Where the chapter on the Fire Control Sequence and the IADS (Executing the fire control sequence using the EMS) describes the defender — the integrated network of radars, command posts and SAM systems — this chapter is about the attacker's answer: taking out that air defence so that friendly aircraft can operate. Two concepts are central:
- SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses): neutralising the air defence temporarily. Often with jamming, decoys or threat — the effect lasts as long as you keep it up.
- DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses): physically destroying the air defence — a lasting effect. SEAD and DEAD are usually carried out in combination: suppress so you can attack safely, destroy to solve the problem for good.
Soft kill vs hard kill
SEAD relies heavily on soft kill — electronic attack (Electronic Counter Measures): jamming and deception that blind the defender's sensors. DEAD is hard kill: missiles and bombs. The EW specialist sits exactly at the interface: the jamming creates the window in which the hard kill becomes possible.