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The Magazine of the National Intelligence Community

September 2013 Volume 11, Issue 6

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Cyber Defender

Gen. Keith Alexander

Commander,USCYBERCOMDirector, NSAChief, CSS

Multi-INT Systems O Full Motion VideoGEOINT for Africa O Evader Maps

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Cover / Q&AFeatures

General Keith alexander Commander

U.S. Cyber CommandDirector

National Security AgencyChief

Central Security Service

17

20 23

Departments Industry Interview2 editor’s PersPective3 ProGram notes/PeoPle14 industry raster27 resource center

nadia shortVice President of Strategy and Business DevelopmentGeneral Dynamics Advanced Information Systems

September 2013Volume 11, Issue 6GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE FORUM

5taPPinG Fmv’s richesFull motion video quality is steadily improving and FMV coverage expanding. But the sheer volume of FMV and complementary sensor data must be managed, and FMV resources are now so large that tools or people need help in selecting files for actual viewing. So while some technologies are dramatically increasing the potential usefulness of FMV, other technologies and common standards are still needed. By Henry Canaday

10 many sides oF multi-intThe proliferation of sensor technologies and other intelligence capabilities in recent years is adding urgency to the quest for a multi-intelligence approach that allows analysts and commanders to combine data from a variety of sources, both real time and non-temporal, to enable decisions to be made on a timely basis.By Peter BuxBaum

24 evasion charts aid saFe returnsNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency maps and reward-providing “blood chits” help downed pilots and other isolated warfighters survive and navigate back to friendly territory. The chart, known as an EVC, and chit are produced by NGA in partnership with the Department of Defense Joint Personnel Recovery Agency. By KatHi GHannam

28

cow-tiPPinG When regions in Africa and elsewhere rise to the level of U.S. national security interest, ISR assets are often well placed to observe activity. However, those assets have traditionally been tasked to collect and report on narrow data points and observables focused on one subset of human actor within the area—the adversary—rather than garnering a broader understanding of all the key population groups. By Faye L. Cuevas

eye on aFricaSeeking to highlight its expanding array of analytical services, satellite imagery powerhouse DigitalGlobe has unveiled a website devoted to geospatial analysis of the continent of Africa. The site includes an interactive map of Africa, allowing site visitors to explore DigitalGlobe’s work in a specific country of interest or select only a certain type of analysis.By Harrison donneLLy

“We keep seeing cyber-exploitation of American

companies and enterprises, and huge

amounts of intellectual

property being stolen. There are foreign

governments targeting

the data of American

enterprises and citizens….”

— Gen. Keith Alexander

Like generations of American schoolchildren, my perspective on the continent of Africa was originally shaped by the Mercator Projection.

Once ubiquitous on classroom walls, the Mercator Projection is a way of drawing a world map that substantially enlarges land masses in the Northern Hemisphere, while shrinking those near and below the Equator—notoriously, making Greenland appear to be larger than the whole of South America. Although you don’t see Mercator maps much anymore, they defi-nitely implanted in the minds of people now of a certain age the idea that Africa was not a very big place, and kind of tangential to the mainstream of world events.

As the map on my wall today makes clear, however, Africa is actually the second-largest continent, and also the second-most populous. To be sure, it faces huge environmental, health, economic and political challenges, including the recent turmoil in Egypt. But the wealth of its natural resources and the vibrancy of its people are sure to make it a major force in world affairs in the future, as well as a critical arena for superpower competition.

The world is paying closer attention to Africa, and the geospatial and intelligence communities are following suit. As readers will see in this issue of GIF, DigitalGlobe has launched a website devoted to GEOINT analysis and satellite imagery of the continent. Another article argues that Africa is just the sort of place to inspire innovative thinking about the relationship between ISR data and local knowledge about people and places.

In light of this, I was disappointed to see news reports that the Pentagon was considering ending the six-year-old U.S. Africa Command, instead dividing the continent between CENTCOM and EUCOM. Given the financial situation facing the Department of Defense, I’m not going to second-guess anyone’s ideas for cutting costs without manifestly endangering national security. But the loss of AFRICOM would be an unfortunate symbol at the very least.

The Magazine of the National Intelligence Community

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PROGRAM NOTES Compiled by Kmi media Group staff

The list of Army colonels recently nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general includes Colonel Patricia A. Frost, who is currently serving as assistant chief of staff, G-3, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.

The list of Navy rear admirals (lower half) recently nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral include Rear Admiral (lower half) Paul B. Becker, who is currently serving as director for intelligence, J2, U.S. Pacific Command.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Strange, an information operations operator, and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Day, a tactical communicator, have been posthumously awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Valor. Both men were assigned within naval special operations when they were killed August 6, 2011, in Afghanistan in a

helicopter crash following a rocket-propelled grenade attack. Twenty-eight other Americans, eight Afghans and a military working dog were also killed in the accident, which caused the largest single loss of American life during the Afghanistan campaign and the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U.S. special operations community.

Northrop Grumman has appointed Krisstie Kondrotis as vice president, business development, for the company’s Information Systems Sector, where she will be responsible for leading the sector’s business development efforts to identify,

assess, shape and capture new business opportunities across targeted growth areas.

Pixia, a provider of high-performance scalable large data access solutions, has hired Gary Newgaard as vice president of U.S. federal sales. Newgaard recently served as director, federal sales for EMC Isilon.

Jill Tummler Singer has joined Deep Water Point, a business navigator for federal contractors, as partner. She previously served as chief information officer for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Lockheed Martin has selected Rob Weiss as executive vice president and general manager of aeronautics advanced development programs, also known as the Skunk Works. His most recent experience was in leading advanced strike and ISR programs for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

NJVC has hired Frederick Turman as vice president, program management, where he will oversee the company’s team of program managers to effectively execute customer programs and projects with established processes that meet industry standards for consistent and high-quality performance. Turman most recently was NGA acting west senior executive, working on strategic agency objectives related to business and mission continuity, personnel, facilities, security, corporate relations and planning.

PEOPLE Compiled by Kmi media Group staff

Krisstie Kondrotis

Frederick Turnman

DoD Revamps GEOINT Training PolicyReflecting the growing needs for geospatial intelligence training throughout the military and intelligence

communities, the Department of Defense has issued new policy guidelines that underscore the key role of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s National Geospatial-Intelligence College (NGC).

Issued this summer by Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael G. Vickers, the DoD instruction calls on the military services to provide GEOINT training under the guidance of NGA and the intelligence office. It also provides for establishment of the Community Geospatial-Intelligence Training Council to act as an advisory body on training issues.

The NGC, which already provides GEOINT training for thousands of military and civilian personnel each year, would be designated as “the GEOINT training and educational institution of NGA.” The college offers academically oriented instruction from facilities in St. Louis, Mo., Springfield, Va., and other sites.

Among other requirements, the new standards call on the NGC to establish and maintain American Council on Education academic accreditation for courses, thus enabling students to receive full academic credit.

The advisory panel, comprising representatives of the services, the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence, and coalition allies, will assess GEOINT training and offer suggestions for realigning programs to improve access to training and consolidate redundant activities.

Michael G. Vickers

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PROGRAM NOTES Compiled by Kmi media Group staff

GEOINT Companies Make Major Moves

Two major companies in the geospatial intelligence field have made public significant changes in their business operations.

TerraGo, a global provider of location intelligence software solutions, recently announced the appointment of Chris Broderick as president and chief executive officer.

The TerraGo board of directors named Broderick to manage the company’s continued growth and scale operations as part of a strategic development plan, following a successful round of growth financing. A software industry veteran with a proven track record at early stage compa-nies, Broderick brings to TerraGo more than 15 years of executive leader-ship managing companies along the growth curve. He was most recently the chief executive officer of GroupLogic, which was acquired by Acronis in 2012.

Along with Broderick’s appointment, TerraGo has relocated its corporate headquarters to Washington, D.C., to improve collaboration and optimize support for the company’s strategically important defense and intelligence customer base. TerraGo’s existing offices in Atlanta and Los Angeles will remain engineering centers of excellence.

“TerraGo’s future success requires not only new growth capital, but also new lead-ership with proven strategic and opera-tional experience,” said TerraGo Chairman Dave Ellison. “I am confident that Chris is the right leader to guide the next phase of the company’s growth, while maintaining the excellence in customer service and product innovation for which TerraGo is known.”

Earlier, CACI International announced that it would strategically align its geospa-tial capabilities by expanding offerings, consolidating production facilities and tailoring capabilities to market dynamics and future needs. CACI’s core geospatial capabilities will be reinforced within its facility in Fort Collins, Colo., following the closure of its facilities in Wooster, Ohio. The company has also made significant investments in its new facility in St. Louis to strengthen interaction with and support for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Cloud Supports Geospatial Data Sharing in Crises

An industry-government team has begun testing the use of an open cloud computing infrastructure to quickly collect, store and share geospatial information to assist emergency responders in a disaster situation.

The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) contracted with six of its member-companies—The Aerospace Corporation, Boeing, NJVC, Raytheon, Telos and Winthrop Management Services—to produce a real-time simulation for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Using unclassified NGA information, the team is depicting a global, multidisciplinary response similar to the one that took place after the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The effort is designed to confirm interoperability and show how different technologies and data sources from a variety of organizations can support a unified mission.

The six companies taking part in the NCOIC Geospatial Community Cloud Concept Demonstration are providing technical applica-tions and services that an international disaster response force could use within a cloud operating environment to efficiently move critical geospatial data and thus meet a wide range of needs. They are also serving as “actors” within the simula-tion, portraying military, government and civilian response teams from several different countries in order to demonstrate end-user capabilities.

“Each country in the simulation has its own unique communications sensitivities. So an important measure of the success of our envi-ronment will be the ability to work within those requirements and protect their data,” said Tip Slater, NCOIC director of business development.

The community cloud infrastructure was defined and built earlier this year, and issues including ownership, security, access, bandwidth, latency and portability were addressed in its design. The three-month test phase began in June and will conclude in late summer with a demon-stration and report to the NGA.

NJVC’s role in the project, for example, is to provide the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) element of a cloud-computing-based humani-tarian assistance and disaster response data exchange demonstration.

A combined technology solution, known as GeoCloud, will provide trusted connectivity between multiple independent vendor cloud services through the use of this open platform. GeoCloud also will create a virtual organization of response teams so members can easily access critical geospatial data in support of their inter-twined missions on a pick-and-choose basis and consume that data on demand.

NJVC will leverage its Cloudcuity PaaS to integrate various apps to support the needs of a diverse population of international disaster first

responders into a common complex humani-tarian disaster (CHD) management operating environment. In this implementation, the Cloudcuity PaaS extends and complements the Google Maps Engine development PaaS platform.

Google will provide massively scalable, crit-ical geospatial data and mapping services to the demonstration participants. The cloud-based Google Maps Engine product lets users create, share, publish and view (via a browser or Google Earth client) purpose-built maps to address key CHD mission requirements. When needed, Google Earth Server will provide an offline geospatial visualization capability on laptops, tablets and smartphones. These technologies will provide participants the ability to use a familiar technology, with the same user expe-rience as Google Earth and Google Maps, to easily exchange geospatial information and data within near-real-time operational constraints.

