The nature of conflict has fundamentally changed. Victory isn’t defined by who has the most platforms or the biggest firepower; it’s defined by who can out-think, out-pace, and out-connect their adversary. We’re in the era of Information Advantage.
As the UK Ministry of Defence advances its Digital Targeting Web programme, one truth is clear: the problem isn’t access to data. It’s turning vast amounts of information into decisive action at the speed of relevance. This is the data paradox of modern warfare and it’s where THURBON CEMA makes the difference.
The real challenges of the modern battlespace
Today’s operational environment is rich with sensors, signals, and digital noise but without the right architecture, this creates friction. We see this bringing three big challenges in 2026:
Breaking the silos
Historically electronic Warfare and Cyber have been treated as separate disciplines, but adversaries no longer see them that way and neither should we. When cyber effects and electromagnetic activity are analysed in isolation, critical insights are delayed and opportunities are missed. The modern fight demands integration by default.
Reducing cognitive burden at the edge
Operators are facing unprecedented volumes of data from autonomous systems, networked sensors, and complex grey-zone activity. Without intelligent automation, decision-makers are overwhelmed, reduced to spending time managing information instead of shaping outcomes. The OODA loop slows, not because of people, but because of process.
Enabling true multi-domain interoperability
Multi-domain warfare depends on more than shared intent; it requires shared understanding. Too often, mission-critical threat data can’t be exchanged seamlessly across platforms or forces. Without a trusted, real-time “single source of truth,” responses remain fragmented.
THURBON CEMA: Built to support the UK’s multi-domain intelligence core
THURBON CEMA brings a foundational shift in how Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities can be managed. It provides a unified and multidomain-ready intelligence core.
THURBON CEMA fuses cyber and electromagnetic data into a single, coherent operational view. Frequencies, waveforms, power signatures, and cyber vulnerabilities are brought together in one interface to provide operators with immediate clarity on the full digital footprint of a threat. This is the engine that drives true detect-to-effect operations.
Speed, Precision, and Confidence
THURBON CEMA enables:
- Real-time spectrum de-confliction, instantly distinguishing friendly from hostile activity
- Rapid Electronic Order of Battle generation, delivered at pace
- High-confidence classification, reducing human error and ensuring effects are applied with precision
The result: faster decisions, better outcomes, and operators empowered to focus on intent rather than data management.
Designed to support collaboration with allies
Built on open architectures and aligned with NATO standards, THURBON CEMA ensures that information flows at operational speed across domains and forces. A detection made by a UK asset can be actioned at pace by an allied air, land, or maritime platform, turning coalition forces into a single, synchronized digital force.
Turning Data into Decisive Advantage
The UK’s Strategic Defence Review was clear: data is a strategic asset. But data only matters when it drives action.
THURBON CEMA is the bridge between awareness and effect; transforming raw cyber and electromagnetic data into operational advantage. By reducing the time between a sensor’s first detection and a commander’s decisive action, MASS is helping ensure the UK and its allies don’t just operate in the electromagnetic domain – they lead it.
Find out more on THURBON and THUBON CEMA here.
