When it comes to defense coverage, AIN naturally focuses on airborne systems and platforms, including some very high-tech stuff, of course. But my visit to the Defence Geospatial Intelligence Conference and Exhibitionin London last month was a reminder that what happens on the ground is equally, if not more, important.
Tremendous advances in air- and space-borne sensor exploitation were on display at the London conference. Revisit rates, pixel resolution, ortho-rectification, 3-D mapping and so on have all reached new levels of sophistication. And data fusion has advanced by leaps and bounds: population statistics, meteorological conditions, building addresses and a host of other information can be added from databases to digital map displays as overlays or click-throughs.
For instance, Esri (UK), the British company that forms part of U.S.-headquartered Esri, a leading supplier of geospatial intelligence (Geoint) systems, demonstrated a “joined-up” approach to countering the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to deployed NATO forces in Afghanistan. Esri and seven partners showed how multiple intelligence feeds could be georeferenced and integrated onto map-based displays. Various databases–terrain, human intelligence, signals intelligence, GPS-based reports from previous patrols in the area and even open-source reports of previous IED attacks–could all be harnessed. The result? Tactical commanders in the field might use the displays to identify a bomb factory or, at least, plan avoidance routes for their convoys.
Chris Pocock has been covering the defense beat for AIN for over 30 years. He is a British citizen and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Chris worked in the air cargo business for ten years before becoming a full-time writer in 1983. He subsequently edited two air cargo journals before becoming AIN’s Defense Editor. He retired from that position in 2018, but still contributes to the publication. Chris has written extensively on aerial reconnaissance, including four books on the history of the U-2 spyplane. He also lectures on this and other topics related to intelligence-gathering in the Cold War.
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