ELECTRONIC WARFARE SUPPORT MEASURES

In telecommunication, the term electronic warfare support measures (ESM) has the following meanings:

1. That division of electronic warfare involving actions taken under direct control of an operational commander to search for, intercept, identify, and locate sources of radiated electromagnetic energy for the purpose of immediate threat recognition. Thus, electronic warfare support measures (ESM) provide a source of information required for immediate decisions involving electronic countermeasures (ECM), electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), avoidance, targeting, and other tactical employment of forces. Electronic warfare support measures data can be used to produce signals intelligence (SIGINT), both communications intelligence (COMINT) and electronics intelligence (ELINT).

2. That division of electronic warfare involving action taken to search for, intercept, identify, and locate radiated electromagnetic energy for the purpose of immediate threat recognition. It provides a source of information required for immediate decisions involving electronic countermeasures, electronic counter-countermeasures, and other tactical actions such as avoidance, targeting and homing.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C