Electronic warfare support measures

In military telecommunications, the terms Electronic Support (ES) or Electronic Support Measures (ESM) describe the division of electronic warfare involving actions taken under direct control of an operational commander to detect, intercept, identify, locate, record, and/or analyze sources of radiated electromagnetic energy for the purposes of immediate threat recognition (such as warning that fire control RADAR has locked on a combat vehicle, ship, or aircraft) or longer-term operational planning. Thus, Electronic Support provides a source of information required for decisions involving Electronic Protection (EP), Electronic Attack (EA), avoidance, targeting, and other tactical employment of forces. Electronic Support data can be used to produce signals intelligence (SIGINT), communications intelligence (COMINT) and electronics intelligence (ELINT).