A Digital Army: Synergies on the Battlefield and the Development of Cyber-Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA)
This CSS Cyberdefense Report by Stefan Soesanto focuses on cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA), which is a doctrinal concept that was introduced by the US Army sometime around 2009/2010 to connect both domains at the hip. The report dives into the origins of CEMA, explains why and how the US Army and UK MoD adopted them, highlights potential CEMA tactics in the field and offers ideas on whether emulating CEMA is an option that ought to be adopted by other armed forces.
Initially, CEMA was envisioned solely as an organizational change to plan, coordinate, and deconflict non-kinetic US Army operations. In this setup, a military commander in the field would receive information as to how a certain action taken on the battlefield would resonate in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum, including to what degree offensive cyber operations and electronic attacks could be helpful in supporting kinetic operations on the battlefield. Given the US Army’s dependence on cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum for communications, lethality, sensors, and self-protection, the overarching doctrinal goal was that commanders would fully integrate CEMA within every operation and planning process.