“Through the cohesive PaaS solution to be delivered by NJVC, first responders will have access to the cloud services that they need—whenever and wherever they need them—and all disaster response activities will be managed from one secure interface,” said Kevin L. Jackson, vice president and general manager, NJVC cloud services. “GeoCloud is the glue to bond disparate apps into one powerful virtual community for first responders.”

Chris Broderick

www.GIF-kmi.com4 | GIF 1 1. 6

In one sense, full motion video (FMV) is about as rich as it gets for intelligence analy-sis, showing actual moving pictures of places of interest of even adversaries. FMV qual-ity is steadily improving and FMV coverage expanding.

But riches bring challenges. The sheer volume of FMV and complementary sensor data must be managed, and FMV resources are now so large that tools or people need help in selecting files for actual viewing.

So while some technologies are dramat-ically increasing the potential usefulness of

FMV, other technologies and common stan-dards are still needed in order to turn that potential into truly better intelligence.

“I come at ISR/FMV convergence from an interoperability perspective,” observed Thomas Conway, senior engineer for the project manager for night vision/reconnais-sance, surveillance and target acquisition at the Army Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors. “FMV is only one of many sensor tools that need to come together for a more compre-hensive collection, storage, dissemination

New techNology is boostiNg the poteNtial of full motioN video, but New methods also are Needed to take full advaNtage of it.by heNry caNaday gif correspoNdeNt


and retrieval of the sensor data so that it all can be brought together in a meaning-ful way.”

As a result, Conway said, he has two major aims in exploiting FMV and other data sources: interoperability and reduc-ing the information overload, especially on tactical ISR users. Interoperability is improving, but sensors are proliferat-ing and creating more demand for data. “Efficient dissemination is key to enable better sharing, including getting the right information to the right user to help avoid information overload.”

“FMV came to the fore in Iraq and Afghanistan for intelligence and base defense and continued to evolve in the-ater,” Conway noted. “Now it is in transi-tion as the Army wants to make it more organic.”

A 2011 Army acquisition memoran-dum called for a common operating envi-ronment (COE) for this field. The COE is an approved set of computing technolo-gies and standards that enable secure and interoperable applications to be developed and executed rapidly across a variety of computing environments (CE). As the lead for the sensor computing environment under the COE, Conway works closely with vendors, and wants to use commer-cial standards and technologies as much

as possible to continue down this path toward evolving FMV, again in the broader interoperability picture.

The technological linchpin for interop-erability is a service oriented architecture, which can help achieve this goal by focus-ing on sensor data services and not forcing specific sensor formats. “But we must do systems engineering first. Each sensor pro-gram is at its own point in the acquisition process, and we have to be fair and judicial in how the sensor CE recommendations are implemented,” said Conway.

PEO IEW&S also is seeking automated sensor data fusion and processing. “We want to be able to automatically bring together all types of sensors, not just FMV,” Conway said. “We want to be able to com-bine information from different sensors up front before operators or analysts get it.”

This requires, but goes well beyond interoperability, he noted, adding, “We need tools to process and correlate it.”

Storage can also be a major FMV chal-lenge. Conway sees a need for pre-process-ing, so that only important FMV data is stored or transmitted. Another challenge is connectivity and bandwidth. The Army wants to bring analysis of FMV forward from higher-echelon, fixed installations to the tactical edge such as companies and other small units.

Conway acknowledged the need for considerably more bandwidth to make that practical, but likened the bandwidth chal-lenge to the physical logistics of using a given road system: “Some roads are lousy and can’t be changed, so we manage it. We can’t send all the FMV continuously, but we can be smart about using what band-width may be available at a given time and place and set priorities.”

On the issue of using FMV effectively while improving interoperability and reducing information overload, “The tech-nology piece is absolutely doable, and I am optimistic,” he said. “The Army always seems to get it right in the end.”

high-defiNitioN seNsors

Vendors are also optimistic. David Barton, product manager for FMV at Pixia, said the most important technology in improving FMV is the high-definition (HD) sensors that are now being fielded. Some HD sensors can deliver multiple uncompressed HD feeds using high-defini-tion serial digital interfaces at data rates of 1.3 gigabits per second, per feed.

Analysts can use HD FMV to gain more precise intelligence. In addition, HD reduces false positives in automated analy-sis of activity based intelligence (ABI).

Upgrades increase FMV quality and color, but also data volume and required bandwidth. Systems that process, exploit and disseminate (PED) FMV will require more processing horsepower. So PED sys-tems must be highly scalable and enable open high-performance data access.

Generally, as sensors improve, pro-cessing, storage and dissemination must evolve to meet growing volumes. “Systems in the FMV data loop must focus on per-formance, and not just for one or two FMV feeds. Infrastructure to access hundreds of FMV feeds is rapidly becoming avail-able,” Barton explained, adding that stor-ing and accessing these big-data volumes will be critical.

The special operations community has been a leader in fielding HD FMV, and Barton expects that conventional military units will soon start integrating HD sen-sors into programs of record. Moreover, satellite and terrestrial data links for trans-porting FMV are increasing in capacity.

Technologies that collect and store FMV data with their sensors and allow remote access will become more prevalent

Combining iSpatial with Ubiquity allows solders to be alerted that full motion video is being generated or has recently been generated. [Image courtesy of Thermopylae Sciences + Technology]


as the U.S. reduces its forward footprint and data volumes explode, he said.

The big hurdles to all this happening, however, remain data access and interop-erability. “Standards exist for FMV trans-port, file format and content structure, but not for accessing FMV in an interoperable manner,” Barton said. “Manually copying an FMV clip from one system to another is inefficient and will not scale. Lack of open-standard interfaces that let FMV sys-tems communicate with each other is a major hurdle.”

Pixia’s HiPER Watch provides a highly scalable archive with intelligence search capabilities for standard definition, HD and uncompressed FMV. HiPER Watch has an open application programming inter-face, the foundation for interoperability, and the company has been very active on standards.

In five years, Barton expects further progress in automating PED. Although humans will still be needed to approve or groom products, Barton foresees FMV analysts becoming more like film editors,

obtaining intelligence from images, FMV-derived mosaic imagery and ABI alerts. In addition, FMV analysis will be enhanced with mission-specific socio-cultural expertise.

Danny Proko, vice president of U.S. gov-ernment and defense at 2d3 Sensing, sees the top current FMV technology trends as being object tracking, near real-time 3-D scene reconstruction for mission planning, common ABI data models, and geo-regis-tration of FMV to an accurate digital eleva-tion model for targeting.

Proko said he anticipates that future disruptive technologies will identify and index events, places, people and context of FMV with much greater accuracy to assist PED.

Unless identification improves, ana-lysts will continue being flooded with false positives, he warned. “Analysts don’t trust or use it, and a bad ROI gets even worse.”

One hurdle to progress is the lack of common semantics to label events, places and people and describe their con-text. Proko seeks commonality across U.S.

agencies and its close allies, all of which would be within a trusted security infra-structure. The case involving Edward Snowden, who allegedly made public large amounts of secret information obtained while serving as an intelligence commu-nity contract employee, may have slowed progress toward sharing. Still, he added, “There are too many data enclaves on too many networks to obtain optimal sharing and collaboration on high-value targets.”

Proko sees advances in combining sen-sor capabilities for ABI, but urges that plat-forms and sensors be designed around the information actually needed by intelligence analysts, and that PED experts be involved in this design. Proko would also like to see if proprietary algorithms can reduce the 20- to 30-percent false-positive rate of automated tracking.

storage issues

Some observers say that better storage may actually come from older rather than new technology.

www.2d3sensing.com

+44.0.1865.811.060+1.949.540.0740


“We make storage virtualization soft-ware,” said Steve Atkinson, director of federal sales at Front Porch Digital, who argued that there is no need to keep all video data on spinning disks. “Power requirements alone are prohibitive. You can put it on disks or tape—on the media that is right for that level of data.”

Front Porch demonstrated to one cus-tomer that storing 30 pet-abytes on running disks cost $330,000 per year in power alone. The same amount of data could be stored on tapes for $2,200 per year.

“Cost savings are huge,” Atkinson said. “With all the new data coming in, there is too much data to store it all the same way. We do near-line, not online storage.”

Atkinson also noted that there is not enough band-width to transport all video data back and forth elec-tronically. “So we do both electronic and physical transport. The high-value stuff gets there electroni-cally, while low-value video is put on physical media and transported physically.”

This hybrid approach both saves money and solves the band-width problem. “Never underestimate the bandwidth of Federal Express,” he suggested.

Electronic transport could be used for mission-critical video, for example, “when the bad guys are active,” Atkinson explained. “But lots of time there is no activity—even bad guys sleep. You can send that physically.”

Atkinson admits all this is not new technology, but rather an old approach turned to new uses. “We are on the trajec-tory from terabytes to petabytes to exa-bytes. We will be there in five years.”

One federal agency is already using the Front Porch approach, and others are looking at it, Atkinson reported.

processiNg tools

Nicholas Knize, chief scientist at Thermopylae Sciences + Technology, recalled once working with low-resolu-tion static satellite images, taken hours

apart. He helped develop processing tools that detected changes to tip or cue higher-resolution images with more detailed temporal coverage.

“That’s where FMV comes in,” Knize explained. “It is not feasible to do per-sistent surveillance on a wide area with 32-frame-per-second, high-definition cameras. The cameras are available, but

backend storage can’t store that amount of data.”

For FMV itself, Knize points to research now being done in several domains. First, researchers are trying to find ways for sensors to retain high-res-olution images, but reduce the bandwidth required for the same amount of infor-mation. They are looking at compression techniques using JPEG 2000 and streaming to make that possible.

“Downlink bandwidth on a lot of platforms is pretty low,” Knize noted. “It’s like trying to transmit high resolution over, if you are lucky, a 3G network. There are lots of dropped frames and it degrades over time.”

Thermopylae works on FMV after compression and downlink. “Our domain is about how you store FMV, and how you make it easy to search a large volume of video on a desktop,” Knize explained.

“How do analysts get web displays when they are moving around? How do we pro-cess that data and what techniques do we use for change detection?”

Thermopylae has developed algo-rithms that look for changes that occur in video frames taken seconds apart, rather than hours apart as was the case for static satellite images.

Crucial to exploitation of FMV have been standards developed by the Motion Imagery Standards Board. Standard video format and fields are necessary so that video can be exchanged and used by many parties. For example, Key-Length-Value is a data-encoding standard for metadata, such as the annotations that analysts put on frames of FMV.

“We look at leveraging those stan-dards,” Knize said. “We take advantage of standard formats to deliver FMV on the web so it can be used by any soft-ware like Google Earth, and analysts do not need hours of training on new desk-top software.”

