations can be reproduced, varied, and measured without relying solely on expensive range activity.

That requirement is creating demand for modular RF test systems, digital twins, scenario libraries, automated regression testing, threat emulation, and integrated measurement environments. It is also pushing suppliers toward service-heavy models, where engineering support, training, knowledge transfer, and lifecycle updates carry as much weight as the original equipment sale.

For production teams, better EW simulation can shorten development cycles and reduce integration risk. Problems found in the lab are cheaper to fix than faults discovered during platform trials or operational test. More flexible test environments can also help manufacturers manage multiple configurations for different customers, especially where platforms use national mission data or country-specific threat libraries.

The collaboration between Keysight and SRC UK strengthens that part of the defence production chain. Faster and more repeatable validation can help customers bring EW equipment into service with greater confidence, while preserving the data and test assets already built up over years. As electromagnetic threats become more complex, the companies that can test, update, and validate EW systems quickly will sit close to the centre of future defence capability.