Aerospace & Defense Technology - October 2021 - 28

Tech Briefs
Impact of Satellite Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance on Modern Naval Operations
Determining whether afloat availability of satellite ISR, a technology that is relatively new, fundamentally
changed naval operations and if so, to what degree.
Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
C
urrent naval operations rely heavily
on space resources. A large majority
of space resources are devoted to the ingestion
of intelligence and intelligence
related data. Assets organic to afloat
units limited intelligence collection before
the advent of satellite Intelligence,
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR).
These afloat units were augmented by
intelligence centers ashore and through
intelligence sharing efforts from allies.
With the advent of technologies surrounding
space exploration and exploitation,
the US Navy was beneficially
positioned at the forefront of adjusting
to new policy, threats and operational
intelligence need.
The Navy has a long history of utilizing
adversaries' data to gain an edge in
executing missions at sea. Throughout
this history, much of the data collected
was limited by the technology available.
After World War II, advances in technology
and the presentation of new adversaries,
supercharged the organic ISR capability
of units afloat. However, the
technologies were limited to the organic
capability of individual military
platforms. Global tensions pushed for
exploitation of the space domain which
ignited the space race. Due to advances
in the ability to reach this new domain,
the issue of their application at the Department
of Defense pushed the services,
particularly the Navy, into technological
revolutions and technological
transitions to satisfy the demand.
Application of data collected by sensors
in space at the operational level
forced significant change within the US
Navy and its fleet. Although the general
execution of operations seems to have
only changed slightly, in reality many
fundamental changes occurred at the
unit level with respect to the naval intelligence
community at large. Exploration
of the changes within this community
of the Navy will allow for the
thorough understanding of the impacts
28
Intro
Cov
-Space-based ELINT
-New IS rating afloat
-Automated data processing afloat
-Organic ISR collection (Air,
Surface, Subsurface)
-Limited automation
-Officer only Operational
Intelligence
After Satellite ISR Availability
Before Satellite ISR Availability
US Navy Differences Due to Satellite ISR Availability Afloat (Source: Created by Author)
of satellite ISR by drawing a correlation
between the parts and their influence
on the whole.
Understanding the timeline of the
genesis of satellite ISR and its implementation
in the fleet is essential to
comprehending the initial impacts of
space- based ISR on naval operations. By
setting up the timelines, juxtaposed to
US policy and global pressures, one will
attempt to classify the specific differences
between naval operations before
and after the availability of satellite ISR
at the fleet level.
To comprehend the differences, however,
one must understand the scope of
the genesis of space-based ISR and the
facets of its materialization within the
US intelligence community. The US
Navy's intelligence community has a
distinct symbiotic relationship with the
national intelligence community and
the policies that affect it. Exploring this
relationship and the general history of
ISR around the time of satellite ISR
availability, establishes the foundation
for researching the proposed delta between
naval operations before and after
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the materialization of this new technology.
Furthermore, the political climate
surrounding this period will provide
amplification and explain the supposed
culture shift from the terrestrial and
tangible to the atmospheric horizon.
The focus of this research is to determine
if afloat availability of satellite
ISR, a technology that is relatively new,
fundamentally changed naval operations.
The research will determine the
standard ISR/operations relationship
before afloat satellite ISR availability,
what capabilities were available once
promulgated to afloat units, and resulting
naval doctrinal shifts. Once the data
is observed or obtained, a comparative
analysis will occur to determine deltas
in naval operations before and after the
afloat ISR shift.
This work was done by LCDR Paul A.
Colon for the Army Command and
General Staff College. For more information,
download the Technical Support
Package (free white paper) at
www.aerodefensetech.com/tsp under
the DAQ, Testing & Sensors category.
ARL-0239
Aerospace & Defense Technology, October 2021
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http://www.aerodefensetech.com/tsp http://www.aerodefensetech.com http://info.hotims.com/79418-967

Aerospace & Defense Technology - October 2021

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