Thermopylae’s iSpatial software deliv-ers geographically tagged FMV and other data. “All the person has to do is use a standard web browser, log in, hit a URL and run a query over an area, ask-ing ‘What do I have for this?’” Knize explained.

FMV tagged for that location will be immediately available, along with annota-tions made by intelligence analysts.

Behind the scenes, Thermopylae is also focusing on storing the massive amounts of FMV data being collected. It is researching a non-relational indexing

A.J. Clark

Thermopylae Sciences + Technology offers iSpatial software, which delivers geographically tagged full motion video and other data. [Image courtesy of Thermopylae Sciences + Technology]

Steve Atkinson


strategy for organizing high-dimension, heterogeneous data, and has a program for matching up all kinds of intelligence data, including metadata and wide-area satellite data. The company is also devel-oping tools that will enable analysts on opposite ends of the globe to collaborate with each other in using FMV.

A.J. Clark, president of Thermopylae, emphasized the importance of bringing FMV analysis to tactical operations in real time. “We have been working with Army G-2 to change the paradigm, to enable the user on the battlefield to do on-the-spot analysis and obtain situa-tional awareness via smartphone technol-ogy,” he said.

This requires tying FMV sensors to networks and then to the mobile devices carried by warfighters. Thermopylae has developed Ubiquity, a mobile application service framework that enables users to obtain and create location-specific functions. Users easily obtain different applications and components that change based on what they are doing, where they are, what time it is and other factors smart phones can sense.

For example, combining iSpatial with Ubiquity would allow soldiers to be alerted that FMV is being generated, or has recently been generated, on the exact territory they are entering. Easy drag-and-drop widgets allow users to add func-tions, for example a map of the territory on the bottom of the screen while FMV plays on the top, without programming skills.

Ubiquity is planned for demonstra-tion of its ISR capabilities at one of the Army’s upcoming Network Integration Evaluations.

iNtelligeNce iNtegratioN

Integration remains crucial. “The big-gest thing going on right now is not how to use FMV, but how to use all the differ-ent types of intelligence data together,” observed Michael Grochol, director of SOCOM programs at TransVoyant. “Lots of companies out there are working on how to ingest data in real time. But these data do not come in real time, they have to be processed. And when you have it, you have to analyze it and make the best deci-sions. That is where the industry is going.”

Grochol recalled his own days fly-ing airborne ISR missions, and how he

watched and processed images—for example, what type of observed actions meant that an IED was being set up. “You have to know when to watch it, when something is going to happen, or when something has just happened,” he said, adding that it is best to use non-FMV data to decide when to watch.

Other intelligence sources that can trigger close scrutiny of FMV include Ground Moving Target Indicator radar, synthetic aperture radar and signals intel-ligence. Scrutiny might be automated, but ground commanders may not want to rely on automated interpretation.

“We would like to automate this, but it is not good enough for combat if you have errors. There are many algorithms to look at FMV and tell if it needs to be looked at by a person. They are good, but not good enough,” Grochol said.

Automation will probably not be suf-ficient for combat needs within the next couple of years, he predicted, adding, “It’s going to take quite a while to automate that.”

A true paradigm shift will come when intelligence managers optimize platforms and networks for the limited amount of bandwidth they have, Grochol suggested. “How can we use on-board processing to send down just the right amount of intel?

The technology to do this is already here, we just need to implement it. We need systems engineers that are operators and vice versa.”

Moreover, it is crucial to understand which forms of intelligence should go on a timeline, Grochol said, citing the ABI initiative of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “Which infor-mation should be combined to discern an outcome? Waiting several hours to com-bine dozens of data sources can deter-mine a pattern, but not soon enough for the battlefield. We have to decide what we need and what we can do without.”

Intelligence analysis requires taking time and doing it right, so it does not need to be done over. “Technology today enables almost everything on our wish list,” Grochol noted. “We just need to slow down and do the systems engineer-ing necessary to achieve it.” O

For more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly at [email protected]

or search our online archives for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are among the key platforms used to obtain full motion video. In this photo, a Scan Eagle UAV launches from the Navy Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren test range. Officials from the Office of Naval Research, Naval Expeditionary Combat Command and other military commands used the 2008 test to confirm the ability of the Navy Expeditionary Overwatch system, which deployed a UAV to detect and engage adversaries. [U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/released]


The proliferation of sensor technolo-gies and other intelligence capabilities in recent years is adding urgency to the quest for a multi-intelligence approach that allows analysts and commanders to com-bine data from a variety of sources, both real time and non-temporal, to enable decisions to be made on a timely basis.

Today’s U.S. military is involved in the full spectrum of operations, perhaps per-forming a military operation on Monday while engaging in a civil or humani-tarian mission on Tuesday. Multi-INT is ideally suited to this new constellation of demands, by enabling warfighters to better understand their adversaries and local populations and discern patterns of life that can help them better anticipate actions, problems and situations.

The multi-INT approach seeks cor-relations and connections among tradi-tional sources of intelligence, such as

radar, signal intelligence, human intel-ligence, imagery, and communications intelligence, as well as newer sources such as full motion video, commercial space imagery, LiDAR, hyperpectral imagery, and cyber intelligence. Websites and social media networks have also been joining the mix of late.

The implementation of multi-INT remains is still an early-adopter phenom-enon, but military and industry organiza-tions alike are developing capabilities that will likely enjoy widespread adoption in coming years.

“Multi-INT includes any form of intel-ligence that can be aggregated and assim-ilated to provide a better understanding of what the disparate forms of intelli-gence don’t provide on their own,” said Mike Manzo, director of motion imagery solutions at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GD-AIS).

a multi-iNtelligeNce approach allows aNalysts aNd commaNders to combiNe data from a variety of sources to eNable decisioNs.by peter buxbaum

gif correspoNdeNt


“While the predominant multi-INT approach involves the real-time digitization of the spectrum, there is also a place for off-board, temporally disconnected data, information that you might have ahead of time to fill out the texture,” said John Kelly, direc-tor of Advanced ISR Solutions at BAE Systems.

“Multi-INT includes any information that allows you to estab-lish relationships between people, places, things and events,” said Jim Dolan, senior vice president and general manager of Overwatch Geospatial Solutions. “You have to take a view of all forms of information, classified and unclassified, as well as open source public records, in addition to tradi-tional sources of data and imagery.”

“All relevant intelligence data may prove useful not only in a traditional single-source collection, but in a complementary multi-source intelligence analysis,” said Erik Blasch, a program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), which is actively researching this area. “Various INTs, when combined and spanning different operations, could provide answers to mission questions, coordinate further single-source collections, and/or provide understanding over the data available.”

uNderstaNdiNg behaviors

Intelligence sources are combined to develop a picture that provides intelligence based on the activities of adversaries and others and not merely on the basis of the static location of particular ele-ments at a point in time. “It is no longer enough to take an overhead image of a still target and have analysts write notes,” said Dolan. “You have to be able to understand behaviors and deployment prac-tices of adversaries to predict where they are going next. It’s no longer a static proposition.”

All of this information is tied together in a geo-spatial context. “Understanding geospatial contexts allows you to optimize collection capabilities and maximize your own ability to coordinate you own movements and actions,” said Kelly.

“You need to understand the spatial aspect of people, places, objects and events as well as the temporal,” said Dolan. “We use geospatial data to locate objects and activities. It is a fundamental way of establishing relationships.”

GEOINT provides many attributes for mis-sion planning, sensor collection, platform rout-ing and multi-target tracking, according to Blasch. “Understanding the environment enables more dis-criminant analysis over when, how, which, and what data to collect and exploit. We actively coor-dinate with the GEOINT community for multi-INT fusion.”

Online activity is an emerging area of intel-ligence and can be integrated into a multi-INT approach. “This involves watching what is going on on places like Twitter, Facebook and internet forums,” said Manzo. “People are far more open online than they understand. That is one of the

lessons of the Arab Spring. All communications were shut down except for cell phones. There was a lot going on with Twitter that provided an understanding of what was [happening] on the ground. When this sort of information is married with traditional intelligence sources, you can begin to better infer what is happen-ing or is going to happen.”

profusioN of seNsors

The technologies that enable a multi-INT approach include the many sensors available to the military and intelligence communities, but the list does not end there. Emerging cloud computing infrastructures, along with advanced data crunch-ing and searching capabilities, are able to tie data from different sources together and generate infer-ences from them.

“The multi-INT mentality comes from the pro-fusion of sensors,” said Kelly. “The abundance of different sensor types deployed over the last 10 years on tactical theater aircraft has led people to connect data from sensors that can’t be put on a single platform. Sensors abound, so that is not dif-ficult to monitor and understand various parts of the spectrum.”

Bundling sensors on a single platform reduces costs, thanks to size, weight and power cuts and a reduction in the amount of manpower required for a given mission. “We are also enabling missions, such as ad hoc target discovery, that were not pre-viously possible,” said Kelly. “By adding additional sensors and a radio-frequency geolocation capabil-ity, we can know how to optimize the flight path of an aircraft to gain better understandings of fixed and mobile entities. This significantly reduces the time required to discover targets so that they can be tracked that much faster.”

Beyond sensors, the developments advanc-ing multi-INT capabilities include persistent sur-veillance, natural language processing and big analytics, according to Blasch. “Persistent surveil-lance, such as wide-area motion imagery, enables higher resolution analysis for image intelligence assessment. Natural language processing allows for a copious collection and refinement of relevant information from human-derived sources. The access and storage of collected data enhances mas-sive analytics such as visual and text analytics.”

“What has really exploded in the last two years is cloud computing,” said Manzo. “This has been important in breaking down traditional stovepipes in the existing system and in providing federated access to data and more complete aggregation of data. The idea is allow more people access to more systems. This becomes a richer experience for the entire intelligence community.”

Because of its distributed nature, cloud computing can allow for more data to be processed at the same time. “The more data the cloud chews on,” said Manzo, “the greater the reduction in

Erik Blasch

Jim Dolan

John Kelly

Mike Manzo


uncertainty and the better decisions. The cloud can be regarded as a force multiplier with regard to how much computing power is available.”

The basic opportunity afforded by a multi-INT approach, he added, is in reducing errors in intelligence analysis.

Increased amounts of data also “make it more diffi-cult for the enemy to hide,” said Kelly. “The more clues we collect in the battlespace, the better we will be able to detect the footprint of a target, whether static or moving.”

With their ability to digest greater volumes of data, cloud computing infrastructures have powered a new generation of inference engines able to offer answers based on patterns of life. For example, if a town typi-cally has its busiest market day on Wednesday, but one Wednesday arrives with few signs of market activity, the inference engine might conclude that an insurgent attack of some other significant event is about to occur.

“It may just be that it’s about to rain,” Manzo acknowledged. “You can’t get it right every time, but as systems evolve and data sources become richer, you can reduce the level of uncertainty and develop a more real-istic view of what might happen. We’re not there yet, but that is really what multi-INT is all about.”

