What is the difference between electronic support measuerment and ELINT?

Answer 1

A key fundamental difference in the practical use of the terms is under what authority the operations are conducted - Title 10 or Title 50.

Electronic Support Measurement (ESM) is the interception and processing of RF signals in support of tactical military operations, rather than for intelligence collection purposes. For example, the AWACS ESM system executes RF interception and signal processing to provide AWACS and other systems with a current picture of the Electronic Order of Battle (who's transmitting what kind of signals from where, what does the RF picture mean, and what can we do about it - e.g., setting the right parameters for Electronic Countermeasures or jamming).

ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) is the interception and processing of RF signals for the purpose of gathering intelligence, either tactical or strategic. The charter for ELINT collection is in the Intelligence Community (IC); when military units do ELINT, they are executing as a Service Cryptologic Component (SCC) using delegated authority from the appropriate chartered IC element.

Different organizations in the US DoD use custom modifiers to better define what they mean by ELINT. "Technical ELINT" is ELINT that seeks to obtain fine detail in the measurement of signal parameters; "Tactical ELINT" is ELINT that provides intelligence in direct support of the tactical warfighter mission.

With modern technology, the requirements for sensors and processors to effectively execute the ESM and ELINT missions have converged. Also, warfighter needs and resource limitations are driving ELINT systems to support near real-time needs of the tactical warfighter. As the capabilities of the systems converge, only one real difference remains between ESM and ELINT: ESM missions can be done by the military warfighters under their own Title 10 authority, while ELINT missions need to be done under TItle 50 through SCC delegation from the IC.