The modern science of warfare assumes that in armed conflicts and local wars of the new century the winner is the one who will be able to quickly collect multifaceted, ever-changing data on the course of the battle, to analyze them, to make the right conclusions, make the right decision and quickly bring it to a subordinate. To ensure victory over the enemy is necessary to achieve the so-called information superiority, which allows preempt it in the evaluation of the rapidly changing situation on the battlefield, making the right decisions and planning the operation progress (fighting).
According to the US national military strategy, their armed forces are to be ready to take part in several military conflicts outside the country, so the information is stored on the area covering the entire globe. Consequently, terrain and weather information for geoinformation support shall be stored in advance, ensuring its timely delivery to users as necessary. GIS software includes the collection, processing, storage and communication of images and descriptions consumer areas, geodetic and meteorological data in the form of graphics, text, digital and photographic documents. The volume and variety of such documents, containing information about the area, state of the atmosphere and outer space, depending on the scale of the use of military force and the territory of an armed conflict.It was necessary to create a single bank of geospatial data, containing information about the objects of destruction and ensure the application of fire weapons in various areas and at any time of the day for effective use of geographic information systems in modern conditions of warfare (characterized by global, transience, high strategic mobility) regardless from the external environment.
In 2004, the US Congress has carried out a reform of US intelligence. National Centre for the fight against terrorism has become an interdepartmental (earlier he was part of the CIA). As a result, they destroyed the legal barriers between intelligence and counter-intelligence, the military and civilian intelligence services. In total, the US intelligence community consists of 16 intelligence agencies. In 2005, the US established the post of Director of National Intelligence in connection with the abolition of the post of Director of the National Intelligence Community, is aligned with the head of the CIA since 1947. November 28, 1995, US Defense Secretary William Perry, CIA Director John Deutch and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, sent a joint letter to the US Congress, which asked US lawmakers to approve the creation of another intelligence structures - National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and expounded the concept of a new intelligence agency (“About NGA,” (n.d.).).
The idea was approved, and October 1, 1996 National Imagery and Mapping Agency started operating. The new intelligence agency was not created in a vacuum, and formed by the merger of existing organizations: Defense Mapping Agency, whose employees formed the backbone of National Imagery and Mapping Agency, as well as the Central Imagery Office, Defense Dissemination Program Office, and was part of the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center. In addition, part of the staff of the Office was transferred there from the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office and the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. November 24, 2003 National Imagery and Mapping Agency was renamed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Tucker & Pierpaoli, 2015).
The main activity of National Imagery and Mapping Agency is mapping, surveying and navigational support of the armed forces of the United States, US intelligence officials and non-governmental organizations. In addition, management is entrusted with the task to assess the consequences of natural disasters and catastrophes. Specialist surveyors for the organization prepared mainly in the national college mapping and images (located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia) (“About NGA,” n.d.). The college includes the following departments: training; military mapping, analysis (decoding), image and learning to operate the equipment.
Upon completion of training specialists in the schools were distributed in the following units of topographic service of the USA: Department of geospatial sciences, dealing with issues of gravitational fields, navigation and positioning purposes; Geoinformation department responsible for Surveying products; Department of modeling terrain; Department of digital hydrographic charts; ensure the reliability of navigation data and historical research department.
As part of this structure, National Information Library military surveyors was created in July 2000. In addition to the main US surveyors library has a library with fewer opportunities for lower management levels. Commanders of the Armed Forces for the Library are designed for operational management level, and image library provides access to a specific tactical information management system operators, communication, computer, intelligence and surveillance.
Now the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in Washington, and the combined processing of its data center - in Fairfax (Virginia), information service with non-stop mode of operation is located in the city of St. Louis. The main objective of NGA agency, which is among the 15 organizations - members of the US intelligence community, is to ensure that data geospatial intelligence for national security. In its activities the NGA occupies an intermediate position between the developer and operator of the space systems - national control of the NRO space exploration, on the one hand, and consumers - controls the armed forces and the country's intelligence services, on the other. Therefore, for a long time the effectiveness of the NGA agency depended on the activities of the NRO, which has a monopoly in the creation of new space exploration systems, but does not perform its functions in the best way.
The Agency played an important role in fighting US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the elimination of consequences of the earthquake in Haiti, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the volcanic eruption in Iceland (Tucker & Pierpaoli, 2015). There was also a certain bad experience in its activities. So, NGA could not reveal the timely preparation of the nuclear tests in India, which took place in May 1998 and became an unpleasant surprise for the US administration. Especially it has to be noticed the role of National Imagery and Mapping Agency at the time of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. It is believed that due to the already-reported them inaccurate information, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 7, 1999 was hit by an American missile, which caused an international scandal and contributed to a significant cooling of relations between China and the United States. However, it is possible that it was not a mistake but a deliberate provocation. This version is the fact that after the unfortunate incident, none of the senior staff National Imagery and Mapping Agency was not dismissed.