Another example of the opportunities created by multi-INT is in the analysis of tracking vehicles. “Using terrain and 3-D urban maps affords the ability to more accurately know where vehicles are traveling,” said Blasch. “If imagery intelligence exploitation indicates that there is no information on a moving target, the assessment could be that the vehicle has stopped or that the vehicle is still moving but is blocked by a build-ing. Target tracking methods can predict where the tar-get might be, based on patterns of life, traffic routes and vehicle dynamics. Associating the previous vehicle move-ment with the emerging movement after coming around a building is more easily accomplished with 3-D urban modeling.”

fusioN aNalysis

The AFRL’s initiative, known as Planning & Direction, Collection, Processing & Exploitation, Analysis & Production, and Dissemination eXperimentation (PCPAD-X), has two main thrusts, according to Blasch: “development activity producing novel multi-INT capa-bilities for emerging Air Force needs, and an objective assessment activity scrutinizing candidate INT tools with respect to the capabilities desired.”

Among PCPAD-X’s components, the Sensors Directorate COMPASE (COMPrehensive Assessment of Sensor Exploitation) center develops government-owned algorithms. The Human Effectiveness Analyst Testbed serves as a location for multi-INT evaluation.

The Information Directorate Fusion Testbed is the venue for multi-INT fusion analysis. Other AFRL initia-tives include the investment “in novel solutions for intel-ligent agents to determine which, when, and how data should be utilized,” said Blasch.

GD-AIS offers Cardinal Point, a multi-INT capabil-ity for maritime domain awareness. Cardinal Point fuses billions of data points from maritime sensors, such as the Automatic Identification System and coastal radars, along with text-based data related to the maritime pic-ture, including photographic and geospatial informa-tion, to automatically identify anomalies on vessels, cargo, people and related maritime infrastructure.

Some other systems focus on locating or tracking only one category of potential maritime threats, such as vessels, Manzo noted. “Cardinal Point holistically fuses and proactively identifies information across the spec-trum of maritime anomalies, resulting in a more timely, relevant and integrated picture. Cardinal Point also pro-vides users with the ability to tap into historical data to help confirm the highest-priority threats.”

Cardinal Point is built on a service-oriented architec-ture that enables users to quickly insert new data sources and features. “By automatically fusing vast amounts of sensory and text-based information, Cardinal Point finds anomalies involving vessels, cargo, people and other entities,” said Manzo, “making it easier for to confirm threats and take appropriate action.”

Overwatch is also responding to the new needs and opportunities of the market. “We have a longstand-ing tradition of providing geospatial intelligence and analytic visualization for over 15 years,” said Dolan. “We have recognized the need to address the greater variety of motion imagery sensors and have engi-neered products to address the emergence of these new sensors.”

Because there have been shifts in the areas of inter-est, for example, Overwatch has reset some of its capa-bilities related to the analysis and visualization of radar imagery. “Some areas of world rely heavily on synthetic aperture radar [SAR],” said Dolan. “We have added new capabilities to allow users to be more effective in analyz-ing SAR imagery.”

Unlike other radars that send out beams of energy and receive reflections that appear as blips on a screen, SAR systems range for a period of time across a target area, producing a two-dimensional image.

Overwatch has also produced tools that correlate dif-ferent forms of intelligence data. “It’s great to say you can intercept signal intelligence,” said Dolan. “But it may be even more important to know where the emit-ter is located by viewing imagery and discerning pat-terns of life.”

“The area we are focusing on now is in building knowledge through the processing, exploitation and dis-semination model,” said Kelly. “We are working with thought leaders and early adopters, have demonstrated our capabilities to them, and work with them to develop products tailored to their requirements. Users of our multi-INT products get a geospatially registered under-standing of fixed and mobile entities in the battlespace with the ability to quickly dive down to related support-ing intelligence. They get a much more holistic under-standing of what is there.”


opeN source data

Looking ahead, Blasch sees open-source INT data (OSINT) and activity-based intelligence to continue to grow in impor-tance. “Examples from Haiti to Egypt have demonstrated the use of OSINT to aid in civil protection,” he said. “Detecting and rec-ognizing activities requires focused or discovery-based activity categorization by assessing movement or changes that require subsequent characterization of meaning.”

The Air Force is seeking multi-INT solutions to augment users in their mission accomplishment. “Displays, interfaces and diagnostics are critical to user refinement of the data,” said Blasch. “Future advancements in analytics, information fusion, and production will aid in user refinement capabilities, consis-tency of information, and continuity of products.”

Over the next five years, Kelly sees multi-INT emerging from the realm of early adopters to receive widespread implementation across military and intelligence organizations. “We will see the continued decline in the use of proprietary hardware and data,” he said. “No one has the patience for that anymore, and this will enable the entire community to adopt multi-INT.”

As hardware becomes commoditized, companies will have to compete based on the quality of their algorithms and the level of their critical thinking. “The commoditization of sensors and the networks that tie them together will lead to a growth in learn-ing in the area of PED,” said Kelly. “Fusion, tracking and sensor

resource management will provide a holistic ability to develop knowledge from the battlespace. Efforts will focus less on build-ing hardware and more about providing solutions and in imagin-ing new ways of combining sensor streams, exploiting data, and anticipating the needs of users.”

As information infrastructures become more distributed, there will be a greater opportunity for intelligence users to gain federated access across all forms of intelligence and to have more ubiquitous access to data, according to Manzo. “There are politi-cal roadblocks to overcome, but as we move in that direction, the only way to be successful is to get all forms of intelligence to work together and to make data available to all analysts.”

For Manzo, the ultimate goal is to develop an activity-based intelligence capability that can operate in real time.

“As more cloud infrastructures are rolled across the intel-ligence community and are allowed to be integrated at what-ever level, analysts will be able to look at all the intelligence and learn what is telling them in real time,” he said. “When we get to the point, we will be able to derive intelligence in real time from observing activities, decision makers will be able to make much better decisions, and uncertainty will be reduced.” O

For more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives

for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com.

Store. Discover. Disseminate.Learn how to increase end user productivity and efficiency by using ArchivalWare GS, an easy-to-use geospatial enterprise content management solution.

Visit PtFs Booth 401 at GEoiNt or PtFs.com to lEarN morE aBout archiValWarE Gs


Solution Aids in LiDAR Data Management

I-cubed, a specialist in imagery and geospatial content manage-ment solutions, has released DataDoors 3.15, featuring cloud-based light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data management and processing. DataDoors 3.15 introduces important advances in support of the growing LiDAR collections of i-cubed’s commercial, civil and military customers. Adding to its LiDAR archive management func-tionality, DataDoors now provides the ability to extract, combine, reproject, tile and derive interpreted content surfaces from one or multiple LiDAR LAS files. Along with these new capabilities, derivative products such as DSM, DTM, contours and intensity images, can be delivered from DataDoors as a finished product or as a hosted data stream with a range of endpoints optimized for your GIS and CAD applications. This allows end-users the advantage of automatically processing LiDAR to standard derivative products without having to store, host or manage the product locally. Streaming of deriva-tive products is the next logical step, allowing end-users to focus on analysis, rather than storage, management, and processing of data. I-cubed makes this functionality available via an integration with ENVI LiDAR from Exelis Visual Information Solutions, which provides powerful processing capability from raw LiDAR point cloud data.

Jeff Dahlke;[email protected]

Cloud Solutions Operationalize Data from Sensor to

Deployment

GeoApps from AeroMetric is a new family of geospatial cloud solutions that operationalize geospatial data and services from their acquisition in any sensor through its deployment within the enterprise. GeoApps leverage AeroMetric’s capabilities in collec-tion, processing, and enterprise GIS to transform traditional mapping deliverables into actionable decision-making and opera-tional tools that are integrated in the client’s work environment. AeroMetric GeoApps consist of ongoing service agreements that can include software-as-a-service, data-as-a-service, and support by AeroMetric staff. Currently AeroMetric is conducting pilot programs with select clients in several areas including emergency response, energy infrastructure and environmental applications.

Platform Combines GPU Speed with GEOINT Applications

NVIDIA has launched the NVIDIA GeoInt Accelerator, the world’s first GPU-accelerated platform to enable security analysts to find actionable insights quicker and more accurately than ever before from vast quanti-ties of raw data, images and video. The NVIDIA GeoInt Accelerator provides defense and homeland analysts with tools that enable faster processing of high-resolution satellite imagery, facial recognition in surveillance video, combat mission planning using GIS data, and object recognition in video collected by drones. It offers a complete solution consisting of an NVIDIA Tesla GPU accelerated system, software applications for geospatial intelligence analysis and advanced application development libraries. Key applications in the NVIDIA GeoInt Accelerator include: Luciad Lightspeed, providing situ-ational awareness for mission plan-ning by overlaying image, radar, sensor data for line-of-sight analysis; DigitalGlobe, processing more than 3 million square kilometers of high-resolution imagery collected daily by

satellites; GeoWeb 3D, delivering native 3-D GIS fusion without preprocessing; IntuVision Panoptes, providing object detection and event-driven alerts by processing multiple real-time HD video streams; and NerVve Technologies, which automatically detects objects in images and video streams.

George Millington;[email protected]


INDUSTRY RASTER

Unified Platform Delivers Actionable

Intelligence TerraGo, a provider of location intelligence,

geospatial collaboration and field data collection soft-ware solutions, has announced the launch of TerraGo Vision, a unified platform that helps customers discover the most relevant information from any source and deliver actionable location intelligence wherever it is needed most. From place-based discovery and moni-toring to the automated integration of feature-rich maps, high-resolution imagery and unstructured data, the TerraGo Vision platform addresses the expanding and evolving needs of global intelligence operations. The platform delivers proven software capabilities that are easily integrated by enterprise customers, software OEMs, intelligence providers and system integrators. TerraGo Vision easily adapts to real-life operational scenarios and supports dynamic workflows to meet the most demanding location intelligence requirements of analysts, decision makers, and field personnel across the enterprise. The platform consists of application services, web services/API, developer tools and client software.

Renee Wagner;[email protected]

Geospatial Content Management System

Increases Speed

LizardTech, a provider of software solu-tions for managing and distributing geospatial content, has launched GeoExpress 9. GeoExpress enables geospatial professionals to compress and manipulate satellite and aerial imagery, and the latest version features a significant performance improvement from previous versions. This latest version is four times faster than before, with support for spanning multiple jobs across multiple cores. This increase in speed enables users to complete projects faster than ever before within the application. This release also introduces intel-ligent encoding, with the software automatically reconfiguring itself for optimal performance. GeoExpress 9 automatically chooses to encode, optimize or update based on the encoding opera-tions that the user chooses, which results in high performance with minimal training.

