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

Current 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.