Ship's Offensive ECM Button

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DWReese
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Location: Miami, Florida

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by DWReese »

I just ran a bunch of tests.

The first was with a ship that had both OECM and DECM on board, and all electronics on. The ship also has an additional OECM pod. The attack revealed that the 20 percent was deducted from the calculations. This obviously means that the DECM was working fine.

I then ran the same test, excluding the additional OECM pod. The results were the same.

Next, I ran a test after removing the DECM pod, so that the ship only has the extra OECM pod. Again I ran it with all of the radars on. Since everything was on, the planes were able to attack the ship without a problem.

Next I turned all of the radars off. I had both the OECM and the DECM pods still on board, but with all electronic off. The planes generally "knew" where the ship was. As it approached, the ship activated its electronics, and again everything worked fine.

Next, I ran a test after I removed the DECM pod, and I had the OEC pod active, along with the other electronics. The ship displayed "Jam" and the planes indicated that they were being "Jammed", just as they should. In fact, the jamming, just from the pod alone (without the DECM present) was enough to keep the planes from being able to get an exact fix on the ship. They did eventually fire at the ship, but the target was never very firm. This works fine.

I believe that everything works fine.

The question remains, however, in real life when would a ship activate its DECM pod? Does it only activate that when it is under attack? That is how it is handled in CMO. Or, is a DECM ever activated without the enemy being seen?

Additionally, the same question needs to be asked of the OECM pod. Would it only be activated if the ship is attacking something, or is it something that a ship would activate as a preventative measure, even if no enemy was currently present? Tactically, I'm not sure how it is handled in real life.
tylerblakebrandon
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Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 5:16 pm

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by tylerblakebrandon »

DWReese wrote: Wed Dec 10, 2025 5:19 pm
The question remains, however, in real life when would a ship activate its DECM pod? Does it only activate that when it is under attack? That is how it is handled in CMO. Or, is a DECM ever activated without the enemy being seen?

Additionally, the same question needs to be asked of the OECM pod. Would it only be activated if the ship is attacking something, or is it something that a ship would activate as a preventative measure, even if no enemy was currently present? Tactically, I'm not sure how it is handled in real life.
From what is in open source material I have seen the way CMO handles DECM is fairly accurate.

OECM use on ships will depend on time period abs situation. A Cold War PCFG with shorter range SSM may use it to prevent a solid contact to get into firing range when making an attack. A modern DDG may use it as a preventative to obscure their exact position when detection cannot be avoided. It's a judgment call you need to make based on the tactical situation and your available units.
Nikel
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Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:51 am

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by Nikel »

AI answers.

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DWReese
Posts: 2538
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:40 am
Location: Miami, Florida

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by DWReese »

What was a little surprising in my tests was that the presence of the OECM jammer did yield a direction, but not a precise location of the OECM ship. It merely indicated a jammer was present along this axis. It wasn't until they got closer that it was more defined. Of course, the detecting unit was JAMMED.

The DECM seems to work just as expected.

The OECM in real life seems to be a bit of an enigma. It can cause problems for the enemy which is trying to locate the ship, but if a launch is made toward the ship's general direction, then the OECM doesn't seem to have any more impact at that point. The DECM, of course, does have an impact.

I can definitely see a use for a ship-born OECM in a SSM battle where the ships aren't too far apart, and that might want to make you activate it. But, to do so otherwise might be problematic.
tylerblakebrandon
Posts: 500
Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 5:16 pm

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by tylerblakebrandon »

DWReese wrote: Wed Dec 10, 2025 9:29 pm What was a little surprising in my tests was that the presence of the OECM jammer did yield a direction, but not a precise location of the OECM ship. It merely indicated a jammer was present along this axis. It wasn't until they got closer that it was more defined. Of course, the detecting unit was JAMMED.
This is exactly what it is supposed to do. Obscure you exact location and require the enemy to get much closer to burn through and resolve ambiguity, hopefully bringing them inside your WEZ before they can and be destroyed.
DWReese
Posts: 2538
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:40 am
Location: Miami, Florida

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by DWReese »

This is exactly what it is supposed to do. Obscure you exact location and require the enemy to get much closer to burn through and resolve ambiguity, hopefully bringing them inside your WEZ before they can and be destroyed.

I needed to be more precise. I knew that the exact location would not be made known, but I did initially think that the type of jammer would be identified, thus revealing the possible unit doing the jamming.

On a related subject, most of these state that they use I and J frequencies. Some of the early ones go from B to H (?). Does this mean that if the radar does not fall within those that it would not be subjected to jamming? I have never really studied these that much.
tylerblakebrandon
Posts: 500
Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 5:16 pm

Re: Ship's Offensive ECM Button

Post by tylerblakebrandon »

DWReese wrote: Thu Dec 11, 2025 12:58 am This is exactly what it is supposed to do. Obscure you exact location and require the enemy to get much closer to burn through and resolve ambiguity, hopefully bringing them inside your WEZ before they can and be destroyed.

I needed to be more precise. I knew that the exact location would not be made known, but I did initially think that the type of jammer would be identified, thus revealing the possible unit doing the jamming.

On a related subject, most of these state that they use I and J frequencies. Some of the early ones go from B to H (?). Does this mean that if the radar does not fall within those that it would not be subjected to jamming? I have never really studied these that much.
So so ecm systems may be able to identify a jammer and yes the relative band coverage of the OECM emitter vs the sensor being jammed will determine the jamming effectiveness.
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