Justyna Bednarski;[email protected]

Online Service Links Software and Imagery DigitalGlobe and Esri have announced that

ArcGIS Online users will now have access to DigitalGlobe’s Premium Services. The new offering brings expanded geospatial products and solutions to select users of ArcGIS Online on a subscription basis. With this partnership, DigitalGlobe’s Global Basemap, FirstLook and Multispectral Premium Services can now be seamlessly integrated into the workflow of ArcGIS users, allowing them to access the most current imagery and information avail-able directly from the source. The Global Basemap Premium Service provides some of the natural color and panchromatic imagery, available as a cached

tile service with vast coverage of the U.S. and Canada. This service will be regularly updated to reflect new imagery from DigitalGlobe. The FirstLook Premium Service is a disaster and crisis monitoring service populated with imagery when a qualifying event occurs, such as a natural disaster, manmade crisis, political instability, or human interest occurrence. Through this service, users have access to near real-time post-event imagery as well as pre-event imagery for comparison. The Multispectral Premium Service offers access to full resolution multispectral content through an ArcGIS Online interface running on a highly scalable cloud architecture.

UAS Photogrammetric Mapping Solution DebutsTrimble has introduced its next-generation unmanned aircraft system (UAS)—the Trimble UX5 aerial

imaging rover with the Trimble Access aerial imaging application. The new solution builds upon the strengths of its predecessor, the Trimble Gatewing X100, to offer enhanced image quality and intuitive workflows. Combined with the Trimble Business Center photogrammetry office software module, the Trimble UX5 is the first complete UAS photogrammetric mapping solution specifically designed for surveyors and geospatial professionals. Trimble’s UAS for photogrammetric aerial mapping allows surveyors and geospatial profes-sionals to collect data with an unmanned aircraft for large projects. A wide variety of traditional surveying applications can now benefit from aerial imaging by allowing professionals to safely collect large amounts of accurate data in a short time. The new Trimble Access aerial imaging appli-cation is field software for planning UAS missions, performing flight checks and monitoring flights—all with intuitive workflows. The Trimble UX5 can provide a safer method to collect data compared to traditional surveying methods. Flights are fully automated, from launch to landing, and require no piloting skills.

LeaAnn McNabb;[email protected]

Integrated GIS/Enterprise Applications Improve Decisions

SAP and its independent U.S. subsidiary, SAP National Security Services (SAP NS2), have joined forces with Esri to more deeply integrate GIS solutions with platforms and enterprise applica-tions from SAP to improve customers’ speed, effi-ciency and decision-making. Esri and SAP NS2 are committed to helping U.S. national security and critical infrastructure customers benefit from inte-gration between SAP solutions and Esri’s leading GIS platform. Through co-innovation between SAP and Esri, end-to-end support for spatial data is planned across SAP HANA, the SAP BusinessObjects

business intelligence platform, and SAP Mobile Platform. The companies are aiming to offer organizations the ability to enrich SAP Business Suite applications with geographic content, rapidly process spatial, location and enterprise data using SAP HANA in real time, visualize geographic infor-mation in maps, graphs and charts using tools from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio, and deliver applications for frontline personnel using SAP Mobile Platform.

Diane Smiroldo;[email protected]


Compiled by Kmi media Group staff

Army General Keith B. Alexander is commander, U.S. Cyber Command [USCYBERCOM] and director, National Security Agency/chief, Central Security Service [NSA/CSS]. As commander, USCYBERCOM, he is responsible for planning, coordinating and conducting operations and defense of Department of Defense com-puter networks as directed by USSTRATCOM. As the director of NSA and chief of CSS, he is responsible for a DoD agency with national foreign intelligence, combat support, and U.S. national security information system protection responsibilities. NSA/CSS civilian and military personnel are stationed worldwide.

Alexander was born in Syracuse, N.Y., and entered active duty at the U.S. Military Academy. Previous assignments include deputy chief of staff, Headquarters, Department of the Army; command-ing general of Army Intelligence and Security Command; direc-tor of intelligence, U.S. Central Command; and deputy director for requirements, capabilities, assessments and doctrine, J-2, for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Alexander has served in a variety of command assignments in Germany and the United States, including tours as commander of Border Field Office, 511th MI Battalion, 66th MI Group; 336th Army Security Agency Company, 525th MI Group; 204th MI Battalion; and 525th MI Brigade.

Additionally, Alexander held key staff assignments as deputy director and operations officer, Army Intelligence Master Plan, for the deputy chief of staff for intelligence; S-3 and executive officer, 522nd MI Battalion, 2nd Armored Division; G-2 for the 1st Armored Division both in Germany and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia.

Alexander holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy and a Master of Science degree in business administration from Boston University.

Q: General Alexander, let’s start with the foundation. What is the mission of USCYBERCOM, and how does your organization fit with other agencies working cybersecurity in the defense of the nation?

A: USCYBERCOM’s mission includes three major lines of effort. First is defense of the nation in cyberspace. We also coordinate and conduct operations in cyberspace in support of the combatant commanders. Finally, we have the continuing effort to operate and defend the DoD Information Network [DoDIN]. We must be pre-pared to conduct the full spectrum of military cyberspace opera-tions to enable actions in all domains, to ensure our freedom to act in cyberspace and to deny the same to our adversaries.

Beyond the USCYBERCOM mission, it takes a ‘whole of govern-ment’ approach to protecting our nation’s interests in cyberspace.

First is the close working relationship between USCYBERCOM and the National Security Agency. NSA’s technical expertise and unique capabilities to provide intelligence on cyberspace threats are key enablers in accomplishing the USCYBERCOM mission. Similarly, the other members of the intelligence community provide criti-cal information on adversary intentions and capabilities affecting our mission. Our other key mission partner in DoD, the Defense Information Systems Agency [DISA], is key to operating and defend-ing the DoDIN and providing support globally. In addition to our DoD partners, we work closely with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, both of which have significant roles in the domestic aspects of protecting the nation in cyberspace.

To better accomplish our missions and in keeping with DoD’s strategy for operating in cyberspace, USCYBERCOM and NSA are working together on assisting DoD in five priority areas of effort: building trained and ready cyber-forces; implementing a defensi-ble architecture within DoD; establishing global shared situational awareness to enable action; refining cyberspace command and con-trol and operational concepts; and defining clear rules of engage-ment, policies and authorities to execute our assigned missions.

So, first, building trained and ready cyber-forces: Our nation needs a fully trained, organized and immediately available force to accomplish our missions in cyberspace. We cannot wait until a crisis occurs to begin this essential task. We have established con-sistent, high standards for educating, training and certifying our personnel, and are working to get those with the right talents, both within DoD and beyond, into these important positions.

General Keith B. AlexanderCommander, U.S. Cyber CommandDirector, National Security Agency

Chief, Central Security Service


Cyber DefenderTaking a “Whole of Government” Approach to Cybersecurity

Q&AQ&A

Above the individual level, we are building a Cyber Mission Force composed of teams collectively organized, trained and certified to operate in our three main mission areas as I stated above. This is providing the highly capable, cohesive forces needed to operate and prevail in cyberspace.

Second, a defensible architecture: Today we work to defend an array of disjointed legacy networks that often lack a strong secu-rity foundation. It is increasingly difficult for our personnel to provide assured support and counter the scope of modern threats in such indefensible networks. Implementing resilient, data-cen-tric enterprise architectures, engineered from the ground up for defensibility, will serve as a cyberspace force-multiplier and allow for assured support for DoD missions. The Joint Information Environment [JIE] will provide just such a defensible architecture throughout DoD.

Third, global shared situational awareness: We need visibil-ity across networks as these are critical to the success of our mission. Ensuring USCYBERCOM and leaders across DoD have a clear, common understanding of the threat environment and what’s happening on our networks will greatly improve our ability to respond and support combatant commanders and national pri-orities. In a domain with so many complex relationships, we have to be sure that we see the whole picture to coordinate operations globally and counter threats not restricted by agency, service or COCOM areas of responsibility.

Fourth, cyberspace command and control and operational concepts: We need to go beyond the technical and tactical level and further refine the operational art for the cyberspace domain. Key to this is defining command and control relationships and integrating cyberspace operations with those in the land, sea, air and space domains, all of which are being worked at the DoD level now.

Finally, but not least, as we achieve these priorities, we need clear rules of engagement, policies and authorities in place to accomplish our missions. Cyberspace is a domain that moves at the speed of light; complex command relationships and long approval processes can prevent us from responding in time to counter adversary action. Making this process more streamlined will greatly improve our ability to respond and defend the DoDIN and the nation.

Q: Would you elaborate on cyber-forces in addition to what you’ve said in recent testimony and other public forums? How do the Cyber Mission Forces fit into the larger cybersecurity efforts?

A: I told the Senate Armed Services Committee last March that U.S. Cyber Command will address these operational focus areas with the Cyber Mission Force [CMF]. The CMF has three main elements: National Mission Teams help defend the nation against national-level threats; Combat Mission Teams will be assigned to the operational control of individual combatant commanders to support their objectives; and Cyber Protection Teams help operate and defend DoD Information Networks. We will also have support teams to provide technical assistance.

From the operational perspective, the objective of cybersecu-rity is to deny the adversary opportunities to exploit and/or attack our systems. That requires us to protect ourselves from known and unknown threats, harden our networks, defend our networks,

and leverage all instruments of national power—both inside and outside our own networks.

Last December, DoD endorsed the force presentation model we need to implement this new operating concept. Now we are establishing cyber mission teams in line with the principles of task organizing for the joint force. USCYBERCOM is moving for-ward with a new force structure that will improve DoD’s ability to defend and respond to malicious cyber activity. To summarize, the Cyber Mission Forces are being created to perform three sep-arate mission areas as I outlined prior: defend the nation from a foreign cyber-adversary; support the combatant commanders; and defend and operate DoD Information Networks. This will incorpo-rate roughly 6,000 personnel into teams provided by the services, which will be separate entities from the Cyber Command staff. The goal is to establish one-third of the forces each year until the end of FY15.

Q: What challenges do you face in achieving these priorities and objectives you’ve just outlined?

A: Our progress only continues if we can train our people to the highest standards. To elaborate on my prior response, we need trained, certified and ready forces. DoD endorsed the force presen-tation model we needed to implement this new operating concept last December. Each of these cyber mission teams is being trained to common and strict operating standards so that they can oper-ate online without putting at risk our own military, diplomatic, or intelligence interests or those of our allies.

One of the challenges we’re facing when standing up this new construct and ensuring our forces are trained and ready to defend this nation is that the services were not all trained to the same standard. We recently developed training standards and encour-age the services to adopt them, which would make for more con-sistent and secure network operations, especially since cyber is a joint venture including every service and whole-of-government partners. Unit-level and team-level qualifications are being set, so that each of the CMF teams will be ready to operate at the same consistently high level to accomplish the mission. Many of these folks already have relevant training in their services; we are working out equivalencies to make sure that the various training translates into the right skill sets. Ultimately, developing trained and ready forces will have to be something DoD has to do con-sistently across the services, and the success of these teams will rely on it.

Q: What keeps you awake at night when you consider the broad mission of U.S. Cyber Command?

