Barrage jamming

From ArticleWorld

Barrage jamming, a form of electronic attack, refers to the application of jamming signals over a wide range of frequencies, as opposed to spot jamming, which jams only a specific channel.

Barrage jamming comes under the category of cover jamming, which aims to deteriorate the quality of signals used by the enemy. Its main use is to jam enemy communication.

Components of a barrage jammer

A barrage jammer consists of the following main components:

1. Generator: This is used to create a baseband signal which is used by the jammer.
2. Transmitter: This is used to provide power amplification and adjust the bandwidth of the baseband signal.
3. Directional antenna: This is used to prevent the jamming of friendly communication and direct the jamming signals towards the enemy. Its use is very important in barrage jamming, because channels are jammed over a wide range, increasing the possibility of friendly communication being affected.

Comparison with spot jamming

Advantage:

• As frequencies over a wide range are jammed, little information is required about the signals used by the enemy.

Disadvantages:

• A lot of power is wasted, as only those jamming signals that reach the target contribute to the jamming-to-signal ratio.
• The impact of jamming in a particular channel will be reduced as compared to spot jammer, because the jamming power is spread over a large range of frequencies.