In January 2006, U. S. NationalGeospatial-Intelligence Agency has published a concept paper, which became known as the "National System for Geospatial-Intelligence Statement of Strategic Intent". The document was developed under the leadership of the then director of the NGA, Air Force Lieutenant General, retired James R. Clapper, whose activity is associated with revolutionary changes in the field of information support of geospatial data. NGA Director outlined the major threats to parry which aims Agency NGA: international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and regional instability that threatens US interests. In terms of technology, according to Director of the NGA, the agency should be prepared to an explosive increase in the volume, speed and types of information (“National System for Geospatial Intelligence,” 2007).
The major strategic goals of geospatial intelligence system listed in summary form are defined in the document. The first objective concerns the fundamental problem - information support - and requires an integrated and interconnected environment analysis and decision-making aimed at opening opportunities and intentions explored purposes.
The second objective concerns the development of the interaction NGA with strategic partners and provide leadership of the national geospatial intelligence system. It is supposed to establish common standards and metadata, expand partnerships and strategic alliances with national agencies, military commands and agencies, industrial corporations and foreign allies.
The third objective involves the personnel policy, the issues of attracting and professional development of personnel with the knowledge and skills necessary for countering present and future threats. It is necessary to implement the standards of professional competence and innovatory methods of retraining to improve analytical study materials.
Finally, the fourth objective determines the approach to the development of advanced geospatial intelligence technologies. The tasks of integration of various sensors and data collection platforms, the transition to the digital network architecture for the rapid collection and dynamic data exchange, providing a dynamically expanding infrastructure of geospatial intelligence system to meet the growth of volumes, speeds and data formats (Weir, n.d.).
With activities NGA Director Clapper connect the beginning of large-scale procurement of high resolution satellite images from commercial companies. This practice allows you to simultaneously reduce the burden on the so-called "national technical means" (military satellites) and to support the development of American industry danyh remote sensing. NGA has financial authority for the financing of two programs: ClearView (purchase data from commercial satellites already in orbit) and NextView (financing the construction of new satellites). Thus, NGA agency violated the NRO monopoly control to order imaging reconnaissance satellites.
In the future NGA agency plans to expand the scope of procurement information from commercial operators. To combat aircraft the Air Force Command in Langley (Virginia) with the assistance of NGA developed its database of location data - «Geo base» by means of «Geo reach», designed to summarize the terrain data and convert them into electronic format for easy sharing use of data from open sources based on the GPS information. NGA units have access to the main library of the Ministry of Defense information.
NGA activity was very important for the US military. Initial successes created agencies have been achieved during the war in Yugoslavia. Under the US-led several rescue operations were conducted as their soldiers and military allies. It topographic data NGA mainly used during the allied operations, thereby determining the important advantage over an opponent who did not have such data. A similar situation exists in times of war in Iraq. At present, US soldiers do not draw cards and do not transmit combat reports on the radio. During the war in Iraq in 1991, to manage the coalition forces, they mainly used radio, in 2003; it was replaced by wireless information network. They allow you to receive not only formal reports uncovered and destroyed order, losses, consumption of ammunition and fuel, but also aerospace video from a place of fighting, information from reconnaissance drones, aircraft electronic surveillance and tracking of ground targets (“National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: The 'transparent' spy org. you've never heard of,” 2014).
NGA is the main leading organization for the national system of geospatial intelligence management. Management deals with the integration of terrain data and survey support in advance of the US armed forces, determines the technical policy in the field of geo-information technologies and is responsible for licensing activities in this area. Licensing applies not only to the United States, but also on the information guarantee of the UK Armed Forces.
References
About NGA. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from https://www.nga.mil/about/pages/default.aspx
National System for Geospatial Intelligence. (2007). Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL). Retrieved March 02, 2016, from https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=19363
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: The 'transparent' spy org. you've never heard of. (2014, October 16). Retrieved March 02, 2016, from https://www.rt.com/usa/196608-national-geospatial-intelligence-agency/
Tucker, S., & Pierpaoli, P. G. (2015). U.S. conflicts in the 21st century: Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror. ABC-CLIO.
Weir, G. E. (n.d.). National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. MilsatMagazine. Retrieved March 02, 2016, from http://www.milsatmagazine.com/story.php?number=1026402129