A: We are very concerned about the possibility of cyber-attacks against our economy and critical infrastructure. Such attacks have already happened in other countries. As I mentioned earlier, for instance, cyber-attacks such as those on Saudi Aramco and RasGas could happen here. I believe it is only a matter of time before adversaries try to use these kinds of tools to make some political statement. A lot of actors out there do not care about the collateral damage. The United States is already a target. Networks and websites owned by Americans and located here have endured intentional, state-sponsored attacks, sometimes because they happened to be en route to unrelated targets.


Let me note another serious threat. We keep seeing cyber-exploi-tation of American companies and enterprises, and huge amounts of intellectual property being stolen. There are foreign governments targeting the data of American enterprises and citizens—even some of the gold standard companies in the cybersecurity sector. Even companies that protect their information have partners that are soft targets. The collective damage is profound. It means missed oppor-tunities for U.S. companies and lost American jobs.

Q: How do you work with the rest of the federal government and the intelligence community against these threats?

A: No federal department or agency is solely responsible for addressing the cyber-threat—there’s no one cyber-lead. They all bring their own authorities, resources and capabilities to the joint effort. Cybersecurity requires a team approach. Leadership and support roles change depending on the nature of the threat and the response. Total collaboration allows us to understand what is happening in the domain. We are working with DHS and NSA, the FBI and the other federal agencies on a framework for cybersecu-rity functions and information exchanges. Successful operations also depend on collaboration between defenders and operators. That needs up-to-date intelligence. I see greater understanding of this synergy, although we still have a way to go.

Q: We have heard a lot about Cyber Command exercises; would you tell us more about those? Are these exercises related? Who participates, and what are the objectives?

A: We are conducting a lot of exercises with state, international and private partners. Cyber Command now sponsors two impor-tant exercises, Cyber Flag and Cyber Guard. The former is our major command-level exercise. Last year it brought in interna-tional partners to practice force-on-force maneuvers in cyber-space, and it will be even bigger this fall. Cyber Guard was the one we ran over the summer. It had over 330 participants, includ-ing more than 200 from the National Guards of 18 states and Reservists. They exercised state- and national-level responses in a virtual environment, with newly established cyber mission force teams, learning from each other and figuring how to respond if an adversary attacked our critical infrastructure in cyberspace.

Q: Is the Department of Defense’s new Joint Information Environment related to this?

A: Definitely, both for NSA and Cyber Command. NSA, for exam-ple, is building a cloud architecture that is the basis for the new Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise [IC ITE]. It is a little more complicated on the DoD side. DoD has seven million networked devices and thousands of enclaves. Cyber Command and NSA are helping the department build JIE, com-prising a shared infrastructure, enterprise services, and a single security architecture. The DoD chief information officer, Joint Staff J6, and other agencies are working the JIE implementation, supported by U.S. Cyber Command. The JIE will save resources for DoD and improve our information security. Our legacy archi-tecture is un-defendable. We have to move beyond it.

As we move toward a world that has converged communica-tions—that is, where analog and digital are joining to create our

communications platform—it will be important that we no longer separate our forces based on medium. Now we have people who are doing the SIGINT mission who are separate from communi-cations, who are separate from IT. We are starting to see the point where those are no longer isolated mediums, and our warriors will need to have the skills to work across those domains, as they will all intersect. These teams are moving toward that direction, as they will have multiple skill sets represented so the personnel on those teams will be able to learn new skills and understand how they all work together instead of just being one or the other.

Q: What do you see for resources in the future?

A: We hope this picture will improve. We can take budget hits to infrastructure and programs, but I fear the effects that cuts might have on our workforce. It is not a cliché to emphasize that our people truly are our most important capability. We have incred-ibly valuable contributions made by our workforce every day in securing our networks, supporting the commands, and collect-ing intelligence. We have to protect them. The current environ-ment makes hiring talent tougher, and I fear it will drive good people away to the private sector. Both our Cyber Command and NSA workforces, regardless of the funding stream, are essential to the whole.

Q: Leaks to the media and a full plate of developments have kept you very busy these last few weeks. Is there anything in partic-ular you want to mention before we close?

A: Not getting the facts straight has impacted our operations and our people. We will continue to address erroneous reporting and reporting that lacks context, but I’d also like to take this time to give you a sense of our people, who defend this country, support our troops in combat, and save lives … working every minute of every day to do so. Over 6,000 NSA employees have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. Twenty lost their lives. Each person who paid the ultimate sacrifice was helping other deployed soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and civilians get the required intelligence that saved lives and enabled our U.S. forces and allies to go after the adversary. These noble Americans take the oath to uphold and defend the Constitution—and these are also the same people who run our NSA programs. The mindset of our people, along with our interagency partners, is to defend the nation and save lives.

Q: We have heard a lot about dual-hatting, in which the com-mander of USCYBERCOM is also the director of NSA. Will this continue?

A: From my perspective it needs to, and I think a lot of people recognize that imperative. The dual-hatting unifies the capabil-ities for full-spectrum cyber-operations under a single official, leverages NSA’s cyber-capabilities, and provides unity of effort in cyberspace for DoD. It helps deconfliction of operations between both organizations. The people under my command and direc-tion at USCYBERCOM and NSA work in concert but always under their respective authorities. This relationship has been benefi-cial, and we would have to re-invent a lot of wheels if we no lon-ger had it. O


the future of global isr lies iN usiNg aN iN-depth uNderstaNdiNg of all iNdigeNous aspects of aN operatioNal eNviroNmeNt to iNcrease the value of isr collectioN.by faye l. cuevas

The scene opens with an elderly man steering a large

herd of long-horned cattle along a path well worn by

animal tracks. It is dry season, and the cattle are being

driven down the same path similar herds have migrated

along for centuries following the river. The herd and

herdsmen move deliberately but cautiously against a

backdrop of dense tropical rainforest and low African

grasslands. An open-air market bustles with activity in a

nearby village. As the camera pans further north along

the cattle trail, a criminal gang can be seen on foot

with rifles and recently poached ivory slung across their

shoulders. When it zooms out over the canopy, we catch

a brief glimpse of an insurgent leadership ring breaking

camp. The sound of a Ugandan military helicopter gun-

ship can be heard in the distance …

Cow-Tipping


No, this isn’t a teaser from the next big Hollywood blockbuster, it’s the view through an airborne Department of Defense ISR platform or remote imag-ing sensor over central Africa. In com-plex regions of Africa, violent extremist organizations, insurgent groups and hybrid threats operate within a mosaic of cultural, tribal, economic and his-toric complexity.

When these regions rise to the level of U.S. national security interest, DoD ISR assets are often well placed to observe activity. However, those assets have traditionally been tasked to col-lect and report on narrow data points and observables focused on one sub-set of human actor within the area—the adversary—rather than garnering a broader understanding of all the key population groups present within an operational environment.

As the drawdown in Afghanistan continues, the U.S. military, both spe-cial operations forces and conventional forces, has plans to realign and rebal-ance operations focused on countering regional insurgent threats before they become global. In the near future, AORs like AFRICOM will become more the operating rule than the exception in defining how the U.S. leverages its ISR capabili-ties to counter insurgencies and violent extremism.

Due to various operating restrictions and personnel caps in Africa, solutions to ISR challenges can’t always be solved with more platforms. These realities necessitate new think-ing and new approaches to get more value from existing ISR. In particular, those assets supporting current counter-insur-gency (COIN) operations.

Future roles for ISR, particularly airborne full motion video (FMV) platforms, can effectively support mission sets outside of kinetic operations. But processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) support must scale to new, unfa-miliar and complex environments, such as those presented in Africa. To do that, FMV exploitation functions should expand beyond traditional PED nodes and traditional “threat-cen-tric” activity to focus on development of the physical, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental context of the area of operations as well.

coiN strategies

Over the last several years, much has been written and discussed about how the U.S. government should pursue COIN strategies focused on populations within insurgent affected areas. Defense strategic guidance was issued, new COIN doctrine was written, and various studies were com-missioned and results published.

Common themes throughout those writings include the importance of understanding the human geography of an

area, addressing root causes of instability, and winning the “hearts and minds” of the population. The U.S. Army put these principles into practice to address population-centric challenges in Afghanistan with the integration of human ter-rain teams with tactical units.

At the height of the surge, the Army had 20 human ter-rain teams deployed providing socio-cultural knowledge to more than 100,000 U.S. combat personnel on the ground. These teams have seen successes in building cultural aware-ness at the tactical Army unit level.

As those operations continue to scale down, however, there is an opportunity to leverage ISR capabilities to take the socio-cultural focus beyond the tactical realm. This line of effort will become increasingly important in AORs like AFRICOM, where ISR allocation and the U.S. military pres-ence on the ground are exponentially smaller than what we’ve grown accustomed to in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Understanding populations and the root causes of insta-bility in conflict areas in order to negate them represents a tough charge for the U.S. military alone. However, root causes cut across multiple narratives that can trace back centuries. Although perspectives are multiple, subjective, often irrational, and cloaked in value judgments, they are all important in developing an understanding of the operational environment.

FMV sensors capture images of activity—human, ani-mal, environmental—that can serve as building-block infor-mation to assist operational commanders and intelligence personnel to infer perspectives based on observed activity. To bring that level of meaning to the collected FMV, we need to make it available to experts in these various elements in a way that they can contribute their analysis to it.

Studying changes in everyday patterns of life, such as the routes taken by African cow-herders, can provide key evidence for deciding where and how to focus ISR resources. [Image courtesy of Pixia]


Incorporating these expert observations earlier in the process and in parallel to traditional PED functions brings richer context to the video, which can be searched and dis-covered by other users. In turn, a more comprehensive pic-ture of the operational environment reveals itself.

To accomplish this, DoD should open up access to FMV to a broader audience, allowing traditional PED nodes and nontraditional “exploiters” alike to develop a multi-layered narrative that marries nontraditional socio-cultural obser-vations with traditional fused intelligence to provide greater context of an operational environment. This process will generate a more nuanced understanding of events, actors, and their relationships within their environments. In turn, patterns of human activity are revealed and baselined to serve as proxy indicators of security in areas important to U.S. national interests but lacking in U.S. presence on the ground.

One of the core lessons proffered by the PED model for ISR supporting counter-terror operations is the importance of adversary pattern of life (POL) development. Under the traditional PED model, POL is exploited and fused with other intelligence sources to provide important context to observ-able adversary activity to determine vulnerabilities, analyze reasons for deviations from pattern, and “predict” movement based on pattern, which supports a kinetic planning cycle.

The success of POL development under the traditional model is heavily reliant on ISR persistence, or sustained cov-erage, and a robust tipping and queuing environment. These dependencies aren’t available at that scale outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.

crops aNd cattle

In Central Africa, by contrast, cows, elephants and park rangers literally represent the queuing environment. Pastoralist cattle herders veering from traditional migratory routes or travelling without family members, live elephants avoiding areas in a national park where other elephants were slaughtered by poachers, and fluctuations in open-air mar-ket activity are all observable by ISR. Seasonal changes, crop conditions and vegetation are all also observable. Not only are all of these elements visible, but they also are critical, often survival-level, factors affecting stability in the area.

