EG GI: A Primer Exploitation of GI and Remote Sensing for Warfare & Intelligence 18 th March 2005
Topics Structure of the intelligence services Cold War era uses of GI Modern uses of GI in warfare Modern uses of GI in intelligence GI and war crimes Iraq conflict
Structure of the Intelligence Services
Cold War Era Uses of GI Ever since post-war tension between the Soviet Union and the West increased, rocket technology (pioneered by the Nazis) has been used for spying High altitude aircraft as well as early polar orbiting satellites have been used for surveillance activities.
Cuban Missile Crisis Sagua La Grande MRBM Site Oct 62
Cold War Era Uses of GI In order to facilitate their surveillance capabilities, the US introduced the CORONA spy satellite system – after the programme was approved by Eisenhower in 1958 The original incarnation would take photographs (of the Soviet Bloc countries) from space and then re-orbit the canned film for processing
Cold War Era Uses of GI
Dolon Air Field, USSR - Selected heavy bombers compared with selected transport aircraft 20 Aug 1966 Image from Corona satellite
Cold War Era Uses of GI The CORONA satellite system became operational in 1959 and different versions were introduced until it reached the end of its life in having mapped 750 million square miles of mostly USSR and China. Details relating to the system were declassified and made public by a presidential order from Clinton in 1995 Other satellites were tested in parallel with CORONA, such as Discoverer - but many of the launches were failures and a number of mice placed on board sadly perished!
Modern uses of GI in warfare Modern battle situations make much use of GI and remote sensing technology Artillery, personnel, tanks, ships, planes etc are all georeferenced by GPS equipment relayed to central command HQ via encoded signals
Modern uses of GI in warfare High resolution satellites can view enemy locations (personnel, tanks, ships and artillery) making their destruction by “smart laser guided weapons” more efficient Most front-line troops have access to computers with digital maps - regularly updated by comms links
satellite enemy allies command HQ laser guider
Area-51 Image from Ikonos 1m resolution
Modern uses of GI in intelligence Human Intelligence (HumInt), Signals Intelligence (SigInt) and other sources of information are spatially referenced and combined within a GIS at SIS/CIA headquarters Numbers, distances and strike capabilities are assessed and strategic plans devised
Modern uses of GI in intelligence Field agents (foreign intelligence) and “watchers” (security services) may often be provided with GPS equipment for target referencing and acquisition UK intelligence were “caught out” a few years ago when their carefully concealed devices were found in a Sinn Fein staff car in Northern Ireland
GI and war crimes GIS has become an indespensible tool in the gathering and analysing of evidence for war crimes - particularly in the Balkans conflict Project Kosovo is a Rule of Law Through Technology initiative sponsored by the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Chicago-Kent School of Law
GI and war crimes The Project Kosovo team created a database application, the War Crimes Documentation Database, that records and analyses war crimes data gathered from different human rights organisations in the Balkans and may be used in future areas of conflict
Refugee “evidence” data - spatially and temporally referenced
Aerial photos record effects of conflict on villages in the Balkans
Landsat images show effects of conflict in Balkans
Post-strike assessment of Southern Fallujah
Baghdad Presidential Palaces