As is true in other AORs, when a DoD ISR asset is collect-ing over an area in Africa, that probably means that the loca-tion is host to an active insurgent or violent extremist group presence that has achieved the level of U.S. national security interest. Unique to Central Africa, these groups often use large cattle herds to conceal movements and escape detec-tion from partner nation military patrols. Where the insur-gents are not visible from the air, the cattle they hide among are observable.

Experts at other federal agencies, or an academic insti-tute with programs in agriculture, hydrology, or animal hus-bandry in this example, arguably have far deeper regional knowledge than DoD, which could provide enriched con-text of unique indicators such as cattle migration that could change how we define tactically relevant information.

If the cattle are following a traditional route, or not following the route, that information could be used to predict future herd—and, by proxy, potential adversary—movement.

In the same vein, it is widely known that insurgent groups and armed militias have increased animal poaching activities in Central African national parks. Not only does this constitute wildlife crime, which the U.S. has pledged by recent executive order to ban and discourage, but also money from poaching provides a significant source of rev-enue for the insurgencies. Wildlife conservation groups or African park rangers would be able to provide important context on elephant activity observed by ISR, but not easily understood by someone without such expertise or intrinsic familiarity with the park.

By enabling interaction between traditional PED nodes and nontraditional entities as part of a collaborative FMV interpretive approach, we can increase the value of ISR col-lection in complex areas of the world where ISR assets are scarce and U.S. military footprints are small. All the observ-ables within a frame of imagery or FMV have the potential to provide building-block understanding of the operational environment, which can by proxy shed light on adver-sary actions as well. Population groups and other actors that share the same geography with an adversary interact with, observe, avoid, support and provide shelter, which cre-ates observable behaviors and patterns when the activity is viewed by analysts or algorithms with the right skill sets.

Those patterns can then be exploited not only to build understanding, but also to indirectly determine and poten-tially predict adversary actions and movements. But to do this effectively, ISR PED processes should look to leverage those who understand unique and nuanced aspects of these environments. O

Faye Cuevas

Faye Cuevas is general counsel for Pixia Corp. and serves as an Air Force Reserve intelligence officer. She also co-chairs the recently established U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation Africa Working Group.




Seeking to highlight its expanding array of analytical services, satellite imagery powerhouse DigitalGlobe has unveiled a website devoted to geospatial analysis of the continent of Africa.

The site (http://digitalglobe.com/showcase-africa) includes an interactive map of Africa, allowing site visitors to explore DigitalGlobe’s work in a specific country of interest or select only a certain type of analysis. It also features DigitalGlobe’s Human Geography Information Surveys, which are geographic datasets that describe population groups by specific attributes, such as religion, language and cultural affiliation.

The launch of the site follows DigitalGlobe’s acquisition ear-lier this year of imagery rival GeoEye, which among other ben-efits included a strong analytical capability based on GeoEye’s earlier acquisition of a company called Spadac, a specialist in pre-dictive analytics.

Facing the prospect of constrained federal spending on geo-spatial imagery in the future, which was a key factor in the merger with GeoEye, DigitalGlobe executives are pursuing both expan-sion into international and commercial markets and a greater emphasis on analysis and managing geospatial “big data.”

As Casey McCullar, senior manager of solutions marketing, observed recently on the company blog, “While we are renowned for our industry-leading satellite imagery, the analytical work we do that delivers valuable insight to decision makers is less well known. That’s why we put this site together.

“Africa is a region facing unprecedented growth over the next few years, but vexed with unique problems that put that expansion at risk,” McCullar continued. “Africa has seen rapid inflows of for-eign direct investment recently, and estimates show that Africa is likely to experience GDP growth that outshines [that of] developed countries over the next few years. Combine that with its growing population and abundance of natural resources, and Africa is well positioned for advancement. However, instability and violence within the region threatens to hinder this expansion.”

In a recent interview, Ken Campbell, vice president of national security solutions for DigitalGlobe, sounded similar themes.

“Africa is a place with a lot of unique opportunities and chal-lenges. Its economic growth is becoming recognized as some-thing we need to pay attention to, and there is a range of issues that have everyone’s attention, including issues associated with national security concerns, commercial interests, energy and environment, and food and water security. We want to be involved with addressing those issues for our customers, since Africa is a place that we should be focusing more attention on,” Campbell said.

“I run the analytics programs that service our defense and intelligence community customers, and there definitely is strong interest in everything related to the stability of the continent,” he continued. “There are conflicts and instability in the Egypt/Libya/Tunisia region, the Horn of Africa has been problematic over the past decade, and Nigeria has been experiencing an uptick in extremism and instability. We have been focusing a lot of our attention to meet customer requirements to better understand the nature of these issues for those U.S. government clients.”

Africa is the first continent to be highlighted in terms of the company’s analytical work, he said, adding, “It remains to be seen what we will do in the near term, but I would expect that we will also be showcasing some of the work and capabilities that we have for other regions of the world.

“I think the exciting thing for us is that we are looking at new ways to exploit our pedigree in imagery and geospatial informa-tion production, and the tools, methods and processes that we have to do what we call geospatial-based predictive analytics. We use that information and tools to provide our customers with bet-ter information for course-of-action decision making as they work on a variety of issues, including commercial and national secu-rity,” Campbell said. O

New digitalglobe website offers geospatial iNformatioN aNd aNalysis oN vibraNt, tumultuous coNtiNeNt.

DigitalGlobe’s website devoted to geospatial analysis of the continent of Africa includes an interactive map that allows site visitors to explore different countries or select various types of analysis. [Image courtesy of DigitalGlobe]

by harrisoN doNNelly

gif editor




Imagine a U.S. pilot on an aerial reconnaissance mission over hos-tile territory when the engines of his aircraft shut down. He ejects and lands safely in unfamiliar enemy terrain. Suddenly, he’s very grate-ful for the evasion chart and “blood chit” stowed in the pockets of his flight suit.

The chart, known as an EVC, and chit are produced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in partnership with the Department of Defense Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA).

The EVC helps the pilot survive and safely navigate to an area where friendly forces can reach him, and the blood chit contains mes-sages written in multiple languages that call on local civilians to help him.

Since the early 1980s, NGA and its predecessor agencies have worked with JPRA and its predecessor agencies to build functional and accurate products to help isolated personnel get back into friendly control, said John Fristoe, functional manager of the DoD evasion chart program and chief of JPRA’s Evasion Aids division.

Because of the work the agencies do, today’s pilots carry EVCs and chits made of a highly versatile and durable material. They can be used to hold water, haul food, stay warm, block the sun and cover wounds.

EVCs cover all sorts of terrain, like jungles, deserts, islands and mountains. Pilots carry those most suited to the areas over which they will be flying.

On the chart, the pilots will find some fairly common features, like a map with a legend, time zone information, contour interval information, and instructions on orientation and navigating, day or night, without a compass.

Nga maps,

“blood chits” help

dowNed pilots

aNd other isolated

warfighters survive

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back to frieNdly

territory.

by kathi ghaNNam


The history of the evasion chart goes back to charts printed on rayon during the 1940s, and to cloth “blood chits” printed in various languages that identified American airmen and offered rewards for safe passage during World War ll and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.

Produced by NGA, the charts are 1:250,000 scale and cover different geographic areas of the world. The current product line was developed for the Air Force Intelligence Service in 1990, on behalf of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to assist military personnel in survival, evasion, resistance and escape.

JoiNt operatioNs graphic

The EVC is derived from a standard NGA product, the Joint Operations Graphic, and contains details such as lakes and trib-utaries, which enable users to recognize features while on foot.

EVCs are produced on a strong, moisture resistant polyester material (spin-bonded olefin). The material does not stretch or crack, and is not sensitive to temperature changes. It is displayed on camouflage pattern background.

The chart includes a variety of survival information, includ-ing: navigation and travel information; celestial navigation aids; climate of the region; a list of edible and poisonous local plants and animals (complete with descriptions and/or photos); food preparation instructions; sources of water; first aid procedures; and environmental hazards.

Sized to fit in an aircrew flight suit pocket, the EVC can be used to catch rain for drinking water; as a shade, wind and rain, shelter, cape and/or blanket; as a bag to haul and purify large quantities of water or food; as a liner in a hole to serve as a wash basin; as a ground cloth on moist ground; as camouflage when sleeping; to wrap clothing in when swimming or ford-ing streams; to wrap sleeping gear in during foul weather; or to splint a broken bone.

The charts also have many features not found on traditional maps, like advice for preventing hypothermia, dehydration and other exposure-related ailments, and instructions for placing a limb with a compound fracture in traction to set the bone.

There is also a list of edible and nonedible plants and animals, step-by-step instructions for testing foods to see if they are poi-sonous, a list of predatory animals and other dangerous species indigenous to the areas the charts cover, and instructions for treating snakebites.

The charts are the results of tremendous teamwork, said Karl Knirr of NGA West’s EVC production team. NGA and JPRA routinely update the EVCs to help ensure those who use them have the best chances for survival. JPRA is in direct contact with users in the commands and in the field to glean the details of what they need. Then, JPRA informs NGA of any necessary changes.

Knirr and other members of the NGA West EVC produc-tion team and JPRA began redeveloping and transforming the EVC into a digital product just before the September 11, 2001, attacks, he said.

Since 9/11, the EVC production team and the chart have changed dramatically, said Knirr. Before digitization, EVCs took up to four months to create, were only available in 1:250,000 scale and had only one type of camouflage pattern. Back then, JPRA would send NGA mock-ups, or layouts, of how the charts

should fit together and detailed lists of indigenous plants, ani-mals and other marginal data to include on the chart.

Now, the EVC team uses the latest digital information and imagery to best fit the user’s needs when making or updating a map, said Knirr. The NGA EVC production team has visited the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) School to learn the survival uses of their products to ensure a greater under-standing of the user’s needs, said Meri Ford, former NGA liaison to JPRA.

There is also ongoing interaction between instructors at the NGA College and students at JPRA’s SERE school in Spokane, Wash., and the Personnel Recovery Education and Training Center in Fredericksburg, Va. JPRA personnel routinely attend basic GEOINT classes at NGA’s East campus in Springfield, Va., said Ford.

NGA and JPRA have a crucial relationship, and NGA is involved in nearly every aspect of JPRA operations, said Len Kerney, JPRA deputy director for intelligence. The crews sent to rescue those in peril also use GEOINT provided by NGA to plan and execute their missions.

rescue aids

GEOINT is also used to determine the most reliable and accessible materials in each area of operations so people will know how to aid in their own rescue if necessary, said Ford. Toward that end, NGA recently created the first comprehensive standardized manual of distress signals for use by isolated per-sonnel and rescue forces.

Ford also established a database of ground-to-air signals spe-cific to various areas of responsibility to ensure operators can use indigenous materials to aid in their recovery, she said. For instance, laying out a tarp or space blanket or starting a fire will draw attention to an area that might go otherwise unnoticed.

Each member of the team constantly looks for ways to improve the customer’s product and reduce costs, said Yates. For example, simply reducing the number of times the EVC is folded during production, from 32 to eight, saves thousands of dollars per product run. The material is pliable enough for users to fold so it fits in their uniforms.

A team also manages the requirements and fulfillment pro-cess to ensure the right amount of stock is on hand or on order. This saves money by reducing excess inventory that must be destroyed when it becomes obsolete, said Monique Yates, NGA deputy National System for Geospatial-Intelligence operations executive.

Together, the products NGA and JPRA produce aid U.S. efforts to recover and return isolated, missing, detained or captured per-sonnel. And true to the JPRA motto, they help ensure “that oth-ers may live … to return with honor.” O

Kathi Ghannam is with the NGA Office of Corporate Communications. This article appeared originally in the Summer 2013 issue of Pathfinder, the magazine of NGA.




Compiled by Kmi media Group staffISR VIDEO UPDATE

Data Access Solution Organizes FMV in Cloud

ArchitecturesHiper Watch from Pixia is a data access solution used to

catalog, organize and share large volumes of full motion video (FMV) within a cloud-based architecture. Hiper Watch provides SaaS applications and access to FMV data using RESTful web services. Using Pixia PaaS technology as a core foundation for high performance and scalability, consumers can access data at speeds beyond standard disk I/O. Hiper Watch enables cloud-based architectures to scale to enormous volumes of FMV data, maintain consistent storage I/O speed regardless of the number of requests, send only relevant data from disk to application, and catalog and organize thousands of raw feeds or clips into consolidated layers. Other features include the ability to trans-form feeds into MPEG-compliant transport streams; multiplex MPEG streams and KLV metadata; injection of metadata into non-compliant streams, enabling search and discovery; open API to integrate with existing exploitation tools; and multiple trans-coding options for quality and data rates. The solution provides support for a wide variety of SD and HD electro-optical sensors, such as MC-12W Liberty, Reaper/Predator, CCTV, UAS, remotely piloted aircraft and mobile surveillance systems.

Multiviewer Offers Ultra High Definition Images

RGB Spectrum has announced a partnership with AVAD and JVC Professional for the distribution of RGB Spectrum’s SuperView 4K Multiviewer in conjunction with JVC’s new 84-inch 4K LCD moni-tors. The SuperView 4K processor is a real-time multiviewer designed specifically for “Ultra HD” moni-tors with a native resolution of 3840x2160, four times that of HD

video. Based on RGB Spectrum’s

real-time architecture, users can display and manipulate native 4K images, a combination of 4K and high-definition (1920x1080) windows, or up to eight HD graphic or video windows (scaled or unscaled) on a single Ultra HD device. When combined with a JVC ProVérité 84” 4K monitor, the result is a remark-able eight-megapixel multiviewer, with unprecedented multi-window clarity and resolution.

Portable FMV Appliances Tested for

Harsh ConditionsVITEC, a provider of advanced video solutions, has

announced a military-grade family of portable full motion video (FMV) encoding and streaming appliances tested in full compli-ance and certified for harsh mechanical and environmental specified under the MIL-STD-810F and MIL-STD-461. Designed for extreme applications, the Optibase line of portable Media Gateway (MGW) encoders include MGW Premium, a highly dense HD/SD encoder with best-in-class capacity of two HD or five SD channels; the MGW Nano, a versatile compact appliance with HD-SDI and HDMI inputs and advanced processing capabilities such as real-time motion stabilization; and the pocket-size MGW Pico—the world’s smallest military-grade H.264 HD encoder with KLV metadata support. VITEC’s comprehensive offering of portable encoding and streaming products feature a unique design with no moving parts, silent operation, small footprint and ultra low power consumption ideal for integration into mobile platforms.

Encoder Addresses Demanding ISR Video Challenges

Designed for airborne and mobile ISR, Makito Air from Haivision combines the performance and low latency of the company’s commercial H.264 encoder with a completely rugge-dized form factor with full KLV/CoT metadata support. The unit addresses the most demanding ISR video challenges by delivering H.264 video up to 1080p60 with metadata, encoding latency as low as 55 milliseconds, and end-to-end latency as low as 70 milliseconds when couples with a Makito decoder. It can support constrained data links found in challenging operating environ-ments by reducing the spatial resolution of the video without affecting image aspect ratios.

Video Encoder Improves FMV Delivery

The 6820R 2-Channel HD/SD video encoder from Delta Digital Video answers the ISR community’s need for additional video channels without increasing size, weight, power and costs. The unit continues Delta’s commitment to improving full motion video (FMV) delivery by adding a second channel in the same mechanical configura-tion as its predecessor, at the same power and cost. The new encoder maintains all of the MISB compatible metadata and transport stream multiplexing features of the company’s Joint Interoperability Test Command-certified products, while adding support for composite standard definition video, resolutions to 1080p60, and a fully configurable, lower bit rate, secondary stream for each channel.

(Editor’s Note: Following are some of the products for managing and exploiting ISR video that were highlighted by exhibitors at the recent AUVSI Unmanned Systems conference in Washington, D.C.)


September 16-18, 2013Air and Space ConferenceNational Harbor, Md.www.afa.org

September 24-26, 2013Modern Day MarineQuantico, Va.www.marinemilitaryexpos.com

October 13-16, 2013GEOINT 2013 SymposiumTampa, Fla.http://geoint2013.com

October 21-23, 2013AUSA Annual MeetingWashington, D.C.www.ausa.org

October 29, 2013SAP NS2 Solutions SummitFalls Church, Va.www.sapns2.com

January 21-24, 2014Defence Geospatial IntelligenceLondon, U.K.www.wbresearch.com

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ns.

2d3 Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7www.2d3sensing.com

DynCorp International. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2www.dyn-intl.com

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4www.gd-ais.com/cloud

IHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1www.ihs.com/beyondmaps

Lockheed Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16www.lockheedmartin.com/mission-on-demand

PTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13www.ptfs.com

Compiled by Kmi media Group staffGIF RESOURCE CENTER

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BORDER & CBRNE DEFENSE

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PROGRAM MANAGEMENT UPDATES


With more than three decades of expe-rience in the defense and intelligence communities, Nadia Short has been with General Dynamics since 1996. In her cur-rent leadership role she is responsible for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems’ strategic planning, business development, technology and innovation, marketing and public relations, customer and corporate relations, and philanthropy program. Previously she led the creation of the cyber systems division for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and served as its vice president and gen-eral manager. Before joining the General Dynamics team, Short served in the U.S. Army for 14 years.

Q: What is GDNexus? Why was it created, and why now?

A: The focus of GDNexus is on our cus-tomer’s mission. GDNexus is our cus-tomer-centric business model come to life. It is a way to match state-of-the-art solu-tions to validated customer requirements rapidly and efficiently through an online community of technology providers.

The goal of GDNexus is to partner with diverse technology companies to help enhance mission capabilities, reduce risk, increase cost savings and deliver innova-tion directly to our customers. GDNexus extends our successful open teaming model to an online portal, allowing us to assess and capitalize on emerging tech-nologies, helping our customers explore and evaluate developed products and ulti-mately to integrate relevant solutions that meet specific evaluation criteria into today’s mission.

GDNexus also strengthens our role as an “honest broker” of the best solutions industry has to offer. This secure, agile environment allows us to open doors for companies that might not otherwise sup-ply to the government.

Q: What type of mission requirements does GDNexus work to address?

A: GDNexus works to address our custom-ers’ mission needs. In today’s dynamic threat environment, with cybersecurity remaining a top priority for our custom-ers, GDNexus efforts are initially focused on meeting our customers’ growing demands in the cyber domain. In the near term we plan to expand our focus to the geospatial and maritime domains, where GDNexus will evolve and strengthen to meet our customer’s fast-changing mis-sion requirements.

Q: Does GDNexus have an impact on the government’s formalized, and long-standing, request for proposal (RFP) process? And if so, how?

A: GDNexus can enhance the govern-ment’s RFP process. With the official RFP serving as the basis, GDNexus is a nim-ble, flexible program that works within the procurement process to help deliver the right technology directly to our cus-tomers. We will issue Need Statements based on specific mission needs of our customers. Through the GDNexus online portal, registered users can submit responses that we vet through a com-prehensive and objective review process, culminating in the selection of a proven solution.

GDNexus helps our customers reduce acquisition risk and accelerate the time it takes to go from the procurement phase

of the RFP process to the mission execu-tion phase. The time and focus we spend with the customer upfront to understand and define needs ensures the selection of a relevant solution, minimizing the risk of integrating and deploying some-thing new to the mission. Another ben-efit is the reduction in evaluation time. We have established a process and time-line through which we advance only the most relevant submissions. With a phi-losophy of “innovation through collabo-ration,” GDNexus also enables us to keep pace with our customer’s programs as they shift from an RFP state into actual execution. Because needs and require-ments may change throughout the life of a contract, GDNexus allows us to respond accordingly to ensure our customer’s mission success.

GDNexus also helps to take the guess work out of the RFP process for companies who are not well-versed in government procurement. The great thing about GDNexus is that it is acces-sible to big and small, government- and non-government-focused technology providers.

Q: Where do you see GDNexus in the next three to five years?

A: GDNexus will continue to grow and be a robust, all-inclusive virtual envi-ronment that encompasses the vari-ous domains of the diverse missions of our customers. From cyber to space to air, land and sea, GDNexus will help us meet the growing needs of our customers across the board.

Moving forward, GDNexus will be the foundation of how we address customer mission needs, in that it allows us to be more nimble, reflexive and responsive. It truly is a new, and better, way of doing business. With the flexibility to quickly respond and support our customers—from unmanned to geospatial to space electronics—with GDNexus the possibili-ties are limitless. O

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Geospatial Intelligence Forum

Nadia ShortVice President of Strategy and Business Development

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems


ISSUE

Insertion Order Deadline: September 23, 2013 • Ad Materials Deadline: September 30, 2013

Letitia A. LongCover and In-Depth Interview with:

DirectorNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

FeAtures:

Visualization TechnologySince acquiring information through visual media is quicker and more efficient than doing so through the other senses, visualization tools are gaining increasing prominence in the field of geospatial intelligence.

Managing Big DataFull motion video and other ISR and GEOINT technologies represent some of the biggest of “big data.” So industry is working hard to develop new ways for the military and intelligence communities to manage and exploit it.

GEOINT R&DNGA’s InnoVision Future Solutions Program provides support to perform path-breaking scientific research and transitions innovative concepts and capabilities required to solve the intelligence community and Department of Defense’s most complex problems.

Training for Intel AnalysisWith shortfalls looming in the workforce of trained intelligence analysis professionals, programs are striving to provide both technical expertise and the ability to “think like an analyst.”

Bonus DistriBution

GEOINT 2013 SymposiumOctober 13-16, 2013, Tampa, Fla.

October 2013Volume 11, Issue 7

GDAIS-GEOINT-Ad - Sep 2013 - AD5-813-1.indd 1 8/1/2013 10:37:30 AM

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